having problems with ATI SapphireRadeonX800GT,256MBDDR3,AGP8x,DVI,TVout

[pavelinka]

hey ya'll there,
few days ago i've got this card specified in the title of this thread.

since then i haven't been able to run this card properly. screens like follows are appearing randomly.
sometimes the card runs throughout the benchmark with no problems, i use aquamark, but sometimes strangely corrupted textures appears. playing games like NFS Most Wanted are mostly ending up with restart by the reset switch becouse those screwed textures just wouldn't let me end the game with escaping or quiting the game.

anytime i'm forced to end up with the reset switch there're dots all over the post messages while booting. the dots appears even when the windows system is loading up.

a day ago i was so helpless that i even got a new 400W power supply replacing my old 300W high quality Fortron as the retailer i've got the card from states the minimum for this card is 350W.
the issues with this card are not limited to 3D applications only. a white line appears close to cursor arrow sometimes or there are missing icons in the systray.

before i'll place the claim to this card i need to make sure that there's no other problem in my system.
i don't have the system in my signature anymore but since i didn't find a way how to edit it i'll describe my system here:
DFI 875P Infinity, P4 Prescott 2.8GHz@3.1GHz 1.5V, 2x512MB(in Dual Mode) Kingston 434MHz@446MHz, 200GB Maxtor Diamond 7200 UATA, 200GB Seagate 7200 SATA, SoundBlaster Audigy 1, LiteOn DVDRW, Plextor Premium, Plextor Plexwriter, Power supply Sweex 400W maximum, all cooled down with air fans 2x80mm,1x120mm.

the version of ATI Catalyst drivers i've installed is 5.12.
PCI,AGP is locked to 33,66 in my bios.
voltage for agp bus is raised to 1.6V.
i have never had any problems on my overclocked MSI GeForce 4200Ti 4x.
shared memory for agp is set up to 256MB in my bios and video bios is set to cacheable and so is the bios.
i would very appreciate if anyone can help me to solve this problem or give me a usefull advice. thank you all in advance.

[yashart]

Have you tried this card without an overclock? have you tried setting the bios to default settings?

If i were you, I would lower the voltage to the video card back to 1.5 (or default).... I would also ditch the ATI drivers and download Omega drivers.

[peterdiva]

As it's happening before windows loads it's not a driver problem.Turn off both the caching options,and turn off fast writes if enabled.

[pavelinka]

As it's happening before windows loads it's not a driver problem.Turn off both the caching options,and turn off fast writes if enabled.

fast writes are not presented in bios, anyways i've checked how is this in ati tools and fast writes are switched off.
thank you.

[pavelinka]

Have you tried this card without an overclock? have you tried setting the bios to default settings?

If i were you, I would lower the voltage to the video card back to 1.5 (or default).... I would also ditch the ATI drivers and download Omega drivers.

haven't tried it without overclock, i keep the agp locked to 66 and don't have it on auto option, i was thinking before to set the whole system to default. i've tried to lower the voltage with no success. i may try the omega drivers as u say.
thank you.

[bravotsx]

i think you have a bad board. i'd just RMA it.

[yashart]

i doubt its bad... my 9800xt does the same things sometimes (maybe once a month). I will boot up my computer and i get the same lines and dots through the entire boot up and in windows. I usually just restart my computer and they go away.....

I would suggest flashing to the newest bios, and then tell the bios to load default settings. See if that solves the issue. Everytime i add a new or different piece of hardware (memory, video card, processor, ect) I load defaults and start overclocking again....

[pavelinka]

i doubt its bad... my 9800xt does the same things sometimes (maybe once a month). I will boot up my computer and i get the same lines and dots through the entire boot up and in windows. I usually just restart my computer and they go away.....

I would suggest flashing to the newest bios, and then tell the bios to load default settings. See if that solves the issue. Everytime i add a new or different piece of hardware (memory, video card, processor, ect) I load defaults and start overclocking again....

thank you very much for an advice. dfi hasn't updated a bios for my board for a long time so i guess i have the latest already installed.
i will try to start with loading the defaults for bios.

[jas420221]

Almost seems like a bent pin or something.. Have you checked that?

Also, maybe you just o/c it too much and cooked it............

[Drozdov]

that power supply is causing troubles...15A on the +12v? please try and get a better PSU.

[jas420221]

Originally Posted by Drozdov

that power supply is causing troubles...15A on the +12v? please try and get a better PSU.

A weak PSU causes artifcating? wha??

[Drozdov]

of course it does...if its not getting enough power then its gonna give you problem

common sense.

[Blitzen]

Originally Posted by Drozdov

that power supply is causing troubles...15A on the +12v? please try and get a better PSU.

I agree..
A power hungry card and a poor PSU dont mix!!!!

[pavelinka]

that power supply is causing troubles...15A on the +12v? please try and get a better PSU.

my 300W Fortron PSU gives me 18A on the +12V, do you think that it is better PSU for my hungry gr.card compare to 400W SweeX PSU with only 12A on the +12V fase?

[Drozdov]

Forton's are underrated and that 18A spec is "typical" current output while other companies advertise "peak" current output. The fortron is a good PSU, but at 300W it might be a bit too weak considering you have a prescott and multiple hard drives.

[lcplwan]

I will call those lines of death...
I had the same lines with my 9700 pro and then the card died...
like a doctor, im sorry to tell you this your card has only a few months to live.

[pavelinka]

hey yall there,
id like to thank you all for your contributions. today ive got a replacement for the card and it works perfectly so far.
thank you.