How how should 9800's get?

[Sham B]

Hi folks.

Yep, I'm one of the many people moving up to the 9800 Pros (from a 9500 pro)
now that they are so cheap. I got the 9800 expecting a big hike in quality,
resolution and constant frame rates, (not performance) and am really happy
with it on that front up to 1280x1024 for games

Anyway, I'm finding that the heatsink runs really hot (like only just
bearable enough to touch). Do they all do that?

Also, I'm finding that if I try to run at 1600x1280 with FSAA I see a 'you
tried to access a memory location that doesn't exist' type error. It does
this straight away (doesn't open the screen and then fail, so I *don't
think* its a heating problem, although it sounds like the sort of thing I
used to see when my old 9500 pro was running hot, and after a few minutes of
play, and its at stock speeds)... is this normal or do I have a borderline
hot card? It might also be a mobo config thing - I have fast writes off,
but can anything else cause this?

It works well with FSAA at 1280x1024 (I tried it with Lock-on and it ran
really well at that setting with high texture settings, which tended to
really kill the 9500, and it did it for a good hour)

I was going to put an artic cooler on it anyway, but once I've done that I
cant really send the thing back, so wondered if what I see is normal.

I'm running winXP Pro, 1024Mb, 2700 memory cat3.7. Sapphire 9800 Pro,
128Mb.
I've also got a rather slow XP2000+ processor and a KT333DA (both a couple
of years old), both of which may have some bearing on it.

thanks for any illumination.

S

 

[Sham B]

whoops. should have been how *hot* should 9800's get

 

[DDR]

i've the same card as well.
the heastsink gets hot (altough not that hot, i can touch it const.) but the
memory runs very hot (i can barely touch it),

as for the 1600FSAA, the 128megs is not enough, use lower res. or no AA
(anyway what diff. you get 1600noAA and 1280AA.)

 

[Sham B]

Thanks DDR

Sounds like the heat is a feature of the card then. Havent had a card get
that hot since the geForce 256

Since this morning the 9800's actually started working (for no apparent
reason) at 1600x1200, no FSAA and FSAA, but as you say, why bother

Think I'll put that artic cooler on the gpu with some silver5 anyway just to
be safe, and to cool the inside of the PeeCee some


S

 

[JLC]

Thanks DDR

Sounds like the heat is a feature of the card then. Havent had a card get
that hot since the geForce 256

Since this morning the 9800's actually started working (for no apparent
reason) at 1600x1200, no FSAA and FSAA, but as you say, why bother

Think I'll put that artic cooler on the gpu with some silver5 anyway just to
be safe, and to cool the inside of the PeeCee some

If you're concerned about heat build up, get yourself a Zalman 90mm fan and
PCI bracket. If you do a search for Zalman bracket you'll find one easily. I
have one and it works very well at keeping my 9800Pro cool. What's handy is
it cools both sides of the card. I don't have a side fan in my case for I
drilled some holes to let fresh air in. JLC

 

[Darthy]

Hi folks.

Anyway, I'm finding that the heatsink runs really hot (like only just
bearable enough to touch). Do they all do that?

Heatsinks get hot... they are designed to bleed off heat. Some are
warmer than others. ATI speced the HS to work a certian way... don't
touch them.

Also, I'm finding that if I try to run at 1600x1280 with FSAA I see a 'you
tried to access a memory location that doesn't exist' type error. It does
this straight away (doesn't open the screen and then fail, so I *don't
think* its a heating problem, although it sounds like the sort of thing I

Sounds like a rare reason to need 256mb of RAM. not a heat problem.

used to see when my old 9500 pro was running hot, and after a few minutes of
play, and its at stock speeds)... is this normal or do I have a borderline
hot card? It might also be a mobo config thing - I have fast writes off,
but can anything else cause this?

A case with bad cooling may have heat issues...