Help - got x1900xt 256Mb, but something not right.

[hellojerry]

Well, as the title says got this card over the weekend, but something jsut ain't right.

Below is a copy of the description I wrote to the people I bought the card form in the hopes someone somewhere can suggest something which may help, int he hopes I don't have to try RMA.

//start letter
Hi there. I ordered the x1900xt 256mb version at the end of last week to be delivered Saturday.

I abslutely can not fault your service. However, I am worried about the performance I am getting from this card.

There seem to be certain effects which it is struggling to process, and overall I don't seem to be getting quite as good overall performance as I should.

I will say upfront, I know my way around computers fairly well, even if I may not be a tech guru. I am definitely not expecting miracles from the card performance-wise, but definitely feel something is just not right.

In the same system I have now (asrock dual sata-2, 2Gb Corsair Platinum pc4400, Audigy 2zs, 2 120Gb sata Raid 0, 650W QTec PSU) I have run both an x800xl and a 7900gt.

I know the Qtec PSU is not great, but the rest of the system is fairly decent, and certainly powerful enough to run the card. I even tried unplugging everything but the necessities to make sure too much power was not being drawn by the system, and still no luck.

It is hard to explain exactly what the problem is, but it seems to be mostly what I "think" are "particle effects" - things like the distortion from synthesised heat waves. This especially comes into play around Oblivion gates in Oblivion.

In oblivion, for example, it is not that the card struggles out-right, but if I walk past an Oblivion gate a couple of times, sudenly when it comes back into frame the card drops to about 15-16 fps, sometimes even under 10 - when it was processing the same effect flawlessly only seconds before.

Similar problem with Quake 4. And F.E.A.R is known to run better on Ati cards than the 7900gt cards, but it really simply is not. I remember how the 7900gt ran it, and the x1900xt i got is not performing as well.

I uninstalled all drivers before putting this card in. I also ran Driver Cleaner Pro. I have tried both the most up to date drivers and slightly older versions. I have also tried the Omega drivers - which did perform slightly better.

I have also uninstalled Oblivion and re-installed. I have tried both a tweaked .ini for the game and the standard one it creates. Quake 4 still stuggling too...

I just don't know what else I can try. I really am beginning to suspect there is something not right with the hardware. Please let me know if you have any suggestions of things to try.

I was not expecting performance much above the 7900gt (except in Oblivion where Ati are know to run better), but right now, this card is just not there.

One extra thing to note, I ran 3D Mark 2005, which did score higher, but games are just not running better. Could it be that games are utilising some aspect of the cards hardware that 3D Mark is not?

Any help appreciated.
//end letter

Any ideas?

I do think it caused by your dodgy Q-tec PSU. They are the worst components manufacturer I've ever had, burnt 2 of my CPUs and 1 motherboard. Just avoid this brand! Not worth to risk your valuable hardwares.
On the other hand, when the PSU is not powerful enough, the GPU would slow down automatically because most of the recent GPU have power profile settings. So PSU would cause this kind of problems I suppose.

[Agent]

The problem with a dodgy PSU is that it can make ANYTHING in your PC look like its at fault. You simply cant trouble shoot a system with a Q-tec in to any reliable level.

[Smokey21]

The problem with a dodgy PSU is that it can make ANYTHING in your PC look like its at fault. You simply cant trouble shoot a system with a Q-tec in to any reliable level.

Yep.

Do yourself a favour, buy the new PSU, and see how you get on. Oh also smash the Q-tec with a large hammer.

[ffall1c]

New PSU ordered. Hiper Type R 580W.

Hopefully my performance woes will be over.... just wish I could gets these types of things local to me instead of now having to wait for it to be delivered tomorrow - I'm incredibly impatient....

[Rob_B]

Let us know how you get on, did you take out every component that you didnt need (ie extra HDDS/DVDRW/RAM sticks/LEDS/Fans) so you had the minimum possible amount of draw on the PSU?

[ffall1c]

Yeah.... only about 8 hours now before I will be able to go home and put the new one in.

Think the old one might actually just have started dying on me - loaded up Oblivion, played a bit and machine reset. Then after loaded up again decided I was just going to turn off for the night, and I got a BSOD - and can't remember last time I got one of those.

At least, I hope it is the PSU, and not somethign else which is going to give me a new headache.

I seem to have really awful luck with computers, as much I enjoy them as a hobby. Especially when trying to get a new system together for the other half. Two attempts now, which failed miserable. First time motherboard was faulty, 2nd time I managed to drop my Swiss Army Knife inside... I gave up after that :-)

[Smokey21]

I seem to have really awful luck with computers, as much I enjoy them as a hobby. Especially when trying to get a new system together for the other half. Two attempts now, which failed miserable. First time motherboard was faulty, 2nd time I managed to drop my Swiss Army Knife inside... I gave up after that :-)

Nothing to do with luck, just **** parts.

[ffall1c]

Well, the new PSU did nothing.....

So I figured I would try re-installing windows. Games running much better now. Guess something must have gone awry with Windows.

Anyway, I guess I can at least now say that I have an all-round decent computer now, including PSU :-)

[ExceededGoku]

nice work, remember in future that if you go cheap on ANY part in your system it will bite you in the ass!

[ffall1c]

nice work, remember in future that if you go cheap on ANY part in your system it will bite you in the ass!

But you see, thats the thing... it was not the cheap PSU that was the problem.

HAd to re-install Windows to get it running ok.

[Dark Horse]

Its one of those you're damned if you do, damned if you don't situations: You but a new psu and everything works fine, you don't buy a new one and it blows up...but you never know either way.

Overall its still worth having a good psu, especially when upgrades come into it in the future.