Graphics card failing?

[S.Boardman]

Hello. I bought a ATi Radeon 9800 Pro. It has worked fine until just
recently. The alarm that signals no power connection (message on screen,
boot halted) went off a couple of times, and then it seemed to work OK.

The alarm went off again today. Everything was correctly connected. I
unplugged a power connector (on the DVD) on the same lead as the graphics
card, and the voltages were fine - 5.02 and 12.01. A couple of times it did
start, but in 16 colours only on a low res, and said anything different
wasn't supported. Then it went back to the alarm after rebooting.

I have put back my old GeForce4 MX.

Any suggestions? I managed to get through Half-Life2 with no problems.
Should I send it back, or is there something else I can try?

(Win98, Barton XP2500 [o/c@1885MHz so far], 1Gb Corsair PC3200 RAM, Antec
Truepower 430W PSU, MSI KT3 Ultra mobo)

 

[kony]

Hello. I bought a ATi Radeon 9800 Pro. It has worked fine until just
recently. The alarm that signals no power connection (message on screen,
boot halted) went off a couple of times, and then it seemed to work OK.

I"m not as familiar with the circuitry on a Radeon 9800 as
some nVidia cards, but video cards as well as motherboards
are subject to capacitor failures. Examine the card for
any.

The alarm went off again today.

Just to recap, this alarm goes off when the system is first
turned on, then ceases soon afterwards while system is
POSTing or booting, or is there some better description?
Is it possible to take voltage readings at the moment this
alarm starts? Perhaps at that power connector? Had you
examined the power connector and pins on the video card to
confirm they aren't deformed in some way, discolored from
poor electrical contact or similar problem?

Everything was correctly connected. I
unplugged a power connector (on the DVD) on the same lead as the graphics
card, and the voltages were fine - 5.02 and 12.01. A couple of times it did
start,

Does this mean that it DIDN'T start sometimes? What
exactly, happened?

Also examine the motherboard for failing capacitors,
especially around the AGP slot.

but in 16 colours only on a low res, and said anything different
wasn't supported. Then it went back to the alarm after rebooting.

When it does that, check Display properties to see if it's
still identifying the card. I dont' know what to make of
it, if it is or isn't though, but maybe someone else
would...

I have put back my old GeForce4 MX.

Any suggestions? I managed to get through Half-Life2 with no problems.

So it was then in full color and resolution? Does there
seem to be any commonality to this? For example, one card I
have had a known capacitor problem that surfaced when the
case (card, capacitor) temp was lower. Gently pre-heating
the card with a hair-dryer could reveal whether this is
temp-related, not that it was overheating (but certainly
check it's fan if you hadn't) but that the electrylytic
caps' function degrades as temp falls... a rare case of a
too-hot-running system actually being more stable at least
for a little while.

Should I send it back, or is there something else I can try?

Yes, if returning it is an option (and since you have the
other card) that's what I'd do, unless further investigation
points to something else of course.

(Win98, Barton XP2500 [o/c@1885MHz so far], 1Gb Corsair PC3200 RAM, Antec
Truepower 430W PSU, MSI KT3 Ultra mobo)

You haven't changed the motherboard bios settings have you?j
Ie- everything else even remotely related to video has
remained constant?

 

[DaveW]

It does sound like you 9800 is failing.

 

[John]

When it does that, check Display properties to see if it's
still identifying the card. I dont' know what to make of
it, if it is or isn't though, but maybe someone else
would...

My neighbors card would internittently boot up in 16 colors and low
res I did all kinds of things over and over again (drivers , component
swaps , etc ) until I tested the memory and it was bad. After I took
out the bad stick no problems anymore. However he has other problems
that grew as the stick probably got worse - BSODs and corruption and
wacky behavior when I tried to reinstall WIN XP.

I just got done tearing my hair out. I was about to DUH send my
motherboard back and was getting pissed off at Chaintech because I got
a new seagate harddrive and decdided to reinstall everything do a
clean sweep and suddenly in the middle my board started hanging at
boot up right after the CPU info right before memory. I suspected
memory , then the seagate or some other problem. Then I stripped
everything off of it except the stuff plugged in and did this over and
over again since it fixed it a few times out of 100 times. By this
time I was REALLY steamed since I expected a trouble free install.
Then with it stripped down it stayed that way. I was thinking a short
- MB and case. So I take the stupid thing out and put it back in
carefully looking at everything. It works. I put everything back in -
it doesnt work.

Then I noticed I still had all the USB crud plugged in and when I
plugged my canon printer out - everything was fine. I was really
getting steamed at chaintech for the wrong reason. Just shows you how
weird PCs are. I cleaned the contacts on the usb cord at the printers
end and now - no problems. I have had so many bizarre contact
problems. Ive had sata connectors , graphics cards --- you name it
cause the weirdest problems. Unless the room Im in is unique I dont
see why everyone else who lives in a humid place by the beach arent
all posting about bizarre corrosion , contact problems.

Anyway -- have you cleaned the contacts on your graphics card ? And
used other power leads into your graphics card? Ive also had that
happen ---- used one lead and the 6800 wouldnt boot up. Tried other
leads and it worked. Then I went back to that lead to test it and and
its been working ever since on a neighbors system.

 

[S.Boardman]

I"m not as familiar with the circuitry on a Radeon 9800 as
some nVidia cards, but video cards as well as motherboards
are subject to capacitor failures. Examine the card for
any.

The capacitors all look fine.

Just to recap, this alarm goes off when the system is first
turned on, then ceases soon afterwards while system is
POSTing or booting, or is there some better description?
Is it possible to take voltage readings at the moment this
alarm starts? Perhaps at that power connector? Had you
examined the power connector and pins on the video card to
confirm they aren't deformed in some way, discolored from
poor electrical contact or similar problem?

The alarm goes off about one second after pressing the power switch. It
stays on, the system doesn't boot. There is a message on screen about the
power not being connected to the graphics card.
The voltages I gave were at the moment of the alarm going off (5.02 12.01).
I didn't check at *that* connector, but one on the same power lead. The
actual connector used shows 5.08 and 12.02. The 5V is a little brown on the
inside... The pins on the card look fine except the 5V one. It is brown on
the pin and the white plastic at the base of the pin is also brown. Guess
that's the problem.

Does this mean that it DIDN'T start sometimes? What
exactly, happened?

I bought the card in the autumn to play HL2. I did this, 1024 x 768, 32 bit
colour. There were no problems. A couple of weeks ago, I booted as normal,
and the alarm went off. I opened the case, all connections were fine.
Rebooting worked OK, everything fine for a couple of weeks. Then last night
the alarm goes off again. Rebooting got the alarm. Then I tested the
voltages which are OK. Rebooting then took me to Windows, the card was still
recognised corrected the was in 16 colours and 640 x 480. Trying to change
it resulted in being told by Windows that the graphic card doesn't support
my normal settings. Rebooting reulted in the alarm again.

Also examine the motherboard for failing capacitors,
especially around the AGP slot.

All looks fine.

When it does that, check Display properties to see if it's
still identifying the card. I dont' know what to make of
it, if it is or isn't though, but maybe someone else
would...

Yes it was recognised.

Yes, if returning it is an option (and since you have the
other card) that's what I'd do, unless further investigation
points to something else of course.

I only got in last autumn.

(Win98, Barton XP2500 [o/c@1885MHz so far], 1Gb Corsair PC3200 RAM, Antec
Truepower 430W PSU, MSI KT3 Ultra mobo)

You haven't changed the motherboard bios settings have you?j
Ie- everything else even remotely related to video has
remained constant?

Nothing relating to the AGP/graphics. Only the FSB a little bit.

 

[S.Boardman]

Anyway -- have you cleaned the contacts on your graphics card ? And
used other power leads into your graphics card? Ive also had that
happen ---- used one lead and the 6800 wouldnt boot up. Tried other
leads and it worked. Then I went back to that lead to test it and and
its been working ever since on a neighbors system.

See reply to Kony's post re brown contact.

 

[kony]

The alarm goes off about one second after pressing the power switch. It
stays on, the system doesn't boot. There is a message on screen about the
power not being connected to the graphics card.
The voltages I gave were at the moment of the alarm going off (5.02 12.01).
I didn't check at *that* connector, but one on the same power lead. The
actual connector used shows 5.08 and 12.02. The 5V is a little brown on the
inside... The pins on the card look fine except the 5V one. It is brown on
the pin and the white plastic at the base of the pin is also brown. Guess
that's the problem.

Yes it seems that way. I doubt you have a molex pin
extractor so while you could try bending the PSU connector
contact in more tightly after using something to clean it,
ideally you'd try another connector instead, also checking
that the other connector has a good/tight contact, since
several could be as loose as the first one was.

As for the card itself, I suppose you could try to return it
but it may not be necessary and (not trying to point blame
here, "but") may not be ATI nor the card manufacturer's
fault, unless they used a poor quality connector with
undersized pins. What I'd do to try to clean the pins is
take a Q-tip with just a tiny bit of brasso (or other very
fine abrasive) and insert it into the socket to clean that
contact. Then take a clean Q-tip and get out the remaining
residue. However, this is likely to leave some
discoloration on the connector's plastic shell, if you did
want to return the card later I don't know if an RMA
department would have a problem with that or not.


You might first try a less dirty cleaning method, maybe just
pushing the connector in and pulling it off again several
times to see if that abrasion cleans off some of the
corrosion and if it seems to work ok, THEN do a more
thorough cleaning of it.

 

[S.Boardman]

Yes it seems that way. I doubt you have a molex pin
extractor so while you could try bending the PSU connector
contact in more tightly after using something to clean it,
ideally you'd try another connector instead, also checking
that the other connector has a good/tight contact, since
several could be as loose as the first one was.

I used the 'connector doubler cable' that came with the card. That connects
to the cable from the PSU.

As for the card itself, I suppose you could try to return it
but it may not be necessary and (not trying to point blame
here, "but") may not be ATI nor the card manufacturer's
fault, unless they used a poor quality connector with
undersized pins. What I'd do to try to clean the pins is
take a Q-tip with just a tiny bit of brasso (or other very
fine abrasive) and insert it into the socket to clean that
contact. Then take a clean Q-tip and get out the remaining
residue. However, this is likely to leave some
discoloration on the connector's plastic shell, if you did
want to return the card later I don't know if an RMA
department would have a problem with that or not.

I will try and return the card - the store (Simply.co.uk) is good, although
I see it has been taken over... since the cable was supplied to be used with
the card.

There isn't any 'residue' as such, just brown. What's a Q-tip?

 

[John]

I will try and return the card - the store (Simply.co.uk) is good, although
I see it has been taken over... since the cable was supplied to be used with
the card.

There isn't any 'residue' as such, just brown. What's a Q-tip?

Its a product they sell in the US for cleaning your ears etc. Its just
a plastic stick or cardboard stick with cotton balls on each end.

 

[S.Boardman]

Its a product they sell in the US for cleaning your ears etc. Its just
a plastic stick or cardboard stick with cotton balls on each end.

Cotton-wool bud, then

The card has been accepted as faulty and will be collected tomorrow. Now I
have to decide whether I want one of those or a better card, since I'm sure
the next model up will have dropped in price. Decisions, decisions...

 

[John]

Cotton-wool bud, then

The card has been accepted as faulty and will be collected tomorrow. Now I
have to decide whether I want one of those or a better card, since I'm sure
the next model up will have dropped in price. Decisions, decisions...

See how much the 800 XL is. A truly hot card since its in the 6800gt
ball part at a much lower cost. However I kind of doubt its going to
be near 9800 pro levels already but it doesnt hurt asking. Maybe
theyll cut you some sort of deal.

 

[Mrlopez]

Hello. I bought a ATi Radeon 9800 Pro. It has worked fine until just
recently. The alarm that signals no power connection (message on screen,
boot halted) went off a couple of times, and then it seemed to work OK.

The alarm went off again today. Everything was correctly connected. I
unplugged a power connector (on the DVD) on the same lead as the graphics
card, and the voltages were fine - 5.02 and 12.01. A couple of times it did
start, but in 16 colours only on a low res, and said anything different
wasn't supported. Then it went back to the alarm after rebooting.

I have put back my old GeForce4 MX.

Any suggestions? I managed to get through Half-Life2 with no problems.
Should I send it back, or is there something else I can try?

(Win98, Barton XP2500 [o/c@1885MHz so far], 1Gb Corsair PC3200 RAM, Antec
Truepower 430W PSU, MSI KT3 Ultra mobo)

I just had the same problem 2 days ago. I powered off my system and let
it cool down, I opened the case and made sure the power connection to
the ATI AIW 9800 Pro was seated properly, and rebooted with no problem.
Hope these are just isolated incidents.