x1950 pro

[randmo]

In the system below I replaced a 9800 Pro AGP card with a used x1950 Pro. I rarely do games so I really had no issues with this card other than there were 4 or 5 bright blue pixels showing up in the black XP startup background. However, I decided the best way to see if there was a problem with the card was to test it with one of the newer games. I downloaded the Red Alert 3 demo. Worked fine through the intro but when it got to the game, the images started breaking up badly. Should I just replace the card, or is it possible the PSU or processor could be the problem? Thanks.

Opteron 175
Abit AV8-3rd eye BIOS ver 28
G-Skill DDR400 SDRAM 2gb
WD2500JS SATA drive (system drive)
WD1600JB EIDE for back-up
Sapphire X1950 Pro 512mb AGP
LITE-ON DVD Burner SOHW-1693S
StarLogic 600W PSU
XP Pro SP3

[Midknyte]

Since you got it used, make sure the heatsink/fan is clean. Overheating can cause artifacting.

What driver set are you using?

[randmo]

Sorry for the slow response. I'm traveling for work this week. I'll double check the card heat sink (when I get home) but am pretty sure it wasn't bad. I'm using the catalyst 8.12 drivers.

[Midknyte]

You can use Rivatuner or Speedfan to monitor the 1950s temps.

What brand is the card? Some makers, like Visiontek, don't include a temp sensor.

[randmo]

Finally got back in town.
It's a Sapphire X1950 Pro. I've never oc'ed video cards so I'm not all that familiar with Riva Tuner or the ATI tools software. I can't see where either of them show me the card temp. I installed RivaTuner 2.22 and Ati tool 0.26. I visually inspected the card and cleaned w/ compressed air. Fan is working.

Opteron 175
Abit AV8-3rd eye BIOS ver 28
G-Skill DDR400 SDRAM 2gb
WD2500JS SATA drive (system drive)
WD1600JB EIDE for back-up
Sapphire X1950 Pro 512mb AGP
LITE-ON DVD Burner SOHW-1693S
StarLogic 600W PSU
XP Pro SP3

[Midknyte]

Sapphire cards usually have temp sensors.

ATItool should show the temps at the bottom of its window.
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

There are a couple ways to set up temp monitoring in Rivatuner.
Show GPU Temps in Taskbar with Rivatuner (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=1269719#post1269719)

http://www.vaguetech.com/index.php?pageid=rt207

You might also want to try an older driver set.

[randmo]

You're right. It's right there in the ati tools at the bottom. shows 41%, 41 C, 33 C. default profile (581.00 / 702.00). core setting is 580.50. memory setting is 1404.00. If I attempt to change the memory setting the screen goes black.

[Midknyte]

The card is slightly overclocked over stock ATI specs (575/690).

If you are having artifact issues, I would try clocking down either the core or the ram down a bit. And then, test if you still get the artifacts.

[randmo]

Every time I try to 'set clock' after changing the core and memory settings - the screen goes black and I have to reboot. This also happens when I try to 'Find max core' or 'Find max Mem'. I read somewhere that atitool 0.26 doesn't work with the X1950 Pro (which sounds odd) but just to be sure - I uninstalled 0.26 and installed 0.24 - same problem. Maybe it's just my lack of familiarity with atitool.
I certainly appreciate the help, but don't want to waste your time - I'm just about ready to buy a new (in the box new) card (which is probably what I should have done in the first place). My concern is that this used card was damaged by oc'ing, handling for shipping, whatever. The blue pixels showing up in the black background of the XP startup tells me something isn't right.

[Midknyte]

I read somewhere that atitool 0.26 doesn't work with the X1950 Pro (which sounds odd)

That's probably because of the PCIe to AGP converter chip.