9700 pro problems

I got a 9700 pro refurb from retek, took off the shim etc etc to keep the heat down and all was well for two weeks. Then today I started to get some weird blocks and lines on the screen in windows and half life too. Took off the heatsink again and reseated it with some more thermal paste and the problem was still there. Checked the fan was working and noticed that the card was not even hot, so I dont think overheating is an issue. So in the end I tried uninstalling drivers and reinstalling them which for now seems to have solved the problem. Do you guys think this sounds like a driver issue?? I am not sure but I hope I find out for sure before the warranty is up.

Is it overclocked?

I afraid to say it's dead. Same thing happened to me. See my previous posts on the matter...

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Originally Posted by menthel

Is it overclocked?

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No it is not overclocked, I tried it when i first got it but it only went up 10mhz, not worth it.

Refurbs = bad

I originally got a 9500pro from them which didnt work at all, as a replacement they sent me a 9700pro which had a checkerboard effect.

The only solution was to underclock the processor on the card quite a bit (~75mhz). This solved my problem. I was able to overclock the ram quite a bit to help get back some performance (though not much). I dont game anymore so this is good enough for me and i only paid for a 9500pro anyway.

Been running a refurb 9700 pro from retek with a mild o/c 360/330 for 18 months now. No problems at all. Sometimes it's the luck of the draw.

Retek have the 30 day gauruntee. Give them a ring. They were helpful to me when I first enquired.

Had a 9600XT from Sapphire that did something similar just before warranty ran out...

It wasnt a checkerboard effect, but bad 'artifacting'. I'd get those blocks and lines like you say, eventually it'd just freeze, and if VPU recover wasnt on it took my system with it.

The only solution for my card too was to underclock it to around 90% of the stock speeds. Even then it'd only run undemanding games like UT classic and CS 1.6. Anything more and it gave up.

If its under warranty, get it sent back. If not, you'll have to buy a new card I'm afraid.