HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ3 Turbo 512MB - Black Screen Crash

[Machine]

Getting home and unwrapping the new card (HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ3 Turbo 512MB) I was very excited, I'd sorted out the driver removal the day before and got this all in and setup within an hour very pleased I seldom have problems with new computer hardware anymore which is great.

I boot up FEAR and stick everything on full, something my x1600 wouldn't even dream of handling, I get in game and WOW... it's running smooth as glass.

Sadly, 5 minutes into playing the screen just shuts off, black - the sound is looping in the background and the only way to fix it is to reboot.

I try again, same thing, so maybe it's FEAR I thought? no, I try everything from Ravenshield, Vegas, Oblivion even the ATI Benchmark utility - they all crash out like clockwork after sustained play. Whats funny is that in windows, it's fine! only 3D applications.

So I pull it out and put the old card back in, it's slow but stable. I put the new card in another machine and boom, does it again black screen after around 5-10 minutes. I put it back into the main machine and monitor the temps, it crashes anywhere from 48 degrees to 60 - these temps don't seem particularly high at all.

+ Tried the Omega Drivers, the CD Drivers and the updated HIS Drivers.
+ Ensured the power cable is in and that the 650Watt PSU is sufficent
+ Removed the old drivers properly
+ Ensured that cooling is sufficient even bumped the GPU fan along with all 6 of the case fans up.

I'm clueless.. must be something else on the new GFX card that is faulty, It's waiting in a box to be RMA'd on Monday, the only thing I've had go wrong from OC.co.uk so hopefully they will be able to replace it.

I hope they do and that the new one works because for that short time seeing it run FEAR.... wow.. fantastic performance!

A quick google indicates that this may be a common issue, wondered if it had effected anybody here?

 

[Machine]

Fantastic, glad to hear you got it sorted - reassures me also that mine will also be replaced

 

[Machine]

Nah, it's a Hiper one good idea though, I did consider myself if the PSU was at fault.

 

[Machine]

Sorry my bad, getting the wattage muddled up with one in my other machines, here is the exact model not quite 650 but should still be adequate.

Hiper Type-R Series 580w, this review is for the exact one I have.

I'm using the 6 pin PCIE connector supplied with the PSU, I've using the one that means it goes from the PSU directly into the card, I.E I'm not hooking into other 4 pin Molex connectors that may be connected to your Hard disk if that makes sense!

Thanks for the help BTW.

 

[Machine]

Thanks Skeeter, I think the PSU is sufficient - the gentleman who replied second has a less powerful PSU and he eventually got it sorted, nothing down to it. If the power was not enough then surely it just wouldn't boot? or it would produce artifacts and be unstable in windows? I read somewhere that the voltage regulators on some of these cards are faulty / get to hot and cause the black screens but like you my knowledge of the intricacies of electronics is limited!

Tesh, Sorry to hear you have had the same problem twice over, you must be very frustrated. I hope that you get it sorted quickly, It's painful playing on your old hardware again especially when you've seen it go faster! I'm back on my Radeon 9600 because I sold the 1600pro to my brother... incidentally he's giggling like a girl over this as it's the first time his machine has been faster than mine...

 

[Machine]

Good to know chaps, I kinda knew but hearing others is reassuring

 

[Machine]

Well with mine it couldn't have been, as just today (16:00) they posted me a replacement card. I hope I have it tomorrow!!

Try testing your temp theory with the GPU temp on using ATI tray tools, I think you'll find it's not related - I know a few people here have managed to get it going by underclocking the card to 600mhz also.

I'll post my results as and when I know which is likely to be Saturday.

 

[Machine]

I assume I have to pay for p&p to RMA my package?

I think you do, but if it's proven to be faulty I don't see any reason why you then cannot claim the money back. A friend told me it was UK law but I do not know that is 100% fact.

 

[Machine]

Well I've put the new card in and it's looking good so far, had a half hour blast on FEAR with no problems and have been running benchmarks whilst I've done some maintenance on the car - seems solid, will continue to test!

 

[Machine]

Ok, been playing Vegas on full whack as well as FEAR : Extraction point.

System specs :
Gigabyte MoBo, AMD SanDiago Core 3700 (2.2ghz), HIS x1950 512mb AGP, Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 4 and 2 gig DDR PC4000

Fear runs at about 60-100 FPS, very nice indeed it's so so much better with all the funky shadows on.

Vegas runs between 40-100 FPS, some areas it does slow down to about 15 but I think thats sloppy level design as it appears when I'm looking in a particular direction and is very occasional.

The ATI benchmark will give me 850-900 FPS, my old Radeon 9600 pro gave me 200, so a massive increase for me there.

I'm downloading 3dMark06 now and will post results for anyone who cares But what is important is that I'm very happy with the performance and that the RMA went through fine without any problems. The whole thing took 5 days , I sent it Monday, they had it Tuesday, It arrived back on Friday - I can't complain about that level of service really.

Hopefully this will inspire a few of you who are hesitant to send your cards back for fear of getting another duff one to do so - OC.co.uk have been very reasonable for me and I can't imagine any different for you guys... and hey.. if any of you live in Lancashire I may drive over and lend you the old 9600 in your downtime

Thanks for the help given to me since I registered, from what I've seen this is a very friendly and helpful forum - I may stick around