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Fitted new cooler to X1950XT, now getting power problems...

5tephen

5tephen

5tephen

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Joined
16 Oct 2003
Posts
1,520
Just fitted an Accelero to my X1950XT which is part of a 2-week old system (specs in sig below). When I start up the computer, it goes for about 5 seconds then switches off, switches back on after a couple of seconds and continues in this cycle.
Sometimes it doesn't power off and goes through booting Windows as normal but it cannot see the graphics card; I can only control the machine over RDP.

The system boots fine if I have the graphics card unplugged.

What have I done to my card? I've fitted a good few Arctic coolers before and this has never happened.
 
Well I took the Accelero off and put on the original Sapphire one again, and the exact same problem is occurring now :( How could I have damaged the card by fitting a new cooler? And yes the power connector is fitted.

Note that the system works fine with my old trusty X850XT (fitted an Arctic Cooler to that too, many moons ago).

Thanks for the quick replies - any more suggestions?
 
Is it possible to crush it by over-tightening the screws, or short-circuiting it somehow?
The PSU was unplugged when I pulled the card in & out so there was no harm done there. The stock cooler stays spinning at full speed even while booting into Windows, does that signify anything? (Previously it slowed down a couple of seconds after powering on).
 
i have heard of CPU cores being crushed, especially the old athlon XPs, the GPU is completely exposed so i suppose you could crush it, but most coolers come with those wacky springy screws don't they specifically to stop over-tightning?
 
Ok, another update, get this.
I switch on my machine and after about 5 seconds it shuts off again (then restarts say 5 seconds later again). So I figured, before I package the card up for RMA, I would hit the reset button on my machine about 3-4 seconds after powering on to 'intercept' it shutting off. This fixes it :confused:

But I cannot keep doing this. It still powers off after 5 seconds unless I hit the reset button just before. Why on earth would it do this? And it's definitely down to the graphics card.
 
looks like you borked up the installation of the cooler. very odd.

also i recommend uising the hr-03 far better than the rest of the air coolers on the market.
 
Well, now it turns out that the procedure I was doing above just doesn't work at all now either. System keeps switching itself off and on.
*edit - also tried, for whatever reason, taking the battery out of the motherboard for a period then putting back in. No difference (as expected).
Will I just RMA this card?
 
I got a X1900xt doing almost the same thing
I put it down to drivers as windows boots fine if they arent installed...and also the odd occasion it works fine, and runs perfectly for days, until i reboot

My mate bought the card and took a dremel to the plastic heatsink surround, nothing was damaged on the card itself, or so we thought.

Perhaps the card is damaged.

Oh well, 7950GT arriving tomorrow
 
This sounds more like the common DS4 / RAM power-cycle problem. Try taking out one DIMM and see what happens. If you can get it to boot, check the BIOS and upgrade to F5 or F6 if necessary. You could well be on F2 which can give this problem. Increase the RAM voltage to 1.9V.

BTDTGTTS :(
 
Snapshot said:
This sounds more like the common DS4 / RAM power-cycle problem. Try taking out one DIMM and see what happens. If you can get it to boot, check the BIOS and upgrade to F5 or F6 if necessary. You could well be on F2 which can give this problem. Increase the RAM voltage to 1.9V.

BTDTGTTS :(
Click to expand...

What does that abbreviation mean? lawl
But more importantly, you just got me reading, perhaps it is down to the power cycle problem. The symptoms are very like what I've been reading from others. But would changing graphics card bring this on?
My DS4 is at version F6.
I set the voltage + timings for my Geil RAM to be what it says on its recommended settings. Also tried taking one out.
Then tried a stick of OCZ PC2-6400 but still no joy.
What else could I try regarding the power cycle problem?
 
Ok what we have now is a definite DS4 power cycle problem :(
I just tried the X1950XT in another motherboard (DS3) which also has different memory and different cpu. It spins up and eventually spins down again and then outputs a display. It does take quite long, however, before the fans spin down, over 10 seconds I would say. This isn't normal.

I take the X1950XT into my motherboard and the power cycle happens. Why would this card work on one board for 2 weeks and then stop?
 
BillytheImpaler said:
Been There, Done That, Got The T-Shirt

That's an old one I haven't seen in a while. I remember that from the BBS era. :eek:
Click to expand...
I'm an old one. I was using a BBS with an Acorn Atom and a 300bps modem the year you were born.....
 
5tephen said:
Ok what we have now is a definite DS4 power cycle problem :(
I just tried the X1950XT in another motherboard (DS3) which also has different memory and different cpu. It spins up and eventually spins down again and then outputs a display. It does take quite long, however, before the fans spin down, over 10 seconds I would say. This isn't normal.

I take the X1950XT into my motherboard and the power cycle happens. Why would this card work on one board for 2 weeks and then stop?
Click to expand...
Have you tried the DS4 with the video card from the DS3? I'm starting to wonder whether it's the voltage regulation on the DS4 or the PSU that's the problem. You'll need to do some careful swapping about to check.
 
Snapshot said:
Have you tried the DS4 with the video card from the DS3? I'm starting to wonder whether it's the voltage regulation on the DS4 or the PSU that's the problem. You'll need to do some careful swapping about to check.
Click to expand...

I have 3 cards atm - X850XT, X1950Pro, X1950XT. The first two work on my DS4, the X1950XT doesn't.
The X1950XT does not work on the DS3 system either. I don't have the 4-pin molex plugged into the DS4. Does this matter, and what is that socket used for?
I might try the other PCI-E connector as sablabra says but it's a tight squeeze...
 
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