had enough of 1950pro

[The Deuce]

had my x1950 pro(PCI-e) (sapphire) card for about 8 months now, and in all that time all i have had is heat issues. on std fan idle was 49 degrees and under load would reach the mighty 85 degree mark. I changed my PSU to a OCZ GameXstream 600w, more than capable of running the card and have also changed the std fan to an Accelero-x2. Idle temps are now 36 degrees and under load 49 degrees, BUT and here is the big kisser! i get constant black screens and crashes now after about 5 mins of gameplay. surely this cant be a temperature issue, the fan has been on and off more times than a cheap call girls knickers! i can surf all day without any issues but once the card is under load..crash! this happens in both XP and Vista so i know it isn't a driver issue and is surely hardware.

I've had it with ATi..i think it's time for Nvidia again!

 

[Cyber-Mav]

I've had it with ATi..i think it's time for Nvidia again!

who told you to get the x1950pro in the first place? you would have been warned that they run a bit on the warm side without aftermarket cooling.

 

[The Deuce]

who told you to get the x1950pro in the first place? you would have been warned that they run a bit on the warm side without aftermarket cooling.

a bit on the "warm" side, state the obvious why dont you..lol i believe i made the decision to buy the card, nobody else..lol

 

[Cyber-Mav]

its odd with aftermarket cooling like the accelero cooler it should run very cool.
now that i recall the main issue with cooling on the x1950pro is the voltage regulators. have you cooled them sufficiently?

 

[C64]

snap got mine 2 days ago it's going back for refund.
getting random black screens restarts etc psu is corsair hx 520
if it cannot do the job it's made for at default clocks with the side of the case open then it's a faulty product.

 

[spookywillow]

didn't sapphire change the card slightly or add heatsinks to their cards because of the heat issue on the vrm's? im sure they did at one point.

if you had your card for 8 months then i suspect you have the first revision which wasn't properly cooled.

 

[helmutcheese]

The above peeps is 2 days old (could be old stock though), is there sticker with date notched on rear of card like some have ?

 

[The Deuce]

its odd with aftermarket cooling like the accelero cooler it should run very cool.
now that i recall the main issue with cooling on the x1950pro is the voltage regulators. have you cooled them sufficiently?

the AcceleroX2 came with a VRm heat spreader, that does get very hot, i'd say in the range of 50+ degrees as an estimate. The card is sitting idle now @ 37 degrees, surfing and WMP playing "toons", but i can guarantee if i was to play a game, be it any game within 5 minutes it would black screen...No signal to monitor error then i would have to cold reboot. The thing i cant understand is why all of a sudden with a lot cooler temps has it suddenly started to crash, this never happend on the stock fan, i would just get artifacts then reboot and give it a few mins to cool down. On an artifact scan on ATI Tools, i let it run for over 5 mins and it didn't get over 50 degrees, then once i quit the scan about 30 secs later the card crashed to Black.

 

[C64]

The one i got has no heatsinks i can see on vrm.It is a new revision though
as you can tell by the capacitors and slighlty smaller main heatsink/fan housing.

 

[Cyber-Mav]

The one i got has no heatsinks i can see on vrm.It is a new revision though
as you can tell by the capacitors and slighlty smaller main heatsink/fan housing.

no vrm heatsinks spells trouble. do a search on the net about this problem.
for a test use a good fan and point it to the vrm then try and run a game and see if you get crash, if it does not crash then u know what the problem is.

 

[SkeeterUK]

My x1950pro with the HIS stock fan on isnt too bad for cooling i think. 44 idle usually but atm its 4.6 cos its warm at the mo in my room.

Duno about when load but dont think more than 55-60.

 

[The Deuce]

i've gone and put the stock fan back on, and guess what...no more crashes or black screen freezes...hmmmm

 

[fish99]

Sounds like the stock cooler is in contact with something that the Accelero isn't. On the AC site there's something about a new version of the X2 which now supports the X1950 Pro. I guess you have the orginal which doesn't.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=90

I've had it with ATi..i think it's time for Nvidia again!

Not ATIs fault here.

 

[spookywillow]

heres a very good thread about the x1950pro http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=23146

it list coolers that work and also show what chips need cooling on the card.

 

[The Deuce]

Sounds like the stock cooler is in contact with something that the Accelero isn't. On the AC site there's something about a new version of the X2 which now supports the X1950 Pro. I guess you have the orginal which doesn't.

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=90

Not ATIs fault here.

I have the LATEST AcceleroX2 which came with the VRM, i really am at a loss as to why it isn't working under load as my temps are excellent compared to the std fan.

And yes it isn't ATi's fault, it's mine for buying ATi and their sub standard overheating piece of junk

 

[The Deuce]

all sorted now guys, thanks for the links and advice. took it out and snapped into a million pieces..lol, honestly though, just bought a BFG 8800 GTS never looked back

 

[spookywillow]

you bust it up? seriously? lol i need a second card pm me if you still have it

 

[Scougar]

Don't worry your not alone. the VRM issue is a well known one unfortunately.

The XT's are also affected. Even with a 92 fan blowing directly over the VRM's it still wouldn't be stable unless i ran the stock fan at 100% the whole time. Not acceptable as it's like a mini tornado in your room.

If you had heat issue's how come you didn't RMA it to start with? I know you shouldn't have to, but did you try blowing a fan over the VRM's at all when you had the x2 on there?

Matthew