Help with diagnosing graphics problem - ? busted card

**waylo** · December 23rd, 2005, 06:58 PM

Hello all!

I've had a Radeon 9800 PRO 128mb in my system for the past 3 years, likely an OEM. Worked great. Never tried overclocking too much. Ran it at normal speeds.

Turned on my system this afternoon and all of a sudden there's what resembles like bunch of vertical ?static on the screen. When I changed resolutions, the static just changes patterns, but still ever-present.

Even with the start-up BIOS screens (ASUS A7N8x deluxe) the text is slightly distorted.

I switched out to a crappy Nvidia 5200 FX, and the problems disappeared. Switched the 9800 PRO back in and the problems disappeared... the first reboot. Then they returned.

I'm guessing my Radeon has finally crapped out on me. Any other ideas? Doubt it's the mobo or monitor connection. Peaked at the card... aside from a bunch of dust on the fan (which spins fine), I don't see anything.

Assuming the card is done, I'm already shopping for a new one... given everything has switched to PCIe, and I'm not too interested in upgrading my AGP system yet, I'll probably opt for something ? slightly better than the 9800 PRO, but <$200. 6600gt?

**SoloCamo** · December 23rd, 2005, 07:12 PM

Hi and Welcome To TechIMO!

is the heatsink making full contact with the core on the card?

Does the problem start imediately, even if you leave the computer off a few hours?

Can you possibly try the card in another computer?

What are your comple computer specs, including the power supply.

I aplogize for all the questions, but it is a quick run-down to eliminate possible problems.

**nunyadam** · December 23rd, 2005, 07:16 PM

The first thing I would do is clean the dust out. your card may just be overheating.

The contacts on the card could be dirty, or the one on the motherboards agp slot.

the ones on the card can be cleaned with a pencil eraser, as for the motherboard work the card gently in and out of the slot a few times.

vertical lines could also be the memory on the card going bad.

**waylo** · December 23rd, 2005, 07:18 PM

Thanks for your reply.

As soon as I get back onto a computer where the display isn't flickering like crazy (it's happening now, I'll try to answer the questions. It's hard to read them!

Well, here's a screenshot I managed to pull of it. I'll have to check it, also, on another computer to see if it's accurate.

**SoloCamo** · December 23rd, 2005, 07:22 PM

yea, clean the dust out.

If possible, try opening the case up and allowing a large house fan blow on the inside of the computer to cool it off and see if the lines go away.

The lines most of the time either mean,

-Bad card
-overheating

Also, do you have the latest drivers?

**waylo** · December 23rd, 2005, 07:52 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions.

It does the exact same thing when installed into another computer.

That is, upon start-up, all displays are dotted with random fuzz/static.

I cleaned out the fan and connections as best I could, but no change. I didn't think this was likely as the card has sat in the computer very happily for the past 3 years.

The heatsink does make full contact. I pulled it out right after I turned off the computer and it is quite warm though.

The problem usually starts immediately upon boot. The bios text screens that first come up have random characters, in random colors, that run across the screen.

This card was in an Athlon XP 3000+ with 1gb RAM, on an Asus A7N8x deluxe v2 mobo. I believe the powersupply is a 420W? I bought it all 3 years ago from ibuypower.com. Has treated me well ever since.

**SoloCamo** · December 23rd, 2005, 09:03 PM

hmmm, it really sounds like the card has crapped out on you...

Have you changed drivers recently?

**NightRise420** · December 23rd, 2005, 09:19 PM

no....its a dead card. Dont even bother. The voltage line is starting to fading out. I had the same problem with the old 9800XT.

**waylo** · December 24th, 2005, 10:21 AM

Yup, I think it's a goner. No driver changes for a while.

Maybe I can scrap it on ebay for parts.

I'm thinking of going with the Gigabyte 6600 GT AGP passively cooled card as a very minor upgrade/replacement.

Geforce 1? --> Geforce 2 Pro? --> Radeon 9800 PRO --> FX 5200 (crap) --> ???

27 · December 24th, 2005, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by waylo

Yup, I think it's a goner. No driver changes for a while.

Maybe I can scrap it on ebay for parts.

I'm thinking of going with the Gigabyte 6600 GT AGP passively cooled card as a very minor upgrade/replacement.

Geforce 1? --> Geforce 2 Pro? --> Radeon 9800 PRO --> FX 5200 (crap) --> ???

Ask ATI. Maybe it has a lifetime warranty.

I recently got a free replacement 6800 from NVidia after an old one died. The new one is having the same problem as you -but the lines only show in games. I'm gonna send it back.

**SoloCamo** · December 24th, 2005, 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by waylo

Yup, I think it's a goner. No driver changes for a while.

Maybe I can scrap it on ebay for parts.

I'm thinking of going with the Gigabyte 6600 GT AGP passively cooled card as a very minor upgrade/replacement.

Geforce 1? --> Geforce 2 Pro? --> Radeon 9800 PRO --> FX 5200 (crap) --> ???

Yea, the 6600gt would be the most suitable replacement, and a nice upgrade as it is somewhat better.

The fx5200, wow is all I have to say to that cards horrible performance. We bought one a long time ago thinking it would be pretty fast, when I slapped that thing in my comp it was like a major downgrade.

The card was all marketing, as one would think a 5200 would be better then a 4200 just because the bigger number, but that is certainly, not true.

Anywats, you can find 6600gt agp's for pretty cheap now, so good luck

**no1_vern** · December 24th, 2005, 11:13 AM

HI Waylo, Welcome to TechIMO !!

Certainly ask ATI about a replacement, but if you card IS OEM as you suspect, dont expect them to do anything. IF it had be full retail, you could have expected 5+ year(or lifetime) warranty on the card.

**SoloCamo** · December 24th, 2005, 04:20 PM

Well I honestly wouldn't ask Ati either way. A guy on another thread had a 9800pro go bad on him. He calls them up and the only card they found as a close in performance replacement was the vanilla x700... which is a card that gets beat out horribly by a 9800pro. but then again, that was through PowerCooler, a distributor of ATI themselves, so I don't think it was due to ati's policies?

Not really sure, but it's worth a shot. Besides, if you get a new card, sell it, then get a higher end card

**waylo** · December 24th, 2005, 04:40 PM

That ATI (retail) warranty IS pretty nice... I'll have to punch in my serial # into the ATI site and see if it qualifies. Likely not.

Otherwise, 6600GT it is... any suggestions on brands? There must be 20 versions of it out there. Based on an older tomshardware comparison (I think that's where I saw it), they liked the Gigabyte passive cooled one...

**SoloCamo** · December 24th, 2005, 05:15 PM

Leadtek is probably the best brand you can get. They come with a nice cooler, and overclock really nicely, but that's if your into oc'in

I personally don't like anything passively cooled, but that's just me. Other than that the gigabyte one is good aswell.

**NightRise420** · December 24th, 2005, 08:43 PM

Leadtek, XFX, and Albatron if u really like Ocing.
I would personally go with Leadtek because it runs the coolest and quietest since u mentioned about passive cooling.

**waylo** · January 16th, 2006, 07:49 PM

Thanks all for your input!

Turns out my ATI was a pure ATI. RMA'ed it and just received it back today after ~1.5 weeks. Received a new Radeon 9800 PRO from the looks of it. Too bad it wasn't slightly upgraded =(. Seems like those turning in cards lesser than the 9800 PRO would get upgraded to this card.