Backstory (ignore at your leisure): Some time ago I sought your advice about graphics cards. The price/performance leader at that time was ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro and it seemed to get good references from folks here. And eventually I caught a sale and got one for $200.
And so I installed my new Radeon 9800 Pro. And it worked. And it looks great. But now I'm having a weird problem. And I'm not sure what it is or what I should do about it. It seems that after a while, the card loses sync or something. But different. It's not just rolling. The computer doesn't lock up or anything, and you can still work the controls and the machine responds. It's just that you can't see what you're doing. The screen gets all garbled and there are flickering bits. Flickering bits that look nothing like your Commander and that set of Brawlers you were about to send across the sea against your foolhardy AI opponents. I can try to take photos if that might help in your diagnosis. Part of the problem is that I'm not sure how to describe this condition.
I have repeated this error in several applications now, including plain old Windows. I have tried switching the monitor off and on. I have un-installed all previous graphics card drivers. I have downloaded the latest ATI drivers (CATALYST, I guess they're calling it) and even patches for several games. ATI's troubleshooting tips recommended trying a different Monitor driver to correct a 'sync' problem, and I have tried this. Several other machines using the same monitor do not experience this problem. If I reset, hard or soft (which can be fun blind) the problem is gone and will not return again for, say, another half hour or so. As recently as a week ago the machine worked with an older nVidia card.
It's just so strange. Any help you could lend (even about what to call this) would be appreciated. If nothing else, I just want to be loaded for bear when I call ATI. I include for your derision my system's specs below if that might help:
AMD Sempron 2500+ ECS Elite K7S5A Pro Motherboard (r5.0) 256 MB DDR PC-2100 Kingston RAM ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB graphics card LaCie Electron Blue 19" CRT monitor Two HDs one DVD (yes, I finally put a silver face on it) Windows 98 Second Edition
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I'd venture that it's an overheating problem. Try running it with the case off and see if the problem takes longer to appear.
Of course, me being lazy and all, I'd just return it. It's less than a year old, so should be under warranty. There's no real need for you to play amateur hardware doctor.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
"...and there are flickering bits. Flickering bits that look nothing like your Commander and that set of Brawlers you were about to send across the sea against your foolhardy AI opponents."
You did that on purpose, didn't you? DON'T WAIT FOR THE TRANSLATION, ANSWER ME NOW.
Still, because I am ever-willing to teach people (both on and off the Total Annihilation battlefield), and because playing doctor can be fun and educative:
1) graphical artifacts are almost exclusively temperature-related,
and
2) the 9800P is a blast furnace (well, compared to a TNT2) and likes to have plenty of TEH POWAR.
Draw own conclusions. B)
(Were this september again, by the way, I would tell you to wait for NVidia's 6600GT, but, y'know, 20/20 hindsight and all that.)
Posted by Nim' (Member # 205) on :
There was a Radeon 9800 256Mb in my office that melted because the fans were misaligned (as usual) and they were scraping against the sides of their mounts. The card in itself didn't melt, only the shiny bling-bling fan cover and heat sink. We took the whole package off and installed a different fan, works like a charm now.
I get so pissed at fan makers, why can't they fucking leave two or three millimeters to spare, they've got to cheap up and as a result there are computers everywhere that buzz and groan like power dildos.
I have a 9800 128Mb at home and it's great, the only problem I have with the ATI "Catalyst" driver package is that it doesn't allow presetting framerates. You know, force the comp to use the highest possible Hertz in a given res. Screw 60Hz.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
quote:Originally posted by Cartman: You did that on purpose, didn't you?...
Little old me? Yes. I'm practicing up. I've gotten a little rusty. I want to give at least a wee challenge.
Thanks for your suggestion, Liam. I lifted the main panel out and ran again. Didn't seem to help much. It blipped out maybe ten to twenty minutes in. Strangely it doesn't seem to like TA. Usually I get a half hour or so with X2.
I'm thinking a new power supply might be in order. This case still has its stock 300W nobrand, and that's apparently the minimum requirements for the card. So a-shopping I must go. Any recommendations as to brands?
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
Er, nevermind. I got a 500W p/s with a window and lights in it. It wasn't any more expensive than the grey ones. It's silly, I realize. Still no blinky RAM. Yet.
Was able to play through an entire TA game without the display error. Fingers crossed.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Hang on, by "power supply" do you mean you bought an entire case?
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
I should have been more clear. The case already had lights and a window. The new power supply has lights and a window too.
Voyeuristic, n'est pas?
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
A new power supply can sometimes fix the problem, given that the 9800 Pro can be quite power hungry sometimes.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
The easist way to check would be, well, seeing if it goes down again. So let's all do that.
*waits*
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
W00t! The new p/s seems to have done it. Left an X2 game running over night, no problems. Must have been just a little too much for that old one. I just figured it wouldn't start at all if there weren't enough juice. I even left the cold-cathode tube on (need to make a switch for that). Sweet. Thanks Liam and Cartman for narrowing down the problem. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with sending this thing back and forth.
I looked at Fry's for aftermarket fans for the card, Nim. Didn't see any specifically made for it.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Well, considering the case, you probably got a generic power supply, 300W. That thing does no justice for your video card if it happens to suck up a lot of energy.
Such generic power supplies have a tendency of blowing, their shoddy construction and ultralight heatsinks do not help to protect against the variable currents in your AC jack.
Best that you replaced it now rather than later and risk a possible motherboard and video card failure.
