3870 x2 Powercolor, after 20 mins gaming, no signal message, fan goes loud

[-iceblade^]

Happened to me on a 3870. stopped when i sold the card.

Also, google Guru3d, rivatuner, and you should find a guide that'll show you how to make fan profiles.

Also, please, edit posts instead of making multiple needless posts.

 

[engstrom0304]

Could it be a power issue,
I am using 2 x 6 pin connectors, with 750 watt psu, a Q6600 Go @ 3ghz, 4 gb ram, 1 hdd.

Is that enough power? Because i am getting some random crashes at perfectly reasonable temps

 

[engstrom0304]

as soon as i get onto th stalker main menu, the screen goes black and the fan goes loud.

On Vegas 2, it crashes after some gameplay too.

 

[engstrom0304]

This is definately not a cpu overheat because i am on watercooling (cpu anyway)

 

[kylew]

Now its crashing after only 5 mins use,

I restart and it crashed while still on on desktop. This is crazy?

Im thinking of getting a refund.

It did this when i had fan set at 55% constant

I've just returned a 3870X2 (powercolor too) for a refund, I was getting similar issues, I had your issue a few times too, the screen would just go blank and the fan would speed up, even on the desk top. If you can, get a refund and wait until the 4800s come out, you'll save yourself some money.

 

[Monstermunch]

I've just returned a 3870X2 (powercolor too) for a refund, I was getting similar issues, I had your issue a few times too, the screen would just go blank and the fan would speed up, even on the desk top. If you can, get a refund and wait until the 4800s come out, you'll save yourself some money.

Hi all…

I sold Engstrom the card on a well known auction site…

I had the card for about 3 weeks for the purposes of writing a review and doing some testing. At no time did I have any errors on the card, no crashes or errors of any kind whatsoever. I bought it new and IF there were any issues with the card I would have RMA’d it myself to the etailer and not sold it on the bay!

All 3DMark tests were run and I also tested it with CRYSIS and COD4 for a few hours each, again with no crashes or issues!

I set up a profile in Rivatuner to control the fan, but IMO if the fan controller on the card was the issue then you wouldn’t be able to alter the speed with Rivatuner at all. My assumption was that because the card itself ran reasonably cool there was no need for the fans to spin up faster. If you guys are claiming that it’s a general issue with these cards then I would say the most likely culprit is the ATI drivers and not the hardware itself because as I stated before if the fan controller was knackered you wouldn’t be able to change speeds with Rivatuner.

Engstrom, after I have had a chance to read further I would guess that your main issue is probably a power one… If memory serves me correctly the 3870X2 requires 1x 8pin & 1x 6pin connectors to power it. If you are only using 2x 6pin connectors then I’m not surprised that it crashes.

 

[engstrom0304]

Engstrom, after I have had a chance to read further I would guess that your main issue is probably a power one… If memory serves me correctly the 3870X2 requires 1x 8pin & 1x 6pin connectors to power it. If you are only using 2x 6pin connectors then I’m not surprised that it crashes.

Sorry, But you are wrong. Ati say that you can use 2 x 6 pin connectors but you cannot use ati overdrive. I am using catalyst 8.4,

I have opened a disute in paypal and escalated it.

When you recieve it you will see what i mean. You can send it back to the manufacturer.

EDIT:

I set up a profile in Rivatuner to control the fan, but IMO if the fan controller on the card was the issue then you wouldn’t be able to alter the speed with Rivatuner at all..

You are wrong again, the default profile is not working, you can make another in rivatuner. Just to let you know how i knew it was the fan anyway. I use watercooling on my cpu so the only noise i hear is from the gpu. It was completely silent. I had to check the fan was even spinning.

 

[engstrom0304]

I've just returned a 3870X2 (powercolor too) for a refund, I was getting similar issues, I had your issue a few times too, the screen would just go blank and the fan would speed up, even on the desk top. If you can, get a refund and wait until the 4800s come out, you'll save yourself some money.

Im also getting the odd crash on the desktop too. Tell monstermunch this IS a problem!!! This is an Ebay purchase and you have to feel sorry for me who spent 210 quid on it.

 

[kevpuk]

Marginally on topic, but I recently picked up a PowerColor 3870X2 with 2x6-pin PCIe connectors...it is one of the 3xDVI + 1xHDMI cards.....so I am figuring the cards will run fineon 2x6-pin PCIe ?? Unless this version is a revised one ? Certainly has a different cooler setup.....I think our chums here at OcUK have them here on Pre Order.....

Anyways, I have since returned the card as I think I will wait for the 4870X2/GT2xx drama to unfold..........long live my trusty 8800GTX OC until then.....but my point is that the cards should (seemingly) be more than capable of running with just 2x6-pin power connectors

 

[engstrom0304]

Yes Monstermunch here who btw said im 'obviously young and too inexperienced with this leel of hardware' was WRONG.

Ati say that 2 x 6 pin is fine even on the older version.

Not really too the point but, the picture on ebay showed the newer 6 pin version anyway until he emailed me to say the picture was wrong AFTER I BOUGHT IT? GRRR

 

[weescott]

engstrom0304, Monstermunch know his stuff or he wouldn't be writing up reviews.

Monstermunch made a suggestion about what the problem may be and was never condesending nor did he make derogotary remarks. This is not the place to start ranting about ebay purchases.
Monstermunch will sort you out (he is a good guy), so there is no need for the character assasination

Knowing the issues some people have had with this card and the normal 3870, the Bios fan speed issues etc... I would agree that it is most likely a driver/software issue.

 

[kylew]

Hi all…

I sold Engstrom the card on a well known auction site…

I had the card for about 3 weeks for the purposes of writing a review and doing some testing. At no time did I have any errors on the card, no crashes or errors of any kind whatsoever. I bought it new and IF there were any issues with the card I would have RMAd it myself to the etailer and not sold it on the bay!

All 3DMark tests were run and I also tested it with CRYSIS and COD4 for a few hours each, again with no crashes or issues!

I set up a profile in Rivatuner to control the fan, but IMO if the fan controller on the card was the issue then you wouldn’t be able to alter the speed with Rivatuner at all. My assumption was that because the card itself ran reasonably cool there was no need for the fans to spin up faster. If you guys are claiming that it’s a general issue with these cards then I would say the most likely culprit is the ATI drivers and not the hardware itself because as I stated before if the fan controller was knackered you wouldn’t be able to change speeds with Rivatuner.

Engstrom, after I have had a chance to read further I would guess that your main issue is probably a power one… If memory serves me correctly the 3870X2 requires 1x 8pin & 1x 6pin connectors to power it. If you are only using 2x 6pin connectors then I’m not surprised that it crashes.

Using a 3870X2 with 2 6 pins is perfectly fine, I've used both a 3870 X2 and a 2900 XT both with 6 + 6 and 6 + 8s, they both ran the same, except overdrive was enabled in CCC. I would say that the issues he's getting aren't driver related due to my experience with a 3870X2 acting in a similar way, though I did think it was drivers at first as there didn't seem to be any other reason for my problems. Engstrom's issues are very similar to what I had, and I'd guess that his card will end up going the way mine did, basically 0 games and 0 3D accelerated apps (sketchup mainly for me). It's best getting RMAd in my opinion, just do a few more tests Engstrom, try loading up a few instances of sketchup with 3D acceleration turned on, and AA turned on too. If your problem's like mine, that'll cause your PC to crash. If you've got a spare graphics card, try to replicate the problem with the spare.

 

[engstrom0304]

Will do

 

[engstrom0304]

Problem solved, but it just randomly started working!!!

Wierd

 

[weescott]

funny that. And no apology for user error either.

 

[engstrom0304]

I take that back, it is just slighlty more stable, it still crashes randomly sometimes? doh.
O well, im not planning on keepining this for long.

 

[engstrom0304]

3870 x2, Card unstable

Right ill start from the beggining.

I bought a 3870 x2,
I found that it was crashing when i was gaming. I thought it was a fan speed profile not working, which it still may be. I thought this because it was very quiet, and when it crashed, there was a no signal screen and a suddenly loud gpu fan.

I used rivatuner to control fan speed, couold hear hear the fan changing speeds but still getting crashes.

Reinstalled drivers etc. No help

One day everything starts working again...kinda

Go on holiday, come back and...gues what...its worse than it has ever been.

Remake fan profile on rivatuner, no help.

But in rivatuner menu, on the 'DRIVER SETTINGS', it says External Event Utility - Not found

Could this be the answer

Is this relevent, even though it is another driver?
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=550958&pid=588450236&st=0&

 

[Dougiebabe2003]

Reinstall windows and see if this helps....

I mean if it's hardware it won't help at all but if it's software/driver related then it will most certainly sort it... as long as you don't go installing silly things.

If it still crashes either while installing windows or after installing and just sitting on desktop then there's a problem...

Tis what I would do...

 

[engstrom0304]

i dint know wether this means anything but i did have a 8800gt working fine on this installation of windows. Does that mean anything?

 

[engstrom0304]

surely reinstalling the ati drivers would do the same as reinstalling windows.