Im going Back to Nvidia. Bad ATI cards or just bad luck.

HangTime · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:21

1KW Galaxy should be more than adequate for 2 single gpu cards.

Tute · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:23

HangTime said:
1KW Galaxy should be more than adequate for 2 single gpu cards.

That'll teach me to read the thread.

In which case, try them separately and report back.

reflux · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:27

Yeah, two 4890s in a high end system probably pull about 500w total.

It's a shame the OP has suffered so many problems. I have seen this kind of thing before with various pieces of hardware just not working as it should. When you think about it though, a computer is a massively complicated piece of kit, so it's miracle it works at all tbh.

Give those Asus 4890s a go, and if they don't work, grab a couple of 275s. They have a better cooler and they're a little faster at stock.

gurusan · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:29

Also blaming ATI for cutting costs is silly..Powercolor is the one that made the decision to go with a non-reference card, and as it comes with an aftermarket cooling solution it was really up to you to look into whether the PCB was of reference design or not.

However if the 2 cards have a 20C difference at full load I'd say one of them was not seated properly...

btw nvidia cards squeal just as much under load as ATI cards.....

reflux · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:30

gurusan said:
btw nvidia cards squeal just as much under load as ATI cards.....

I think it really depends on the PSU/video card combination. I had a 4870X2 that used to squeal a little bit with a Hiper 880w, put in a CM 750w and it sounded like a banshee.

Tute · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:30

If I was in the OP's shoes and sent them back again i'd probably just go for a 4870X2.

It's cheaper, will most likely cause less problems and will be very similar in terms of performance.

gurusan · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:32

Yeah you may be right. I've really only had 1 PSU since I've been more seriously into puter hardware and it's been pretty random. Had quite a few cards that didn't do it and quite a few that did, and could not see any correlation between NVIDIA or ATI and squealing.

ViRuS2k · 3 Jul 2009 at 00:59

Well guys i use to have a 4870X2 and it worked perfect, and it draws if not more power from a psu than 2x4890s..

the reason i ditched it and went 4890s was becuse there faster and they overclock better.

i wanted to maximize my systems full power being a i7 @ 4.2 surely i wouldnt be bottlenecking it with 2 4890s so i wanted a faster system overall.

i will try the 2x asus and get back to you guys though i will reply to this thread again when i get a update.

or make a new thread as probably i wont get them untill thursday as it takes OCUK 3 days or sommit to refund

Tute · 3 Jul 2009 at 02:00

That's the thing - I really don't think you'd have noticed a huge increase.

It's like going from a mildly overclocked GTX260 to a GTX285. An increase, yes. But not a massive one.

zytok · 3 Jul 2009 at 09:06

ViRuS2k said:
also the side of my case is off becuse of the summer ect
i would say its kinda roasting in my room,

er, not sure this is a particularly good idea? Isn't it kinda like leaving the windows open when you have air conditioning? All that airflow is not really going where it's supposed to go.

~>Dg<~ · 3 Jul 2009 at 10:15

simple fact is a lot of the ati cards are too hot. better cooling should have been fitted to the ati 4800 range then most of the rmas wouldnt happen.

i myself have had no other problems with ati other than the heat issues.

my next card will have a decent cooler if i go ati for sure

ViRuS2k · 3 Jul 2009 at 10:30

Well guys

I have just placed a order for 2x Asus cards
they will be with me on monday.

Now i have to sort out sending these 2x xfx cards and 2x battle forge cards back to ocuk for full refunds

i have both RMA numbers

would OCUK mind if i sent all the cards back in 1 box and put both rma numbers on the side of the 1 box ?????

might have to give them a call and check that.

hopefully everything will be sweet on monday could this be 3rd times a charm.. i trully hope so.

My Visa Card is getting a little bit fat LOL
thats £280 + £335 to be put back on my card once those 4 cards arrive back at ocuk... hope to hell i dont get a lot of intrest added in the next 6 days.

cHk4 · 3 Jul 2009 at 10:32

Yea I would give them a call to check that mate, best safe than sorry.

reflux · 3 Jul 2009 at 10:38

~>Dg<~ said:
simple fact is a lot of the ati cards are too hot. better cooling should have been fitted to the ati 4800 range then most of the rmas wouldnt happen.

Yeah, this is what hacks me off. Although I like the fact that most of the ATi cards are cheaper than their Nvidia equivalents, I can't help thinking that they save the money on the coolers. I mean compare the size and weight of the 275's cooler to that of the 4890....it's about twice the size.

Dark Sun · 3 Jul 2009 at 10:44

reflux said:
Yeah, this is what hacks me off. Although I like the fact that most of the ATi cards are cheaper than their Nvidia equivalents, I can't help thinking that they save the money on the coolers. I mean compare the size and weight of the 275's cooler to that of the 4890....it's about twice the size.

That's what puts me off the ATI cards at the moment. I don't like the idea of having something running at 90c next to me while playing a game. It will get even hotter during the summer nights and it will make the room bloody hot.

Hopefully the next generation of ATI cards will have better cooling and power consumption.

drunkenmaster · 3 Jul 2009 at 11:50

the one question I'd have is, outside of Furmark, what temp do the current cards reach in, you know, games, and are they stable, and do they run?

Tute · 3 Jul 2009 at 13:11

reflux said:
Yeah, this is what hacks me off. Although I like the fact that most of the ATi cards are cheaper than their Nvidia equivalents, I can't help thinking that they save the money on the coolers. I mean compare the size and weight of the 275's cooler to that of the 4890....it's about twice the size.

All cards run quite hot though. The point is if the company can shift the heat efficiently and quietly, and i've found that both ATI and nVidia do design good coolers for their cards. Only problem i've ever had with noise was an X1950XTX that i'm about 99% sure was faulty.

reflux · 3 Jul 2009 at 13:14

Well yeah, the 4890 and 4870 coolers keep the card cool, but at the expense of a lot of noise. My 4870X2 was fairly loud, but nothing prepared me for a 4890. They're great performers but earplugs, seriously.

antran · 3 Jul 2009 at 13:20

I got my XFX ATI 4890 XT on wednesday and is running perfectly.

antran · 3 Jul 2009 at 13:26

Dark Sun said:
That's what puts me off the ATI cards at the moment. I don't like the idea of having something running at 90c next to me while playing a game. It will get even hotter during the summer nights and it will make the room bloody hot.

Hopefully the next generation of ATI cards will have better cooling and power consumption.

My 4890 is around 65C while playing ARMA II with high setting. I swapped the standard cooloer for a aftermarket cooler and it only costed £10. Is still louder comparing to my 8800GTS.