Sapphire Radeon 9500 overheating BIG TIME.

[GogoTheMimic]

I have a 128mb Radeon 9500 card and it's overheating so badly that I can't do anything remotely taxing. The motherboard that I have is an MSI 875P Neo if that helps. I have the newest drivers and everything so I am out of ideas short of plastering a fan right next to the card. Compared to my RAM, my video card is the deepest pits of hell. No, I'm not overclocking it at all. I have my apature set at 128mb in my BIOS, I made sure to check that. Within moments of starting up, the card gets burning hot. The fan is spinning. If I try to play pretty much anything fairly new like Sim City 4, Soldier of Fortune II, Hitman 2, or 3D Mark 03, it freezes up within a minute or running. I just bought the card from newegg two months ago so I can't get a refund on it and they don't carry this model anymore so they won't let me exchange it for something comparable.

 

[Trotterwatch]

Just found this on Google for you: (in the Bios)

Make sure you ARE running in the "frequency control"> performance (MAT) =SLOW

Apparently there is some sort of mess up on that board that causes the default BIOS settings to be well too aggressive. So see if this helps first, it may not be the graphics card at all (could be overheating memory y'see).

If not, you could try and return the card. In the UK there is a (Sales of goods act) that basicallly states goods must be of merchantible quality and fit for the purpose bought for. I doubt you bought that graphics card for 2 months of usage, hence you should be able to return it for another one (of the same or different model).

 

[ScottJC]

It doesn't nessicarily mean a Overheating problem, because I had a problem similar to this with my radeon 9000, and it turned out the motherboard was to blame

 

[joel_029]

Well, that mobo shouldn't have any problems with any vid card. I would try looking on Sapphire's website, and see if you can find something that relates to this problem. If you can't find a known issue there, then try e-mailing them. If that fails, try and take it back.

Oh yeah. and just because New Egg wouldn't take it back, there should still be a manufacture warranty as well.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

I have no idea where that setting in the BIOS is.

EDIT: I sent an email to newegg asking if I could send my card back and get this: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/vga/vga/pro_vga_detail.php?UID=380&MODEL=MS-8894 Any thoughts? It's gotten great reviews from people at newegg so I'm just hoping that newegg will agree.

EDIT: I Fixed the link.

 

[Trotterwatch]

Just have a look around in the BIOS, probably in the memory settings section.

Edit: It seems this feature may have been added in BIOS v 1.6 (which I would think you should have). It's worth noting also that one of the BIOS versions on MSIs site solved stability issues with some types of DDR.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

My RAM is fine, it's not hot at all. It's mildly warm at best. I'll have to look around and see what version I have and everything. Thanks for this help.

 

[Trotterwatch]

My RAM is fine, it's not hot at all

I never suggested it was hot though Instability doesn't always equate to heat.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

Ah, this is true. I downloaded the newest BIOS for my mobo, I just need to install it and keep my fingers crossed. How about that other vid card though?

EDIT: Alright, where the fuck do I find the drive letter for my RAMDRIVE? I can't find it and I need to know it to flash my BIOS. WTF?

EDIT: I just got a letter back from Sapphire, they said that I have to contact newegg for a refund or RMA. I am officially pissed off now. I'm NEVER buying anything from Sapphire. *glares* :ranting:

 

[Tagrineth]

Sapphire = "Built By ATi" = most reliable brand you can get for a Radeon.

You have what I like to call a "Fringe case", because every other Sapphire/ATi Radeon I've seen thus far has worked great, excluding 9500 -> 9700(Pro) softmods.

 

[Gorxon]

Well, from what you say you dont seem 100% confident that its the video card that is to blame as you claim that the PC's RAM is not hot...

The PC's RAM doesn't get hot at all (well, barely perhaps), and it could perfectly well be your RAM that is causing problems (and likely is). You also havent said anything about getting video artifacts ("noise" in the video), which you often (but not always) get when the video card gets too hot. What I would do is checking the RAM clock frequency in the BIOS and check that its correct...

Also, try your video card in another computer. That is VERY important to do before you do anything, as if it isnt the video card after all you usually get a worse card back or some else hassle.

Nice for us norwegians who have 2 year guarantee by law on everything, and 5 years on things meant to last substentially longer than 2 years (aka video cards).

 

[GogoTheMimic]

I hate you, a lot. I wish we had that in the US. I'm going to see if one of my friends will let me try putting my card in his comp. I'm 99% sure that I have my speed set right on my RAM but I'll doublecheck it to make sure.

 

[nullroute]

Your memory might also have a faulty cell if it has been exposed to the slightest esd (some people don't respect how delicate memory is). The best way to test is to try compiling something large (if you have visual studio... that's why I like linux so much). If everything is still ok then you might want to do some front-to-back cooling on your system. There should be extra fan locations on your case. Make fans in the front blow in and those in the back blow out. Upgrading to round-ribbon cables improves cooling as well.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

I just got two more fans today. I have one intake in the front(new), one on the side, one exhaust on the top, and two on the back(one new). I have round IDEs and I've opened movies with Jasc Animation Shop 3 with no problems. I'm going to check my BIOS and everything soon, I'm getting ready to update some stuff so I'm do for a reboot.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

Whoa, I just changed some settings and now my refresh rate is shit.
CAS# Latency 2.5
RAS# Precharge 3
RAS# to CAS# Delay 3
Precharge Delay 7
Burst Length 8
Integrity Mode Off
Frequency 333mhz(EDIT: 266mhz)
DDR Power 2.65v(EDIT: 2.5v)

Is that good or bad?

EDIT: Changed a few things...

EDIT: I have a few questions about some settings in my BIOS:
CPU L1+L2 Cache Enabled
System BIOS Cacheable Disabled
Memory Hole Disabled
Clear NVRAM Disabled

What should those be set to?

 

[GogoTheMimic]

Um, help? Anybody?

EDIT: I got a PCI slot fan that goes right below my card, I'm going to give it a few days and see if it makes a difference.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

I was looking my bios and the voltage was set at 1.60 and the suggested was 1.55 so I toned it down to that. I'll post an update.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

Before I get flamed for posting over and over again, look at the dates. Thanks. Editing it wouldn't bump this up so I'm making a reply. After fairly smooth going for a while, I'm getting problems again. >< I keep getting this error message:

Error Message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER

The following things usually happen before the meltdown:

1) The area around my cursor scrambles
2) My screen goes to 640x480 resolution and 16 colors
3) The entire screen scrambles
4) Any combination of the above

Help?

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

You got the infinite loop crash syndrome. The crash and error message is the infinite loop.


The video card is overheating, the settings are messed up, is faulty or you have an insufficient power supply.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

I've gotten it several more times since my last post. :\ I have a PCI slot exhaust fan right underneath of it. Still feels just as blazing as before but now I can actually play games without it crashing on me. I *think* the settings are correct. Micro$oft said to turn hardware acceleration off. oO Wouldn't that be bad? I have a 500 watt power supply so that couldn't be the problem, right?