Problem with sapphire x1950pro

[JLC]

Hi to all

I am seeking some advice on a new setup that I have put together:
intel E6400 core 2 duo
580W Hiper type-R psu
Abit AB9 pro m/board
2 Gb 5300 DDR2 (4 x 512)
WD 320 Gb Sata 2 drive
Nec110 dvd rw
Sapphire X1950-pro graphics
Lian Li case 3 x 80mm fans and 1 x120 mm in top

The graphics card works fine on normal apps and runs at around the 50 - 53
c mark, which seems a little high to me. The problem comes when tring to
run HL2 or C/Strike Source, after about 3or 4 minutes the screen goes
blank and the fan on the graphics card speeds up and stays at high speed
until i have to do a hard reboot to get the system up and running again,
this also happened while trying to run 3d mark 05.
I have tried running with the latest 6.11 drivers with and without the
catalyst control centre with no difference. While running HL2 I checked
the temps on ccc and they showed about 69c and as usual screen went blank
as the fan on the graphics card sped up and the system locked up.
Happens with case opened or closed.
I would be grateful if anyone could shed some light on a possible cause or
whether you think I have a bad card

Thanks

My guess it's your power supply. I've never heard of the one you have, and
the X1900 cards need good steady power to run. 580watts is plenty of power
if it's a well made PS, but just like those car amps that sell for $100 and
claim to be 1000watts, you get what you pay for. I don't think temp has
anything to do with your problem.
As for the fan kicking into high gear, that's what the x1900 ATI cards do,
they throttle the fan speed depending on the demand. What's happening when
the cards fan keeps going is that since your system locked up, it doesn't
know that it's not under load. You should swap out that PS for a name brand
500watt like Antec or Enermax and see what happens.
Or now looking more closely at your RAM you might have a bad stick. Can I
ask why you went for 4, 512MB sticks and not just two 1GB sticks? The more
sticks you have the more chance that one might go bad on you. Could be you
MB doesn't like dealing with 4 sticks. You should DL Memtest 86 and run it.
If there's a problem with your RAM it will find it. Good luck and let us
know how it's going OK. JLC

 

[First of One]

1. Install the latest Intel 965 chipset drivers, as a start.
2. Is this the first dual-core or dual-CPU system you've put together? Try
setting processor affinity for the games.
3. You didn't happen to disable any ATi startup services, or install
ATiTool/ATi Tray Tools, did you?
4. 69C is perfectly fine. The high-end X1900XTs can easily hit 90C with the
default fan speed schedule, yet chug along merrily with no lockups.

 

[Dave]

Hi to all

I am seeking some advice on a new setup that I have put together:
intel E6400 core 2 duo
580W Hiper type-R psu
Abit AB9 pro m/board
2 Gb 5300 DDR2 (4 x 512)
WD 320 Gb Sata 2 drive
Nec110 dvd rw
Sapphire X1950-pro graphics
Lian Li case 3 x 80mm fans and 1 x120 mm in top

The graphics card works fine on normal apps and runs at around the 50 - 53 c
mark, which seems a little high to me. The problem comes when tring to run
HL2 or C/Strike Source, after about 3or 4 minutes the screen goes blank and
the fan on the graphics card speeds up and stays at high speed until i have
to do a hard reboot to get the system up and running again, this also
happened while trying to run 3d mark 05.
I have tried running with the latest 6.11 drivers with and without the
catalyst control centre with no difference. While running HL2 I checked the
temps on ccc and they showed about 69c and as usual screen went blank as the
fan on the graphics card sped up and the system locked up.
Happens with case opened or closed.
I would be grateful if anyone could shed some light on a possible cause or
whether you think I have a bad card

Thanks

 

[JLC]

I do know that this card does run hotter then the x1900xt (256) which is
what I have.
It's the extra 256MB of memory that uses more power which leads to more heat
build up. I think you should RMA the card just to see if that's the problem.
I'm running my card hard, and I've never had so much as a hiccup during
gaming.
Did you make sure that you are running the latest BIOS for your MB, and
that you have the newest chipset drivers? Also what card did you have before
this one? Did you make sure to totally remove the old cards drivers? All
this can cause problems, I'm sure you already know this, but what the heck,
it's worth a try. JLC

 

[Dave]

1. Install the latest Intel 965 chipset drivers, as a start.
2. Is this the first dual-core or dual-CPU system you've put together? Try
setting processor affinity for the games.
3. You didn't happen to disable any ATi startup services, or install
ATiTool/ATi Tray Tools, did you?
4. 69C is perfectly fine. The high-end X1900XTs can easily hit 90C with
the default fan speed schedule, yet chug along merrily with no lockups.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."




Thanks for the reply

1. latest intel chipset drivers installed

2. Affinity made no difference

3. Have run with drivers only loaded and initially with only drivers
supplied by manufacturer, no ati tools installed.

Have also tried running with 1Gb of ram using all the sticks in various
combinations, still occurrs. Also have monitored power to the card with a
meter does not drop at all when happens.

Have been looking on various forums found several people with exactly the
same issue, who had a replacement due to a bad batch.

Will try to return as only 6 days old, as have run out of ideas.

Once again thanks for your suggestions

 

[Dave]

Hi to all

I am seeking some advice on a new setup that I have put together:
intel E6400 core 2 duo
580W Hiper type-R psu
Abit AB9 pro m/board
2 Gb 5300 DDR2 (4 x 512)
WD 320 Gb Sata 2 drive
Nec110 dvd rw
Sapphire X1950-pro graphics
Lian Li case 3 x 80mm fans and 1 x120 mm in top

The graphics card works fine on normal apps and runs at around the 50 - 53
c mark, which seems a little high to me. The problem comes when tring to
run HL2 or C/Strike Source, after about 3or 4 minutes the screen goes
blank and the fan on the graphics card speeds up and stays at high speed
until i have to do a hard reboot to get the system up and running again,
this also happened while trying to run 3d mark 05.
I have tried running with the latest 6.11 drivers with and without the
catalyst control centre with no difference. While running HL2 I checked
the temps on ccc and they showed about 69c and as usual screen went blank
as the fan on the graphics card sped up and the system locked up.
Happens with case opened or closed.
I would be grateful if anyone could shed some light on a possible cause or
whether you think I have a bad card

Thanks
Hi Again

Interesting read on sapphire's forum with people having the same problem.
Appears to happen mainly with the 965 chipset, Power appears to be an issue
in some cases but even with a PSU with a high amperage on the 12v rails
problem still occurs. The Graphics GPU seems to shut down at 70 - 74C and
the fan isn't speeding up to keep it cool.

I have installed Riva tuner to set the graphics fan at 75% and have ran 3d
mark 05 with no problems also HL2 runs fine at that setting,.

I don't see why I should have to use a third party app to control the fan on
the graphics card, there has to be a conflict somewhere with the bios on the
graphics card and the chipset or just a faulty card.

I am still debating whether to RMA the card or just set my own fan speeds.

Dave

 

[Dave]

Interesting read on sapphire's forum with people having the same problem.
Appears to happen mainly with the 965 chipset, Power appears to be an
issue in some cases but even with a PSU with a high amperage on the 12v
rails problem still occurs. The Graphics GPU seems to shut down at 70 -
74C and the fan isn't speeding up to keep it cool.

I have installed Riva tuner to set the graphics fan at 75% and have ran 3d
mark 05 with no problems also HL2 runs fine at that setting,.

I don't see why I should have to use a third party app to control the fan
on the graphics card, there has to be a conflict somewhere with the bios
on the graphics card and the chipset or just a faulty card.

I am still debating whether to RMA the card or just set my own fan speeds.

Dave
Sorry forgot to insert link for forum

http://www.sapphiretech.com/en/forums/showthread.php?t=8522

 

[Dave]

I do know that this card does run hotter then the x1900xt (256) which is
what I have.
It's the extra 256MB of memory that uses more power which leads to more
heat build up. I think you should RMA the card just to see if that's the
problem. I'm running my card hard, and I've never had so much as a hiccup
during gaming.
Did you make sure that you are running the latest BIOS for your MB, and
that you have the newest chipset drivers? Also what card did you have
before this one? Did you make sure to totally remove the old cards
drivers? All this can cause problems, I'm sure you already know this, but
what the heck, it's worth a try. JLC

Complete new install and latest m/board Bios and latest 965 chipset drivers
from the intel site. Have found a lot of people with the same probs GPU hits
75C and shuts down but computer stays running, fan on graphics card does not
step up in speed until its too late, appears to happen on mainly 965 chipset
boards.

Thanks

Dave