5850 died... what do I do?

1uke · 11 Nov 2011 at 20:19

Not sure what to do.... I had 2x 5850's running in crossfire to power my 30" monitor at 2560x1600 resolution. I was trying to wait until ATI bring out the 7 series until I upgraded but now 1 of my 5850's has died.... I was managing to play BF3 on high with pretty good FPS but now I will have to knock it down to low which surprisingly doesn't look to bad.

I have money to spend but don't want to waste it if possible as I'm saving for the next couple of weeks to finish of my watercooled setup...

Is there a reason Overclockers don't stock any ati 6990's? I have also been looking at the GTX 580 but assume I would need the 3gb version for my resolution which is pricey and not sure if I will see much performance increase from my previous setup of crossfire 5850's so I might as well just buy a 2nd hand 5850 until 7 series??

ThePengu1n · 11 Nov 2011 at 20:47

Have a look and see if you can get a cheap 5850 replacement (members market maybe?), and hold out for 7xxx.

Garyj881 · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:14

Try the overn trick, might put you on a few months.

1uke · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:14

Garyj881 said:
Try the overn trick, might put you on a few months.

?

Freddie1980 · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:20

If you video card has died why don't you return it and get it replaced?

The 6990 is EOL hence why your not seeing online any more, Gibbo confirmed it the other day in a 6990 related thread.

.Max. · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:21

1uke said:
?

place it in the oven for a little bit, remelts solder, worth a shot

1uke · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:23

.Max. said:
place it in the oven for a little bit, remelts solder, worth a shot

Erm sounds scary but im game to try... is there a thread regarding this? So I can find out for how long and at what temp....

1uke · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:25

Freddie1980 said:
If you video card has died why don't you return it and get it replaced?

The 6990 is EOL hence why your not seeing online any more, Gibbo confirmed it the other day in a 6990 related thread.

Not sure I can RMA them as I put a vf1000 cooler on it and its nearly 2 years old and Asus ?

.Max. · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:27

1uke said:
Erm sounds scary but im game to try... is there a thread regarding this? So I can find out for how long and at what temp....

it does

these instructions are from another site but;

1: remove heatsink and thermal paste
2: preheat oven to 385F to 400F( NO HIGHER!) ( gas mark 6)
3: lay foil over the oven rack
4: make 4 balls of foil, about 4cm high,
5L when the oven is heated to its corrent temperature, put the graphics card on the 4 balls, one on each corner )
6: leave for around 6-10 mins, NO MORE THAN 12 OR IT WILL MELT
7: ENOJOY!!!

drunkenmaster · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:32

Errm, its an asus, they only came out two years ago, it has to be under warranty still so...... get a replacement? Though it would likely be a 6950 at this point, I dunno they might have 5850's lying around.

I wouldn't jump ship to the most expensive and least good value AMD card(you can find 6990's around), because you'll be able to get a single 6970 that matches it in really not long at all, for what, under half the price and under half the power usage....

If you can't live with a single 5850 for a 3-6 weeks, maybe pick up a second hand one and assuming you got a 6950 back from Asus, sell it straight on, hopefully before the new cards come out and devalue it, infact if you got a 6950 back in the next month you could sell a basically brand new 6950 on the MM for WAY more than the 5850's go for.

So if you have to, 2nd hand 5850 for a while, rma the card, sell replacement, hold on to 7970/50's and, well I'd personally buy 2x7950's, more than enough performance, huge saving over the top cards(almost always I assume it will be the same this gen).

1uke · 11 Nov 2011 at 21:34

drunkenmaster said:
Errm, its an asus, they only came out two years ago, it has to be under warranty still so...... get a replacement? Though it would likely be a 6950 at this point, I dunno they might have 5850's lying around.

I wouldn't jump ship to the most expensive and least good value AMD card(you can find 6990's around), because you'll be able to get a single 6970 that matches it in really not long at all, for what, under half the price and under half the power usage....

If you can't live with a single 5850 for a 3-6 weeks, maybe pick up a second hand one and assuming you got a 6950 back from Asus, sell it straight on, hopefully before the new cards come out and devalue it, infact if you got a 6950 back in the next month you could sell a basically brand new 6950 on the MM for WAY more than the 5850's go for.

So if you have to, 2nd hand 5850 for a while, rma the card, sell replacement, hold on to 7970/50's and, well I'd personally buy 2x7950's, more than enough performance, huge saving over the top cards(almost always I assume it will be the same this gen).

Yeah sounds like a good plan. I will try find some Thermal paste and get the original cooler back on and RMA it. Then wait for 7 series. To be honest I could probably put up with low settings on bf3 as it doesn't really spoil the fun.

Freddie1980 · 11 Nov 2011 at 23:04

1uke said:
To be honest I could probably put up with low settings on bf3 as it doesn't really spoil the fun.

You mean to say you enjoy the game for its gameplay and not its looks?

Please close the door on your way out.

1uke · 12 Nov 2011 at 10:22

Tryed the oven trick this morning and has not helped. So I have installed the original cooler and messaged Asus asking to RMA the card.

Guess I'm going to have to play bf3 on low for now as don't want to waste money and really want to get my watercooled build finished.

Surveyor · 12 Nov 2011 at 10:27

1uke said:
Tryed the oven trick this morning and has not helped. So I have installed the original cooler and messaged Asus asking to RMA the card.

It's always a good idea to put your card in the oven before asking for an RMA :rolleyes:

1uke · 12 Nov 2011 at 12:48

Thanks for the sarcasm its always a great help

I thought it was worth a try to save both mine and Asus's time and money. I probably didn't leave it in the oven long enough but got to 6 minutes and that was enough for my nerves.

ChrisD. · 12 Nov 2011 at 12:58

You can buy a second hand 5850 for £60-£80.

Surveyor · 12 Nov 2011 at 13:03

1uke said:
Thanks for the sarcasm its always a great help I thought it was worth a try to save both mine and Asus's time and money.

You're welcome.

My comment had a serious side to it.

If there's any sign that the card has been baked in the oven then an RMA will be refused.

It's a last resort method to try and fix a card.

1uke · 12 Nov 2011 at 13:08

No sign, Even all the paper tabs look like new still.

Surveyor · 12 Nov 2011 at 13:19

Lucky for you then.

But my point was you'd no way of knowing that would be the case.

1uke · 12 Nov 2011 at 13:30

Yeh I got your point in your first post....

I did have a way of knowing as I have read up on it which states precisely not to go over a certain time and temperature. And to strip the card right down which I needed to do anyway to fit the original cooler.

The amount of times I have fixed things instead of rma'ing them in my life I have saved myself a fortune in postage costs and wasted time plus its pretty satisfying succeeding!!