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x1950 256mb problem . screen goes black! please help

dickyt83

dickyt83

dickyt83

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Joined
21 Feb 2007
Posts
45
hi there I've got the following pc.

Mini ATX coolermaster tower
Amd athlon 5000+ dual core
Asus micro ATX M2NPV-VM
2gb OCZ ddr2 800 RAM
Connect3d 256mb x1950 pro Ati pcie x16
320gb Sata hdd
sony dvdrw
coolermaster igreen power 500w PSU

none of it is overclocked. The problem is during games. I can play the latest games on the high settings really nicely for around 20 minutes then the screen goes black on any game and my pc freezes/ restarts.

I'm wondering if it's a cooling problem, but having my case side panel open, my window next to it and an 80mm fan blowing on the graphics card, the problem still persists and I don't know what I can do?

any ideas? Many thanks
 
btw, I've looked at the temps in Ati control centre and it's about 48 to 52 degrees idling and during games up to 70 degrees with the side panel off the case and a cool room ..?



Just thinking, could it be my RAM?
 
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its normal for this card ..once it hits 70 deg ... blackout.

rma, place your bets and try again on the 1950pro lotery ;)
 
Hmm .......it could be overheating but to be honest I have a x1950xt.When I first got it the temp idle was 60-90 on full load. I was running it on this for two weeks with no grief. I have since replaced the reference fan with w/cooling. idle it is 30...full load i is 45. Though after 6+ hours gaming will go up to 50.

I thought the reference fan was pap, I had to get ATI tools to increase the fan speed to reduce the temp as I wasn't happy with its temp. It ran games ffine but surely temps as high as that cannot be good for GPU. You get mixed views on the matter. Possibly from people who are in the know more than others. General rule of thumb is 'keep it cool'.

Try ATI tools (fan control) and try to get the temp down to see if that helps.....if it prevents the sys from black screening then you know your going in the right direction. Your system will start to sound a little it is housing a small aeroplane something I couldn't live with. Maybe look at replacing the reference fan. I wouldn't know what to suggest, I'm sure others would.

Oh and how many fans do you have on your case? you should have at least 1 pushing air in and one exhausting the hot air.

B
 
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thanks for the suggestions guys, the first thing I thought was better cooling, as the fan that's attached to the card really doesn't look particularly impressive. should have mayb gone for the IceQ version of it.

I've been evaluating the general cooling of the case and it doesn't look too bad to me. It's got wopping heatsink and reference Akasa fan on the cpu. an 80mm case exhaust fan. a big fan on the PSU and some cooling holes in the side of the case. I've just bought another 120mm fan for the case to help matters, and I've directed an 80mm fan so t points AT the graphics card, lol :D

seems a bit strange, but I didn't expect it to run hot, as I havent overclocked any of these components, I'm guessing that the Ati x1950 must be a hot card then. Will keep you updated after playing a big session of titan quest, and FEAR tonight. hopefully no more black screen of death.
 
Benny said:
Hmm .......it could be overheating but to be honest I have a x1950xt.When I first got it the temp idle was 60-90 on full load. I was running it on this for two weeks with no grief. I have since replaced the reference fan with w/cooling. idle it is 30...full load i is 45. Though after 6+ hours gaming will go up to 50.

I thought the reference fan was pap, I had to get ATI tools to increase the fan speed to reduce the temp as I wasn't happy with its temp. It ran games ffine but surely temps as high as that cannot be good for GPU. You get mixed views on the matter. Possibly from people who are in the know more than others. General rule of thumb is 'keep it cool'.

Try ATI tools (fan control) and try to get the temp down to see if that helps.....if it prevents the sys from black screening then you know your going in the right direction. Your system will start to sound a little it is housing a small aeroplane something I couldn't live with. Maybe look at replacing the reference fan. I wouldn't know what to suggest, I'm sure others would.

Oh and how many fans do you have on your case? you should have at least 1 pushing air in and one exhausting the hot air.

B
Click to expand...


Hi Benny, is it possible for me to get a better cooler than the reference cooler for my ATI connect3d x1950 pro 256mb? would prob help my cooling,

cheers
 
actually for ati cards around 70-80 is alright
90+ then you need to worry but many peeople run it at that temp
 
jaykay said:
actually for ati cards around 70-80 is alright
90+ then you need to worry but many peeople run it at that temp
Click to expand...


think mine is well below those temps during gaming, could the problem threfore lie somewhere else, not graphics related.

am wondering if it's a RAM prob?
 
Yes you can can a better cooler than the reference one mate. As I said there are other peeps who may well be able to guide you in your choice better than me. Search the forums before you go posting as sometimes the answer is already there.

It can be difficult to pinpoint a hardware issue sometimes unless smoke is billowing out of a said component. It is usually a process of elimination unfortunately. If you think it is RAM related then first try reseating your RAM.
Secondly you could try removing a stick of RAM, booting up and seeing if it works ok.

Is your Motherboard Chipset passively cooled with a HS or does it have a fan on it? If your case isn't adequately ventilated then other components can get pretty toasty and might be the cause. Having the side of the case open wont utilise the fans you currently have. Although I have done it to try and reduce temps. I have 3 x 120mm pulling air in and 1 x120mm exhausting air. with 2 x 92mm fans also exhausting air up and out. What is your system temperature?

I know how frustrating it is having your sys bomb out on you with no specific problem to solve. I had my system stolen about 8 months ago. So my mate let me use his old P4 2.4 with a mismatch of components. Using my old ATI 9800 classic. running 2142 was tough on all the lowest settings was no fun. My system would just drop or no reason at least 5 times a night.

Maybe look at your bios and see if there is a system shutdown temperature set for CPU, RAM SYStem etc. It might be hitting the temp and shutting down. I know these aren't overly terchnical suggestions but things to check.


B
 
Benny said:
Yes you can can a better cooler than the reference one mate. As I said there are other peeps who may well be able to guide you in your choice better than me. Search the forums before you go posting as sometimes the answer is already there.

It can be difficult to pinpoint a hardware issue sometimes unless smoke is billowing out of a said component. It is usually a process of elimination unfortunately. If you think it is RAM related then first try reseating your RAM.
Secondly you could try removing a stick of RAM, booting up and seeing if it works ok.

Is your Motherboard Chipset passively cooled with a HS or does it have a fan on it? If your case isn't adequately ventilated then other components can get pretty toasty and might be the cause. Having the side of the case open wont utilise the fans you currently have. Although I have done it to try and reduce temps. I have 3 x 120mm pulling air in and 1 x120mm exhausting air. with 2 x 92mm fans also exhausting air up and out. What is your system temperature?

I know how frustrating it is having your sys bomb out on you with no specific problem to solve. I had my system stolen about 8 months ago. So my mate let me use his old P4 2.4 with a mismatch of components. Using my old ATI 9800 classic. running 2142 was tough on all the lowest settings was no fun. My system would just drop or no reason at least 5 times a night.

Maybe look at your bios and see if there is a system shutdown temperature set for CPU, RAM SYStem etc. It might be hitting the temp and shutting down. I know these aren't overly terchnical suggestions but things to check.


B
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help m8. do you know what the name of the replacement heatsink/fan for the x1950 pro is?

I need to increase the cooling definitely on my small micro ATX case, so i'll get another 80mm can to exhaust air out the case, and I've just bought a 120mm fan too. my chipset is passively cooled unfortunately. Am a bit concerned that it will sound like a plane taking of though :(

I've just been in the Bios, and instead of setting the voltage of my OCZ RAM and timings according to the tinternet, I've set it to Auto and left in the capable hands of my asus motherboard.

Amazingly I've just played Titan Quest for an hour and a half ( the game which has crashed on me most often since the new pc), and it didn't crash once!! fingers crossed it may have been a RAM problem after all. But I think more heavy gaming is in order tomorrow to test things further....it's got to be done. ;)

Also tested the temps straight after all the gaming... Ati x1950 was 61 degrees. CPU was 42 degrees amd motherboard was 44 degrees. are these temps ok?



will keep you updated,

cheers
 
That is good news mate....sweet.

Those temps seem reasonable to me mate. Especially on air. The system temp could do with coming down a little especially for the summer. This might improve when you install the 2 x new fans.

80mm fans vary in noise output from my experience. Which is why I opt for 120 mm fans. They still push a decent amount of air around even when on slow (if you have an adjustable fan speed control panel) when cranked up they are still positively less noisy than 80mm's. Anyway. See how it sounds.....trying to keep it cool is the thing to work on at the moment.

How bad is the wiring in your case? is it in the way of the fans blowing air into the case? You should try and tie all wires together etc, maximise the airflow that way. It is a bit of an art form to get it right Im no pro believe me. Maybe buy some rounded ide cables etc. Though try and tie wires up first before splashing out more beans on new cables etc.

With regards to a new Fan for your card:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SY-002-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=787

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17713178

these are supposed to be good and also pretty quiet. I have heard lots of folk banging on about these over the years. Though I have never personally used one. Also invest in some decent thermal paste I use Arctic silver, if and when you change the fan H/s apply it then.

happy days

B
 
great thanks for the help mate! I saw those Zalman gpu fans at my local pcstore earlier and was very impressed but didnt realise it fitted my card which is great, so may get one from ocuk soon.

the system is defintely running a bit cooler with the new fan setup. I made sure all the psu cables are tucked away as much as possible too.


I just played FEAR for 2 hours on max settings and it didn't fault once!!

Am expecting the problem with the black screen was probably my RAM voltage after all, but the extra cooling is definitely going to help.

soo... I think problem is solved for now....fingers crossed :D
 
cool mate, great news.....

looks like you got a nice easter weekend to cram in some gaming hours.

take it easy and enjoy

B
 
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