ATI Cards prone to failure?

[RT]

I had two 9800's fail, no problem returned to ATi for a replacement. My
XL800 failed just recently, unfortunately wasn't covered by warranty. It
did however give me an excuse to buy a new vid card (X1950 Pro).

Is this unusual? Perhaps I need better cooling but my case is usually open
with a fan blowing on the interior in the summer.

RT

 

[Strutter1982]

If your system keeps going through video cards, then I'd assume that there's
something wrong with your computer, not the ATI cards.

 

[Kent_Diego]

I had two 9800's fail, no problem returned to ATi for a replacement. My

XL800 failed just recently, unfortunately wasn't covered by warranty. It
did however give me an excuse to buy a new vid card (X1950 Pro).

Is this unusual? Perhaps I need better cooling but my case is usually open
with a fan blowing on the interior in the summer.

I have RMA'ed my 9700/9800 Pro four times each time getting new one in
exchange. They are very unreliable. I have three X800's and they seem to be
OK but now ATI has reduced to warrantee period from 3 years to one year. If
you get a card not "Built by ATI" forget any RMA. I have had it. The nVidia
brands eVGA, BFG and XFX all have lifetime (or more) warranty. So I am
thinking to go that route for my next $300+ video card. The only trouble is
that the X1950's are so darned cheap it is tempting to save the money and
hope for the best. Hopefully a 7800GS can be had for a similar price.

 

[Augustus]

I had two 9800's fail, no problem returned to ATi for a replacement. My
XL800 failed just recently, unfortunately wasn't covered by warranty. It
did however give me an excuse to buy a new vid card (X1950 Pro).

Is this unusual? Perhaps I need better cooling but my case is usually open
with a fan blowing on the interior in the summer.

I've owned multiple ATI (some Sapphire, rest ATI) cards and never have had
one quit on me. They've all been o/c and run 24/7 in every system. The
9800Pro (which has run for 4 years now at slightly over XT clocks 24/7) is
still going strong in my kid's system. I've also owned multiple Nvidia cards
from different maufacturers and found them equally reliable. Currently using
an eVGA 7800GTX OC for the last 1 1/2 years.

 

[GTD]

I've owned multiple ATI (some Sapphire, rest ATI) cards and never have had
one quit on me. They've all been o/c and run 24/7 in every system. The
9800Pro (which has run for 4 years now at slightly over XT clocks 24/7) is
still going strong in my kid's system. I've also owned multiple Nvidia cards
from different maufacturers and found them equally reliable. Currently using
an eVGA 7800GTX OC for the last 1 1/2 years.

Same here. 2xRage 32 AGP cards, 1 Radeon 7200, 1 9700Pro, 1 9800 Pro, an
X850 PCIe, and now a 1950xtx. all flawless, , except, , my own fault,
bashed the 9700 mounting my waterblock on it and it was trashed, , and
Comp-usa exchanged it (had the extended warranty thing from them). By
then they only had 9800 pros, so that's what I got. All of them
overclocked, run hard, ect. I am willing to bet that people that are
having repetative problems with their card are running cheap PSUs. I
have NEVER bought a cheap or smallish PSU and I rarely have problems
with anything failing.

If you have to open your case and blow a fan into it, you really need to
do something about the cooling. I use Lian-Li cases, and they're cool
and quiet. They seem to have figured out the whole airflow aspect of it
because my systems, no matter how much they are OCd stay cool.

 

[GTD]

I have RMA'ed my 9700/9800 Pro four times each time getting new one in
exchange. They are very unreliable. I have three X800's and they seem to be
OK but now ATI has reduced to warrantee period from 3 years to one year. If
you get a card not "Built by ATI" forget any RMA. I have had it. The nVidia
brands eVGA, BFG and XFX all have lifetime (or more) warranty. So I am
thinking to go that route for my next $300+ video card. The only trouble is
that the X1950's are so darned cheap it is tempting to save the money and
hope for the best. Hopefully a 7800GS can be had for a similar price.

All 4 97/9800s in the same system? If so, that's more likely to be
something else causing it. . .

 

[Kent_Diego]

..........

All 4 97/9800s in the same system? If so, that's more likely to be
something else causing it. . .

In various computers over the years. I have 5 and I have kids and relatives
that get my old parts. No boot seems to be the biggest problem. I was stuck
with a Power Color 9800 Pro that quit. In looking at it, I found a large
inductor was getting very hot causing solder connection to fail. I have
repaired twice and resorted to lowering GPU clock speed to keep cooler. I
just quit again last week. When I touched an other inductor, it fell off. I
will re-solder and hope for fix. The Power Color card is exact same as
"Built by ATI" except serial number. I think there is generic solder issue.
Maybe they just went to lead free solder and still have not worked out the
bugs?

 

[Augustus]

I am willing to bet that people that are

having repetative problems with their card are running cheap PSUs. I have
NEVER bought a cheap or smallish PSU and I rarely have problems with
anything failing.

If you have to open your case and blow a fan into it, you really need to
do something about the cooling.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here.

 

[Phil]

No, they are not. Otherwise everyone who ever bought one would be
complaining.

PS Are you an nVidia fanboi?

 

[RT]

Interestingly my X1950 has worked fine in an enclosed case with room
temperatures as high as 30C without problem.