RADEON 8500LE 128MB started behaving strangely

[WinSurfer]

I have had this card installed for about one year with no real issues.

Then recently I loaded up Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, and whoa!
widescreen showed as two separate bands, one with the body of the car,
the other with its wheels. Some scenery in one, some in the other.
Change to full screen (in the games options) and all is fine. Change
back to widescreen, same problem with the two bands.

Okay, so you might say, stop playing that old game.

Load up NHL 2001, everything looks normal...wait here we are at the in
game menu. At times the boxes background colour is there, at sometimes
not, the dynamic effect (light travelling slantways across the box)
shows up without the background. Behind the menu some of the stadium
speakers are pure white shapes on the back but the fronts look fine.
Now we go into game play, the shadows of the (up facing) players are
not on the ice, they appear to be overlaying the checking player. Very
hard to play this way.

Most of my other games seem fine, but of course I haven't played all
of them.

A friend suggested that this may have started because of heat issues.
The RADEON card has a fan, maybe it isn't working anymore. Problem is
there is no temperature guage (software or hardware) that can tell me.

(Side note, my sound card or speakers have begun to behave poorly as
well, static, popping, volume fluctuations.)

Windows XP SP1
Display Drivers Version 7.91-030625a-010027C-ATI

Dell Dimension XPS T800r
Pentium III 800 Mhz
512MB RAM
30GB HD
SoundBlaster Live! Value
and of course...RADEON 8500LE 128MB

 

[angelshamshel]

On of my three 8500Le cards started grinding with a faulty fan.
It never shut down completely but the graphics were affected and ATI
replaced the fan under warranty.
Their RMA process is a pain and they said their was nothing wrong with
the original fan costing me two shipments back.
Good luck....
PS I picked up a 7500 with a passive sink as a "spare" too.
Exact replacement fans are not easy to find also if your out of
warranty.......

 

[louise]

On of my three 8500Le cards started grinding with a faulty fan.
It never shut down completely but the graphics were affected and ATI
replaced the fan under warranty.
Their RMA process is a pain and they said their was nothing wrong with
the original fan costing me two shipments back.
Good luck....
PS I picked up a 7500 with a passive sink as a "spare" too.
Exact replacement fans are not easy to find also if your out of
warranty.......

ATI Radeon 8500 - replaced by ATI for a faulty fan
approximately 4 months ago. The fan is working.

Nevertheless, I've suddenly been having trouble as well.
My monitor will suddenly start to lose it's picture as if
the power plug was pulled but it comes right back in at
most, one second and never goes completely - it just sort
of shrinks and then returns.

Tonight the whole screen started going out of focus and
then coming back in, only to go out again.

I checked all the wiring and changed things around a bit in
terms of what is plugged into which extension etc. At the
moment it seems ok but I don't think I've solved it.

I'm running a Dell Dimension 8200. The AGP slot is too
close to the next slot which holds a full size Creative SB
Live card.

I'm thinking of moving the sound card to another slot and
moving a smaller card such as my modem card into the slot
next to the ATI. Think it's worth it?

Could heat cause the video to suddenly lose clarity and
then return a minute later etc.?

TIA

Louise

 

[louise]

When I first got this machine from Dell I noticed the
shared IRQs and called to question them. Needless to say,
the answer was that everything is fine and that's not a
problem.

I don't have an extra slot. However, last night I moved my
tiny network card into the slot next to the video card and
the sound card into the slot where the networking card had
been.

I chose the networking card because it was the smallest
card and therefore allowed for the most air circulation
around the graphics card.

What do you think?

Others have suggested it's a sign of a failing monitor
rather than a video card problem. This morning I turned
the computer on after it was turned off for 8 hours, and
the print was all fuzzy again. I have to question whether
this is the result of an overheated video card after an 8
hour rest.

I reseated the card, thereby turning everything off etc.
and now it seems ok again.

Do you have any thoughts about how I might isolate the
problem? This is a 21" Sony CRT for which I paid around
$700 no more than 3 years ago. The card is a replacement
from ATI which is only a few months old.

This is further complicated by the fact that there are days
when it just doesn't happen - sometimes a few days in a
row. Is there a way to test a monitor?

TIA

Louise

 

[patrickp]

When I first got this machine from Dell I noticed the
shared IRQs and called to question them. Needless to say,
the answer was that everything is fine and that's not a
problem.

I don't have an extra slot. However, last night I moved my
tiny network card into the slot next to the video card and
the sound card into the slot where the networking card had
been.

I chose the networking card because it was the smallest
card and therefore allowed for the most air circulation
around the graphics card.

What do you think?

Others have suggested it's a sign of a failing monitor
rather than a video card problem. This morning I turned
the computer on after it was turned off for 8 hours, and
the print was all fuzzy again. I have to question whether
this is the result of an overheated video card after an 8
hour rest.

I reseated the card, thereby turning everything off etc.
and now it seems ok again.

Do you have any thoughts about how I might isolate the
problem? This is a 21" Sony CRT for which I paid around
$700 no more than 3 years ago. The card is a replacement
from ATI which is only a few months old.

This is further complicated by the fact that there are days
when it just doesn't happen - sometimes a few days in a
row. Is there a way to test a monitor?

TIA

Louise

The best way to test them is by trying them with other components - another
monitor with your PC and your monitor with another PC. I would think that,
if you've not subjected your Sony monitor to situations where it might
overheat, get dust sucked in etc, your card overheating is not unlikely to
be the probable cause.

I guess you're probably running one of the more recent Windows OSs that are
supposed to allow for IRQ sharing; but it's still something I'd prefer to
avoid.

Bottom line is that that's what you get when you buy that sort of PC:
cut-price mobo and probably a case that's too small to allow for decent
cooling. Hopefully having a smaller card next to it (and thereby getting
the sound card on a different IRQ, too) might help your graphics card stay a
little cooler, but you do have a card that does need some degree of cooling.
Did you actually get the 8500 card with the PC? Not terrifically thoughtful
of Dell if you did.

patrickp

 

[Frank]

patrickp wrote:
| |
| <snip>
|
|| When I first got this machine from Dell I noticed the
|| shared IRQs and called to question them. Needless to say,
|| the answer was that everything is fine and that's not a
|| problem.
||
|| I don't have an extra slot. However, last night I moved my
|| tiny network card into the slot next to the video card and
|| the sound card into the slot where the networking card had
|| been.
||
|| I chose the networking card because it was the smallest
|| card and therefore allowed for the most air circulation
|| around the graphics card.

|| Do you have any thoughts about how I might isolate the
|| problem? This is a 21" Sony CRT for which I paid around
|| $700 no more than 3 years ago. The card is a replacement
|| from ATI which is only a few months old.
||
|| This is further complicated by the fact that there are days
|| when it just doesn't happen - sometimes a few days in a
|| row. Is there a way to test a monitor?
||
|| TIA
||
|| Louise
||
|
| The best way to test them is by trying them with other components -
| another monitor with your PC and your monitor with another PC. I
| would think that, if you've not subjected your Sony monitor to
| situations where it might overheat, get dust sucked in etc, your card
| overheating is not unlikely to be the probable cause.
|
| I guess you're probably running one of the more recent Windows OSs
| that are supposed to allow for IRQ sharing; but it's still something
| I'd prefer to avoid.
|
| Bottom line is that that's what you get when you buy that sort of PC:
| cut-price mobo and probably a case that's too small to allow for
| decent cooling. Hopefully having a smaller card next to it (and
| thereby getting the sound card on a different IRQ, too) might help
| your graphics card stay a little cooler, but you do have a card that
| does need some degree of cooling. Did you actually get the 8500 card
| with the PC? Not terrifically thoughtful of Dell if you did.
|
| patrickp

I know one thing. It is good practice to uninstall the cards from
device manager before you remove them. Then reboot without
them in the system then replace them where you want them.
Otherwise you will have numerous instances of the same item,
which will only show up as hidden devices or in safe mode.
I do believe that you have a heat problem which is prevalent
with Micro ATX mainboards.

 

[louise]

The best way to test them is by trying them with other components - another
monitor with your PC and your monitor with another PC. I would think that,
if you've not subjected your Sony monitor to situations where it might
overheat, get dust sucked in etc, your card overheating is not unlikely to
be the probable cause.

Actually Dell provided a much "lesser" card and I was the
one who changed to the ATI 8500 because I wanted a card to
do better graphics - Photoshop etc.

But I know you're correct about how they cut corners, use
cheap fans and not enough of them etc. They also put the
slots too close together and leave no room in the case for
additional cooling etc. I'm pretty turned off of Dell and
have been wondering, with increasing anxiety, what I'm
going to do when it's time for a new computer; mine is no
longer under warranty.

But - although I probably could, I'm a little afraid to
build my own system and have no company tech support for
backup etc. Is there a company you feel would build a good
system, provide support and not skimp using OEM parts,
cases that are too small etc.?

TIA again.

Louise

 

[louise]

Hi,

Yes, I've done a lot of upgrading that's not Dell style:
the ATI card, going from a 1.8 to a 2.6 CPU, a quiet
Seagate Barracuda instead of the whining IBM that came with
the machine, and doubling the memory to 1024 RDRAM and
adding a usb2 card!

Other than that....it's just like Dell sent it to me

I didn't remove the devices before moving the cards around
and did have to reinstall drivers. But now, from your
post, I definitely will go into safe mode and see what's
hanging around and straighten things out. This may explain
why it's taking so long to boot.

I've been working with it all day and haven't had an ounce
of trouble. I've moved the smallest card (networking card)
next to the ATI thus providing much more airspace for the
video card and no longer sharing the video IRQs with the
sound card; I've reseated the ATI.

I've also changed plugging around on my UPS so that the
major components (monitor and CPU) are more directly
connected to the wall outlet. (This came out of emails to
APC tech support because it seemed that if the power was
leaving the monitor, the UPS should cut in and it wasn't.)
I'm hoping against hope that all these "little" fixes
actually solved the problem.

If not, clearly time for a new machine and not a Dell,
since I've almost nothing left from the Dell anyway.

I'm actually in Manhattan. NYC is probably a good place to
find someone to build a machine for me but in fact, it's a
hard place to find someone to trust to build a machine and
stand behind it, if you don't happen to know anyone - which
I don't.

I am somewhat fanatical about quiet. I've replaced the
power supply, the cpu fan and the hard drive, all to obtain
relative silence.

There is a company in Washington State www.endnoise.com,
who uses and sells specially chosen "quiet" parts to build
a machine, and from whom I've bought the fan and power
supply. They also focus on adequate cooling - a good
combo.

If this fails again, I'll be looking seriously and quickly.

Thanks a lot for all your help and support.

Louise