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Major Artefacts > HIS ATI RADEON X1950 PRO ICEQ3 Turbo 256MB GDDR3 (AGP)

Just read the whole thread so here's my tuppence worth:

I get the same artifacts with my setup if I run it on a generator at low speed, turn the generator up and they disappear. So it's definately the power supply.

My rig in the sig runs off 400w power supply so Jeantech are being a bit frugal with the truth.
 
Dude, I have exactly the same problem as you! i have the same HIS card (well the 512mb version) and I get all those artifacts!
My specs: P4 3ghz northwood 800fsb, msi neo2 fisr2 mobo, 1gig dual channel ddr400, seasonic 650w psu.

I used to run a 9800 pro, but around xmas i suddenly started getting artifacts when running games. I thought ok, the trusty 5yr old 9800 has given up the ghost, so i ordered and installed the HIS X1950 Pro 512mb with the latest drivers.
It started out fine, but then on certain games at random times i get all the crazy glitches etc, so i have to restart! it can be fine for hours after, then it'll happen again.

What i did find strange was, i was playing empire at war with a mate over the net, and whilst talking to him via mic decided to turn up the volume on my speakers, instantly my game glitched up!
I also played F.E.A.R the other day, and during the game i scrolled my mouse wheel to change weapon, and again, instant glitches!!!

I assume that since i've run numerous checks on my system ram, the psu is big enough and very new, there seem to be no related cpu probs, the gfx card is new and I have had the above problems....... it has to be the mobo! (which means maybe my old 9800 pro is actually ok).
So i've ordered another mobo that'll support the rest of my hardware and will check it out as soon as i get it.... if it solves the problem i'll let you know
 
Well over the weekend I finally got around to putting in my new motherboard. Installed loads of games, and they all work perfectly!! not a glitch in sight! so it looks like the motherboard was the problem (must test my old 9800pro now), hopefully the fix for your problem is just as easy! god luck dude!
 
I'd go with a new psu like so many have already said! Yes it could be the x1950 (people have had problems with them on occasion!) but with a 12v rail dropping below 11v you're gonna have problems! Get it swapped out!

Something like an enrmax 460 or corsair 520 should do the trick and won't break the bank! My gf's pc has an enermax 460 and it powers an x850xt @ 621/596 and an overclocked a64 3700+ perfectly. It doesn't even get warm!

Look at it this way - you could send the card or the mobo back to get rma'd and if they find nothing you'd pay for the privilege (postage/testing etc). If you ended up doin that for both of those items you're pretty much talking £60 which is very nearly that PSU.

To be honest your system needs a better power supply so the upgrade will have to happen sooner or later anyway - if it doesn't solve the problem it will only help get you closer to the cause and mean you've also got an item you can really depend on. I always maintain that my tagan 580 has been the best component i've ever bought. It has been a stable/reliable power source and has stayed with me over 3 or 4 generations of my pc! :)

gt
 
Sorry to elbow in here, but I've got the 512MB HIS AGP and I'm seeing exactly the same issues. I've not done huge amounts of testing until the weekend, as it doesn't seem to affect all games - I started playing my old Knights of the Old Republic as a test (it was fine) and couldn't stop :-)

Anyway, I pulled out FEAR (which was the reason for replacing my trusty 9600pro) and, five minutes into the game, the same chess-board artefact patterns ChemHazMat describes. As soon as they appear, everything becomes unstable and the machine often reboots hard when I try to save the game before restarting. Far Cry lasts about 5 minutes too. Also experienced problems in Doom3, although it took longer to manifest. Strangely, it made it through the HL2 Lost Coast demo, but it didn't make it through the less challenging Republic Commando, although I've always seen polygon tearing on ATi cards on this.

The machine it's in had a clean install of XP in honour of the new card (and a couple of new Raptors) and got the 7.1's installed. Used the ATi removal tool to downgrade to 6.12 with no further joy, and put 7.2 on yesterday. Temps seem okay (for a Prescott system, anyway), CCC reports 46 for the GPU when I check straight after the artefacting (ATiTool reports 54, I'm assuming they check different sensors, but it still seems fine to me). I've had the side off the case and the temperatures drop a little but the artefacts still come.

I haven't checked my PSU rails, but it's a 600W Enermax Noisetaker, so I'd have thought it was up to the job! Using the proper PCIe connector, not an adapter.

System is a 3.2 Prescott in an Abit IC7-MAX3 (latest BIOS). 1GB of (iirc) matched GeiL value PC3200, 2 x 150GB Raptors. Other sundries (Audigy2, couple of DVD drives, 3com wireless) and running an nlited XP SP2.

System was rock solid before the upgrade, and nothing has changed apart from the new 150GB Raptors (which were themselves replacing a pair of 36GB Raptors). Indeed, this box is fine if I stay out of 3D (great, lol) and it's fine on for days at a time if I'm seeding or encoding.

Everything running in spec. Only BIOS tweak of note is AGP ratio is set to fixed to address an Abit ICH5 and 150GB Raptor boot issue.

Anybody know how OcUK will test the card if I RMA it? I've been stung by returns a few times myself (although not to the tune of 30-odd quid) and am even more wary given the story above. I think it's faulty RAM as suggested above, but how to test?
 
KingNowt,

Try checking your ram first. Instead of rma'ing it try something like memtest or instead try one stick at a time installed in your system (i assume you have 2x512 sticks). Normally in cases like ddr failure it's only one stick that's at fault.

I'll assume the psu's fine! Those enermax's are fairly bullet proof! So i would say if the problem persists that the x1950's possibly at fault. You could reseat the cooler with AS5 (no one would know - warranty would remain intact! ;) ) or simply aim a fan at the card to keep temps down. I know the core's not hot but the memory could be overheating causing the artefacts! The way the games seem to work for a while then fail suggests heat build up somewhere!

gt
 
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Hi gt_junkie,

My bad, I was referring to the RAM on the HIS - I'm fairly sure the system RAM is fine, as it's been rock solid for a couple of years now but I'll memtest it tonight to make sure.

Does anyone know the testing OcUK does on graphics card RMA's?

Cheers!
 
Photoshop - indeed I do, I just edited it before 'cos it's been a while since I last posted and I appear to have done something odd to the formatting; still not sure where the line breaks are coming from as they ain't there on the preview...

I've shortened it to be less annoying until I get a chance to do it properly. Sorry about that :rolleyes:
 
KingNowt said:
Hi gt_junkie,

My bad, I was referring to the RAM on the HIS - I'm fairly sure the system RAM is fine, as it's been rock solid for a couple of years now but I'll memtest it tonight to make sure.

Does anyone know the testing OcUK does on graphics card RMA's?

Cheers!
Click to expand...
No probs - wasn't sure which it was! :)

I figure they'd just plug it in then game test it till it failed! If you can open the case and aim a fan at the card that may remedy it. Then you'll know your card's mem's overheating and be able to let OCUK know in advance so they'll know what to look for and then can attempt to replicate the fault!

gt
 
Me again! Well after i put in the new motherboard, installed games, played them for ages and no problems, yesterday i decided to 'up' the gfx in oblivion......... within half an hour, the artifacts suddenly appeared onscreen!

I also downloaded the demo of c+c3 last night......installed fine, ran fine on full effects etc but kept it at 1024x768 and not a problem, thought the game looked a bit blurry and so upped the res to 1600x1200..........within two minutes the artifacts were back!.... though mine do disappear after restarting.

At the moment i haven't got much further with finding out the problem (used the microsoft memory checker to check the system ram and it seemed to have no problems. The mobo is brand new, the psu is brand new, really don't think it's the cpu), but for those people that have rma'd and have had the card returned to them with no probs, then i assume it's not the card hardware specifically........ i just wonder if by putting my gfx in games up to full (seems to be newer games rather than older ones such as c+c generals etc) it's too much for my 3ghz northwood, and so it glitches.

My current hardware spec is:

P4 3.0ghz northwood (800fsb)
Asrock P4i65G
2x512 Dual Channel ddr 400 (geil)
HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ3 Turbo 512MB AGP (with latest 7.2 drivers)
Seasonic S12 Energy+ 650W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply

I also have a 320gig sata2 drive, 80gig WD drive, floppy, dvd-rw drive, standard dvd rom drive, network card and basic sound card......... i take it the psu is up to running all this?

So close to saying sod it and buying a 360!
 
Just checked on the HIS site and found this.....

Q18. Why can't we use the driver under the section "Built by ATI" on ATI's web site for our ATI products?

A.On ATI's website, there are two sets of drivers, namely, "Built by ATI" and "Powered by ATI". The former are solely for cards built by ATI herself while the later are for other manufacturers. These two sets of drivers may detect different sub vendor and sub system ID that are manufacturer dependent. ATI has designed the drivers and BIOS as such. Hence, our card can only used the drivers in the "Powered by ATI" Section. ATI Cards by other manufacturers will have the same situation.

Also, check this out and see if it works....

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=23582

It also seems that there are a lot of problems when running any kind of AA on these cards, may be worth turning it off and see how long it lasts before corrupting.....

I'll try these when i get home from work tonight and let you know how it goes ;0)
 
I have an HIS ATI1650 512 which is also artifacting, however I was away when I got my RMA number and was unable to send it at the time. I shant be trusting HIS products any time soon. :(
 
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Friend of mine purchased this card and has EXACTLY the same screen errors, again only with some games. Now a bit worried that Overclockers reckon it's a "compatability" issue.... Seems to be quite a common one if it is and therefore not fit for sale imho.

See This Thread
 
NocomplyUK said:
Friend of mine purchased this card and has EXACTLY the same screen errors, again only with some games. Now a bit worried that Overclockers reckon it's a "compatability" issue.... Seems to be quite a common one if it is and therefore not fit for sale imho.

See This Thread
Click to expand...

I agree and think that OCUK should remove it from the shelves and contact HIS.

My card has been ace since day one and the only time I thought I was having a problem with it turned out to be a vcore increase on my CPU as I was pushing a second hand 3700+ SD I bought and thought I was stable. Thank god for Call of Duty being CPU dependant as all the other games (Just Cause, GTA SA, Pro Evo 6, Doom3) ran perfectly and I was stumped.

These HIS cards are dropping all over the place from what I've been reading and I'd never recommend one to anybody. Just like I would have advised everyone to stay away from Bulldog and their 8 meg fiasco :D .
 
well touch wood mines still going ok after about 5weeks of heavy use, i know it's not very helpful but just saying some are still working perfect.
 
Well, I got an RMA from OcUK and also asked about what tests they do so I can at least run them myself and know I'm not mad before they send the card back to me saying all is well. Well, it turns out 3DMark06 is on the list, so I thought I'd better run mine through and see what comes out before I send it off.

To my irritation, the first run goes through fine - in fact, the ORB returns it #1 out of comparable systems, which is nice.

Thought "oh great, I've found something it does do well" and decided to sling it through the demo - got about 5 minutes into Proxycon (sic) and yep, there's the chessboard. Had to exit out, as I didn't know how to take screens. One reset, research and restart of 3dMark later and it flies straight through the first test. So we're looking good - give me some of those fairies...

0003s.jpg


Ahh, now something seems to be a bit off here. It had managed about 15 seconds of this test up to now. I can just make out the tree tump in the top-middle-right triangle, but it's all downhill from here.

0004s.jpg


CPU test 1 - not exactly going well.

0007s.jpg


This is my favourite - it's the canyon scene, although this time shown in the style of Global Technicolour. Funky.

0009s.jpg


This is the snow scene (Deep Freeze?). No, honest, it is.

The black squares are present on the loading screens, but aside from that, the bitmap is fine. The tests complete and I can just make out that ORB says my results are invalid. One restart later and all is fine - I watch three episodes of Heroes from a 1080i rip, set the machine encoding some XviD overnight and it's still smiling in the morning.

I guess I'm really just sticking these on here for posterity, and because I'm reading more stories of problems with these cards. I had vowed not to buy ATi again (my 9600pro was a smashing performer, but suffered from irritating polygon tearing in one or two games, and I'd rather be supporting nVidia, who at least seem to take Linux seriously) but the price/performance of this AGP board swayed me back. Oops.

Card will be on it's way to OcUK tomorrow - I'll post the results.

Kev

PS. I've put the full screenshots up here if anyone wants them.
 
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