Still having probs with ATI Radeon 9800 Pro - Help please

[Lee Harris]

It seemed to go away for a bit but is coming back with a vengeance.
Basically am getting lines of broken red pixels, or blue pixels garbling the
screen, in games they are lined up along obvious textures, in windows they
are usually vertical, and often show up when windows are moved, sometimes
you can "wipe them away" by dragging a window but they come back somewhere
else. It is caught on a screen grab in Paint Shop so I don't think it can be
a monitor or connection problem, it is on the video card or elsewhere in
hardware.

Are there diagnostic programs that can test your video card?

Should I just buy a new video card - if so, which?

I'm using a DVI flat panel, but it happens inboth digital and analog mode,
it also appears when I uninstall catalysts and start with VGA mode drivers,
so I don't even think it's the drivers.

At a bit of a loss here. I have a second monitor to test - a CRT to confirm
its not a monitor prob but can't see how it can be given what I've said
already

please help
very frustrating!

 

[ofn01]

It seemed to go away for a bit but is coming back with a vengeance.
Basically am getting lines of broken red pixels, or blue pixels garbling the
screen, in games they are lined up along obvious textures, in windows they
are usually vertical, and often show up when windows are moved, sometimes
you can "wipe them away" by dragging a window but they come back somewhere
else. It is caught on a screen grab in Paint Shop so I don't think it can be
a monitor or connection problem, it is on the video card or elsewhere in
hardware.

Are there diagnostic programs that can test your video card?

Should I just buy a new video card - if so, which?

I'm using a DVI flat panel, but it happens inboth digital and analog mode,
it also appears when I uninstall catalysts and start with VGA mode drivers,
so I don't even think it's the drivers.

At a bit of a loss here. I have a second monitor to test - a CRT to confirm
its not a monitor prob but can't see how it can be given what I've said
already

please help
very frustrating!

Have you checked the fan to see if it is clogged up at all/spinning
properly? Did you ever overclock it in the past? Could be a heat issue
due to the fan not working properly. I also saw recently that someone
said they had their 9800 Pro go bad on them and they took the HSF off
and the thermal paste had tried out badly so they re-applied some new
stuff and the card worked fine. Hard to say if heat is the problem
though or if it is just dying?

 

[Lee Harris]

Have you checked the fan to see if it is clogged up at all/spinning
properly? Did you ever overclock it in the past? Could be a heat issue due
to the fan not working properly. I also saw recently that someone said
they had their 9800 Pro go bad on them and they took the HSF off and the
thermal paste had tried out badly so they re-applied some new stuff and
the card worked fine. Hard to say if heat is the problem though or if it
is just dying?

I am beginning to think that the beeps I heard from the PC were my videocard
warning me it was overheating. Damn it. Just stock cooling on there, but I
guess I will open it up and see whats happened. My guess is if it is
heating, it is too far gone now and needs replacing and extra cooling used.
Bother

 

[JK]

Why not have a go at fixing the cooling. If it works, it will be much
cheaper than a new card.

JK

 

[Lee Harris]

Why not have a go at fixing the cooling. If it works, it will be much
cheaper than a new card.

I have no idea how to do that. The fan/sink seem to be permanently attached
with plastic lugs and the screws holding the fan in place are tiny. I think
the fan may not be working.

as the problem appears very soon after turning it on, I fear it's
permanently damaged

 

[Doug]

I had similar problems w/my 9800 Pro. Even though it wasn't overclocked
(ever) it still was artifacting badly. I removed the heat sink and
discovered the thermal paste (TIM) had dried out to a flaky crust, which is
great for apple pies but not so good for thermal xfer. I cleaned off the old
thermal paste (w/carb cleaner and then rubbing alcohol), put on some arctic
silver III and added an old pentium high-speed, ball-bearing fan. All my
artifacting disappeared and I even o'clocked my 9800 pro to 416/380!

It's not too hard to get the heatsink off. You have to first remove the fan
which is held on by screws. Then you have to pull the pins out of the push
pins (from where the fan was located) and then gently push them out from the
other side. Installation is the reverse. Just make damn sure you don't EVER
apply too much pressure to the heatsink as you can damage the GPU core.

 

[ofn01]

I have no idea how to do that. The fan/sink seem to be permanently attached
with plastic lugs and the screws holding the fan in place are tiny. I think
the fan may not be working.

as the problem appears very soon after turning it on, I fear it's
permanently damaged

You can always have a go at fixing it.
Main thing is to observe static precautions - make sure that you use
either a static strap or if you don't have one you can get away with
touching any non-painted part of your computer while it is plugged in
(but not turned on!) and then not moving your feet while you do the job.

This page here is a review for an arctic cooler but it also shows with
pictures how to remove the 9800 Pro heatsink.

http://www.pclabs.gen.tr/article.asp?doc=295

You want to get yourself some ISO Propyl alcohol (most chemists or a
good computer shop should have this) and some new thermal paste (like
arctic silver) to clean and replace the existing thermal paste and then
re-attach the heatsink to the card.