ATi 9800 powersupply problems?

Discussion in 'Video Cards, Displays and TV Tuners' started by Gir489, Sep 12, 2006.

  1. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    I had this thing in my computer, since December 30th, 2005. It was working fine and dandy, until August 2nd 2006. I would be playing DoD:Source, and I get this Blue screen. Not the Blue screen of death, but just a fucking blue screen. As if the card just stopped fucking working, piece of crap. When I went to reboot, I'd get this message:

    "THE ATI 9800 PRO IS NOT BEING CONNECTED TO THE POWER SUPPLY, PLEASE ATTACH THE CABLE, AND REBOOT."

    OK, only one problem... It already was attached! So I pulled it out, powered it on, turned it off, put it back on, and then it worked fine for the next day. Everyday I have this fucking problem, and it's getting on my nerves. Of course, ATi's wonderful tech support asked me to send in the card, which I have no patience to wait 3 weeks for them to fix the damn thing, which the warranty has probably already expired.

    I have already worked up a new list of what to buy for my next computer.

    Motherboard: ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail at Newegg.com
    CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor - Retail at Newegg.com
    Graphics Card: XFX Geforce 7950GX2 PVT71UZDF9 Xtreme Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com
    RAM: Patriot 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail at Newegg.com

    Subtotal: $1,217.97

    I plan to sell the AMD Athlon64 3800+ 2.4ghrtz, the ASUS K8V motherboard, and the ATi 9800 PRO AIW on ebay. That should at least bring in 500 USD.

    I'm going to throw the old PSU that came with my case out. It's a piece of crap, anyway. :p

    Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention the card makes a really annoying noise while on. It's not a constant noise, NO THAT WOULD BE PRACTICAL! It's like a vrrrrVVVVRRRRRvvvrrrrrVRRRRRRvvrrrrrrVRRRRR etc.
     
  2. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    Now it's becomming a serious problem. I can't play any games anymore.

    RoN, DoD:Source, CS:Source, NS. They all crash after like 3 seconds of gameplay.
     
  3. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    calm down, calm down, and please dont swear, it doesnt bother me, but it could annoy someone enough to make a complaint to HWF, anyway now thats said, back to your problem, first of all DDR RAM will not work in a mobo using 240 DDR2 RAM - DDR RAM has a 184 pin connector and i think DDR2 has 240 pins, please correct me if i'm wrong guys,

    BTW do you want to fix this problem or upgrade your system
     
  4. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    I'm not going to upgrade my rig until this december, so It'd be nice if I could fix it now. :D
     
  5. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Don't get that Apevia (formerly Aspire). Their PSU's are junk and that one is way over rated for the amperage it provides...It's specs are much closer to what you'd see on a 550W unit, but I'm doubtful it could provide that much.

    Anything on this list is a superior product to the PSU you're looking at. I looked at anything under $120 that was 450W-600+W from select quality PSU companies.

    By the way, what's the full list of what you have now?
     
  6. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    Updated PSU. I always like to hear what the public has to say on what I'm buying. It saved me from what I did last time. :eek:

    Of what I have now?

    AMD Athlon64 3800+ 2.4 ghrtz OC'd to 2.56
    1 GB of DDR 182-pin RAM
    ATi Radeon 9800 Pro AIW
    K8N ASUS motherboard
    120 GB HDD IDE
    160 GB HDD IDE
    The PSU that came with my case: I don't remember who made the case.
     
  7. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Oooh, yeah. Unless it was an Antec case with a 450W or better unit included, that's probably the reason for the problems.

    To be honest, I think getting a new power supply would do you right.

    The cheapest unit (and I'd still take it over that Apevia) that I'd recommend would be the FSP AX450-PN.
    This Enermax EG-565P-VE is what I've been running in my main box for a year and a half without issue. I would definitely recommend it.
    Along similar lines the Antec TruePower TPII-550 is another excellent choice that has similar specs to the Enermax I mentioned. Either unit is pretty easy to find just about anywhere.
     
  8. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    R U SHUR?

    Because, I got the same kind of rig for my friend a couple of days ago, only we got a little less vdeo card, and a little lower clockrate for the Core2. But who cares anyway, because we OC'd it 25%, and the tempts only reached 110°F. :D

    Anyway, I really don't like ATi and AMD anymore. :( They've only given my problems with everything. Their driver support is horrible, when I play Source, my average FPS is 60, not including extended rendering.

    I think I'm going to go with the Enermax one, it looks better than the one I got.
     
  9. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    AMD doesn't have drivers, and CounterStrike Source has been known to be buggy.

    Looking at your specs, they're not bad. A bad PSU can cause stability problems and just little oddities that you can't figure out. A good PSU for a decent box is in the neighborhood of $80-120 in itself, although there are a few exceptions. That and a new video card would be the easiest way to extend the life of that system. I would upgrade the PSU first and see if some of those issues you've been having go away. A solid PSU is the foundation of a solid box. When voltages drop below a certain level, you will see problems. You can get away with a slower CPU, but you can't get away with a crappy PSU.

    AMD and ATi are solid companies. While ATi has had drivers that were utter garbage, they've been doing well for the past 3-4 years.
     
  10. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    You told me getting a new PSU would fix the problem, WELL IT MADE IT WORSE!

    Thanks to you, I have these beautiful vertical lines going across the screen.

    I tried putting the old PSU back in, an THANKS TO YOU! The card is now completely broken. It was working fine, until you told me to use another PSU. Now I think the new PSU overcharged the videocard, and now it's useless, I can't even sell it on ebay.

    (Here's more proof that it's the video card)
    [​IMG]
    (Windows was actually able to capture these annoying-ass lines.)

    EDITed first post; had to lower the specs, because I have to buy it now. :(
     
  11. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    sorry to hear your still having problems, run memtest86+, but run it a few times, to be sure your RAM has walmed up then problems are more likley to occur rather than cold, i suggest you just leave memtest running for at least overnight (12 hours, although 24 hours would be better) that will eliminate your RAM
     
  12. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Sorry about the troubles. It does look like the video card has had it. The PSU most likely did not make it worse, simply bad timing. The errors look like bad RAM on the card. While it's not likely, it is possible that the new PSU did damage the system by providing the incorrect voltage. I will not take responsibility, however, for the PSU doing damage. Unless you have taken readings to show that it did overvolt significantly, I wouldn't jump all over the new PSU being the problem.

    A bad PSU may not make itself evident immediately. However, over time if the PSU undervolts enough, especially when pushed (like during gaming sessions), it can damage components. Unfortunately, it looks like the damage has been done before the problem piece could be removed.
     
  13. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    I'm not leaving my computer on for 12 hours, let alone 24, and just having it test my RAM, not my VRAM. Which doesn't do shit.

    I can't play CS, I can't play DOD:S, this card is nothing put a peice of crap, and is probably not even worth selling at all.
     
  14. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Calm down. We're trying to help you, if you'll listen and quit bitching over suggestions.

    He's suggesting that you test your RAM. If the RAM is giving errors, that too, can add up to problems, and at this point, you don't have anything to loose. Same with the CPU. You keep insisting that your system is shot to hell, and those tests might help narrow down any other problems.

    If your card is under warranty, even if you're not going to use it again, it'd be worth sending it in to ATi for repair. Your card is under a year old, and unless you modified it, ATi should cover it (or whoever made the Radeon). Your money, but if something is under warranty, it's silly not to take advantage of it. If you bought the retail version, it should carry at least a 1-year warranty. If I understand, you built this thing last December. Anything you purchased in a retail box should still be under warranty from the manufacturer.
     
  15. Gir489

    Gir489 Geek Trainee

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    I built the whole rig last december. I bought the ATi card 2 years ago, and put it in my Dell.

    I can't figure out that RAM tester thing.
     
  16. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    You would put it on a CD or floppy and then set your system to boot off the appropriate drive. To properly test the RAM, it needs to run independent of an operating system. Ideally, you want to run it overnight if at all possible. If not, run it for a few hours.

    As for the video card, it's probably not going to show anything, but you may want to drop it in a known good rig.
     

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