X1950pro problems continued - someone save me please

[Dreaming]

After some research sapphire seemed to say for those who do experience VRM overheating that you need to install an aftermarket heatsink or RMA it. But people who've tried RMAing their cards have had them returned saying there was no fault.

So I've bought a Zalman VF-900 and some extra memory heatsinks which hopefully I can attatch to the VRMs somehow. Has anybody does this?

[Barrichello]

Barrichello, can you post a pic of your actual card please?

don't worry, theres method in my madness

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=109785

Just wondering if your card is the same as mine

Sorry i dont have a picture of it - its now sitting in my parents PC - works fine for them as they don't play games.

This is what i end up trying on it....
http://www.techpowerup.com/img/07-01...2_X1950Pro.jpg

and still no joy - so got a 8800gts with 0 problems. Never going to touch sapphire again.

[Barrichello]

After some research sapphire seemed to say for those who do experience VRM overheating that you need to install an aftermarket heatsink or RMA it. But people who've tried RMAing their cards have had them returned saying there was no fault.

So I've bought a Zalman VF-900 and some extra memory heatsinks which hopefully I can attatch to the VRMs somehow. Has anybody does this?

Not tried the zalman - i used this http://www.techpowerup.com/img/07-01...2_X1950Pro.jpg

but still crashed - a dodgy card and no mistake

[Dreaming]

The problem with the X2 on its own is that it doesn't cover the VRMs, I've attatch heatsinks to mine. But one of the zalman heatsinks on the memory (so good contact) fell off when it was installed in the PC!

Just reattatched it though and it seems fine so far, but haven't taxed it yet. Lets get gothic 3 installed :/

[Subhuman.jose]

RMA'd my card last week, they said I would get a refund, then couple days later got it sent back with a note saying theres nothing wrong with it and also a £10 charge. I phoned the company where I bought it and asked exactly what tests they put it under (probably played a game for 5 mnutes). When I explained the problem yet again they said it was most liekly overheating and if I can prove it then they'll sort out a refund or replacement. They said to have the side off with a desktop fan on the card which is ridiculous.
So I called Trading standards and have now done another letter. Hopefully i'll finally get a Graphics Card that works. It annoys me when companies try and pull a fast one, and always think their customers are stupid.

[Vowo]

RMA'd my card last week, they said I would get a refund, then couple days later got it sent back with a note saying theres nothing wrong with it and also a £10 charge. I phoned the company where I bought it and asked exactly what tests they put it under (probably played a game for 5 mnutes). When I explained the problem yet again they said it was most liekly overheating and if I can prove it then they'll sort out a refund or replacement. They said to have the side off with a desktop fan on the card which is ridiculous.
So I called Trading standards and have now done another letter. Hopefully i'll finally get a Graphics Card that works. It annoys me when companies try and pull a fast one, and always think their customers are stupid.

Good luck with your endeavour mate.

[Barrichello]

The problem with the X2 on its own is that it doesn't cover the VRMs

That why the new X2 package does come with the vrm heat sink/spreader

But it still does bugger all.

RMA'd my card last week, they said I would get a refund, then couple days later got it sent back with a note saying theres nothing wrong with it and also a £10 charge. I phoned the company where I bought it and asked exactly what tests they put it under (probably played a game for 5 mnutes). When I explained the problem yet again they said it was most liekly overheating and if I can prove it then they'll sort out a refund or replacement. They said to have the side off with a desktop fan on the card which is ridiculous.
So I called Trading standards and have now done another letter. Hopefully i'll finally get a Graphics Card that works. It annoys me when companies try and pull a fast one, and always think their customers are stupid.

Really sorry to hear that. Glad to hear you wont let them off the hook, i knew i would have probs with RMA'ing which is why i took plunge with modding in the end. The only thing the i have learnt with the whole process is that i will never buy ati/sapphire again.

[Sworkhard]

I have a corsair 520w powersupply with an saphire x1950pro on a gigabyte 965P DS3 and it's rock solid stable. I'm running windows vista with the latest drivers. So it seems that it does not affect all the cards. Then again, i've only had it for a couple of months.

[Dreaming]

Not tried the zalman - i used this http://www.techpowerup.com/img/07-01...2_X1950Pro.jpg

but still crashed - a dodgy card and no mistake

Heh, after installing the Zalman it still crashes here too. I can get it to work by underclocking though. Looking for my next card now.

[Dreaming]

I have a corsair 520w powersupply with an saphire x1950pro on a gigabyte 965P DS3 and it's rock solid stable. I'm running windows vista with the latest drivers. So it seems that it does not affect all the cards. Then again, i've only had it for a couple of months.

Mine was stable for a very long time indeed, 4 or 5 months or so.

[vdbswong]

I seem to have something similar going on now ?

It only happens when playing Halo 2, the card starts to make cutscenes stutter and will randomly switch to a black screen everynow and then.. except the difference is that the display then reappears and i can carry on with the game ?

Upon exit there is a message informing me that the Display Driver stopped responding and has been reinitialised.

Is this related or something different ?

I personally think it has something to do with the temps.. my card hits 70°C load.. is this normal ?

[]EGG[]

Just bought a 2nd hand AGP HIS X1950 Pro off that well known auction site and now I'm extremely worried having read all the issues you guys are talking about re overheating and PSU requirements. Looks like a new PSU now needs to be ordered which makes this an expensive upgrade and from what I've heard the Corsair 520w is a good choice? If anyone can recommend anything a new owner of this card can do to enjoy the benefits of this card without suffering all the problems associated with it then I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

[Mr Blonde]

Just bought the Sapphire X19050 pro 512mb. Nothing but problems so far, games lock up needing a re-boot or crashes to desk top. Have used ati tools and set the fan to max regardless of temp which did not resolve issue. Decided to take side casing off and try again, still the same so that ruled out to much heat in side of my case. Finally I used a desktop fan to blow directly onto the card. Guess what not one crash in hours upon end of intensive gaming in any game I played even in games that are renowned for crashing. This card definately has serious issues regarding the VRM thingys overheating as mentioned in many threads on the net. I have just contacted support @scan requesting an RMA as I should not have to resort to these methods just to play games, use more electric for the desk fan and leave exposed inner pc parts for my children to play with. Waing for a reply, none so far , only day1.

[Mr Blonde]

Just bought the Sapphire X19050 pro 512mb. Nothing but problems so far, games lock up needing a re-boot or crashes to desk top. Have used ati tools and set the fan to max regardless of temp which did not resolve issue. Decided to take side casing off and try again, still the same so that ruled out to much heat in side of my case. Finally I used a desktop fan to blow directly onto the card. Guess what not one crash in hours upon end of intensive gaming in any game I played even in games that are renowned for crashing. This card definately has serious issues regarding the VRM thingys overheating as mentioned in many threads on the net. I have just contacted support @scan requesting an RMA as I should not have to resort to these methods just to play games, use more electric for the desk fan and leave exposed inner pc parts for my children to play with. Waing for a reply, none so far day1.

[Mr Blonde]

Correction to my last post, "X1950" pro 512mb of course

[icebbq]

I had the exactly the same problem with my ati 9800pro 256mb AGP 8x: black screen at random point after launching 3D games: WoW, BF2; Sometimes it got even worse - I couldn't boot my computer, because the monitor could not be lit). After a few days testing and investigation, I think I found what the problem was and hope this may help with your issue.

The motherboard I was using claims that it supports AGP8x in its manual, however the minimal votage it supplies to AGP slot is 1.5v. My 9800pro and a new 7600gs(which I bought for testing and encounter the same problem), are using new AGP8x standard, which supports 0.8v in 8x mode or 1.5v in 4x mode. The problem is caused by incompatibitly between MB's AGP8x slot and new AGP8x card. To prove this I bought a new AGP8x motherboard and now my 9800pro is working great (7600GS was returned when I had the new MB ).

There are AGP cards that claim supporting AGP8x mode in both 1.5v and 0.8v votage. In my opinion, these cards will generally perform OK at 1.5v, however, it might have problems when intensively running 3D applications. Check your Motherboard's AGP spec if it's 0.8v AGP 8x compatible.

I bought a new X1950pro today to replace my 9800pro, and will give it a test tonight. I will post the result of my test.