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HD2900 Artifacts - Trouble ahead??

markuk80

markuk80

markuk80

Associate
Joined
20 Dec 2005
Posts
42
Hi,

I have had this card as part of a new system for the last 6 months.

A few weeks ago I noticed the standard XP screensaver had some blue artifacts on it but they would go away when the saver was deactivated.

Then on a couple of occasions, the whole screen went "matrixy" but the system was still running fine, you just couldn't read much.

Then today I booted up and got the artifacts again so rebooted, however upon reboot the screen was still messed up in BIOS mode! I wondered if the card was overheating so I took it out and made sure heatsink was secure which it was. I put it all together and booted up and within 10 mins I was staring at artifacts again. They have since gone away on their own as I type this.

My system is pretty standard and not overclocked in any way.

Abit IP35 Pro
Intel Q6600 - Thermaltake X120 Silent Heatsink with fan
Ballistix 2x1GB
ATI HD2900 - Thermaltake Silent Heatsink no fan
SATA HDD
Antec P180

The card is running at about 57c stock and I haven't played any 3D games in a few weeks. The system has been rock solid since I built it and it never crashes and even plays Crysis at an acceptable frame rate.

I definitely reckon its hardware but does anyone reckon my card is on its way out or could the memory cause this?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers ;)
 
mine idles at 45 ,full load 70-80

mine is a stock cooler with a fan,maybe thats youre problem.

as i notice you have no fan,if its the heatsink i think it is you have you can fit a 90mm fan on there to cool it better.

seems like a heat problem,or maybe a card on its last legs.
 
My 9800pro started with artifacts of red and blue on a black screen, then some on all screens, then the screen froxe with only the top 1/4 visible and then on a reboot, no image. Stock cooling and clocks.

RMAed it and got it replaced, some cards just die. Basicaly, if a card is creating artiffacts at stock speed with a (clean) stock cooler then its not working properly, send it back.
 
The cooler was a Thermalright HR-03/R600 which was said to be THE cooler to have for this board. Although I run it with no fan (I prefer quiet than speed) I rotated the CPU H/S 90 degrees so that the fan is above the VGA Cards heatsink and is pulling the air off of it and through the CPU heatsink (I know! not good for cooling CPU) and then an additional 120mm fan is blowing air out of the top of the case.

I have had top temps of like 80ish degrees at full load but the PC has been on a few hours now running in 2D mode and is currently 66c.

Also so far today I have had no artifacts!!! Everything is running fine!

Are there any utils I can use to test my card out for any hardware faults?

Also what is the difference between GFX Memory and GPU artifacts. I seem to remember reading someone say that you can tell the difference by how the artifacts appead/behave.

Thanks for replies so far guys :)
 
Ha, knew I had spoke to soon! Had a little bit of corruption on the windows screen saver again!!

Am gonna take your advice and RMA then. Does it take that long? Will it be through OCUK or ATI ?


Thanks
 
markuk80 said:
Ha, knew I had spoke to soon! Had a little bit of corruption on the windows screen saver again!!

Am gonna take your advice and RMA then. Does it take that long? Will it be through OCUK or ATI ?


Thanks
Click to expand...

OCUK seem to have revamped their RMA service recently so expect a quick turn around
 
Hi,

Does anybody know if using a different heatsink void my warrenty for RMA? I have recieved an RMA number but I have had to remount the original Heatsink. However I have run out of thermal paste and so have left a note asking to put some on before testing.

Is this the right thing to do?


Thanks
 
markuk80 said:
Hi,

Does anybody know if using a different heatsink void my warrenty for RMA? I have recieved an RMA number but I have had to remount the original Heatsink. However I have run out of thermal paste and so have left a note asking to put some on before testing.

Is this the right thing to do?


Thanks
Click to expand...

Definately dont send it back if its in that state :S Get yourself some cheap silver thermal paste before sending it back so that it will look original! there is no way your will get a replacement as you will have broken the terms! You have to get it to a state that looks like you havent tampered with it!
 
Bah thought as much. Have had to take off all the RAM sinks in order to put the back on. The sticky pads are usless now plus its gonna cost me 8 quid to post the heavy card back! :mad:

Just hope it is in fact the card thats faulty.

Blue lines and squares and corrupt 3D graphics and wire mesh everywhere during Windows and BIOS startup and then problem goes away after 20 minutes or a window change has got to be the card right? Right? :confused:
 
markuk80 said:
Bah thought as much. Have had to take off all the RAM sinks in order to put the back on. The sticky pads are usless now plus its gonna cost me 8 quid to post the heavy card back! :mad:

Just hope it is in fact the card thats faulty.

Blue lines and squares and corrupt 3D graphics and wire mesh everywhere during Windows and BIOS startup and then problem goes away after 20 minutes or a window change has got to be the card right? Right? :confused:
Click to expand...

Yeah its the card mate, wouldnt worry much! Basically if its faulty it will be replaced! HD3850 if you have a 2900pro, HD3870 if you have a 2900XT!
 
Thanks for the help.

Do you know if my cooler will be copatible. I have got a Thermalright HR-03/R600?

And are these cards any better or are they the equivilant? Sorry I coudl look but I am too busy trying to find some thermal paste :rolleyes:
 
I got loads of blue artifacts with my 2900XT on the windows xp splash screen, in the end turned out to the the DVi connector not in correctly.
 
Ah man, so I have to fork out for another heatsink! That sucks. :mad:

Um yeah I first started noticing the artifacts during windows screensaver and then whilst browsing the whole screen would have blue/yellow lines in it that stuck to the page as you scrolled down but you coudl still read just about.
I rebooted and had the same blue artifacts and also corrupt BIOS screen with random numbers but the system booted fine but with artifacts, then after a few minutes the screen would be ok again. Temps were fine if a little warm and all the ram sinks were secure.

Its things like this that makes me think why I bother with custom rigs :( When they work its all good but if something goes wrong ts just hassle. Good job you guys help out though makes it all the more bearable. Thanks to anyone who contributed!

Will post if I have any questions regarding my RMA outcome!!! Fingers crossed.
 
Flog the card whilst you can/cant I would say at this stage, especially if you get a replacement via RMA.
 
Yeah I was thinking that but at the time the temps were average and tbh I couldn't be bothered swapping over the cooler. Had enough putting it back on to send back!!!

Anyway, looks like the card was faulty and they are replacing it with a....Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3870 XT 512MB GDDR4. Think thats what was mentioned by jrodga2k5! Although y old card was a PRO.

So taking willhub's suggestion of selling the card and the old cooler. How much do you guys reckon I will get for them? If so what should I go for next.

Im thinking of switching back to Nvidia and could shell out £50 of my own money on top of what I get.

Cheers
 
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