Featured Worklog

Price Search



PC Apex Sponsor


PC Apex Sponsors



PC Apex RSS Feeds

RSS Feed for PC Apex Reviews & ArticlesRSS Feed for PC Apex PC Modding WorklogsRSS Feed for the PC Apex Daily DisturbanceRSS Feed for the latest PC Apex Site NewsRSS Feed for PC Apex Affiliate and Web NewsRSS Feed for PC Apex Deals and Steals
Old 16-June-04, 05:06 PM   #1 (permalink)
Apex Techie Wannabe
 
The Waltz King's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 4
The Waltz King is an unknown member
Default 5900XT blues....

Gangstas & wise folk:

I may be new to youse guys, but I ain't no bonehead. I been putting PCs together (and, more funner, tearing em apart) since the 286 CPU was the cutting edge and broadband was 300 baud.

But I never saw a problem like I had the other day whilst trying to install a spankin' new FX5900XT into my rig. After VERY CAREFULLY removing all signs of the ATI Radeon 9500 np that had preceded it in the AGP slot, and temporarily plain-vanillaing the adapter driver in WinXPPro's control panel, I VERY CAREFULLY inserted the (large!) NVidia card into the AGP hole and turned the beast back on.

Immediately I started noticing weird little smeary purple and pink video artifacts on the text in the BIOS screens, and when XP booted and started demanding driver disks, matters got weirder: whole fields of pink rosette-like artifacts covered half my monitor screen that would occassionally shimmer and move themselves around a bit, and swaths of magenta pinstripes graced the rest of the screen.

Now I could still see my desktop and could execute commands and programs, but the artifact fields would change shape, color or density as I did so. This was with the 5900XT (and the rest of my PC) at stock speeds, well cooled and (I thought) well powered enough (a trusty PowMax 400w PSU that's served me well for over a year). The card was even getting its very own power line direct from the PSU (i.e., not sharing one witha HDD or somesuch).

But the worst was yet to come. After installing Nvidia's very lastest drivers and rebooting, WinXP Pro refused to load at all, giving an error msg that some basic Windows file had been corrupted. An attempted repair of the OS proved futile; a subsequent re-format and re-installation of Win XP Pro cost me about 2 gigs of precious data that was now utterly inaccessible. Waahhhh!

I removed the FX5900XT and replaced it with my Old Reliable, a GF4 4200 TI 8xAGP, and after reinstalling everything, it all works tolerably well....

Could it be that the FX5900XT, a known power whore, was trying its damnedest to let me know it needed a more robust PSU? Or does it just sound like a bad vidcard & I should get a replacement from XFX?
I await thy wisdom in these arcane matters, wise ones....


--- The Waltz King.

Last edited by The Waltz King; 16-June-04 at 05:11 PM. Reason: fixing end
The Waltz King is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 16-June-04, 05:29 PM   #2 (permalink)
Old Skool Pimp
 
Digital-World's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Naked in a bean bag eating cheetos!
Posts: 2,669
Digital-World is as respected as he/she is honorableDigital-World is as respected as he/she is honorableDigital-World is as respected as he/she is honorableDigital-World is as respected as he/she is honorableDigital-World is as respected as he/she is honorableDigital-World is as respected as he/she is honorableDigital-World is as respected as he/she is honorableDigital-World is as respected as he/she is honorable
Send a message via ICQ to Digital-World Send a message via AIM to Digital-World Send a message via MSN to Digital-World Send a message via Yahoo to Digital-World
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Waltz King
Gangstas & wise folk:

I may be new to youse guys, but I ain't no bonehead. I been putting PCs together (and, more funner, tearing em apart) since the 286 CPU was the cutting edge and broadband was 300 baud.

First ...WELCOME TO PR
Second..I almost flamed you for bragging about your skillz before you spoke....but I am feeling patient today....
Third...Your Video card sounds like it needs a good ole fashioned RMA...However...when my 9800PRO did artifacting like that for me it was due to memory overheating...
Is it possible the SWAMP COOLER that was installed on that honking card wasn't installed properly or that the memory just isn't getting suffiicent airflow...

Also the 5900's are known to artifact at random usually cleaning the card edges with and eraser and blowing out your agp slot helps...sometimes tweaking the card a little eitheir way makes it work too..if this is the case you have a bad pcb and it needs RMA...hope some of this helps ya....
Good luck and keep us informed...
Remember RMA is your friend...
Oh yeah ATI KICKS A$$
__________________
Digital-World is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-June-04, 05:52 PM   #3 (permalink)
n00b-ass reviewer
 
BigAkita's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Nirvana
Posts: 14,317
BigAkita has achieved legendary status.
BigAkita has achieved legendary status.BigAkita has achieved legendary status.BigAkita has achieved legendary status.BigAkita has achieved legendary status.BigAkita has achieved legendary status.
Default

Power issue, heat issue, or bad card. Isn't software related since it occurs immediately upon posting. I think you should be able to figure it out from here.
__________________
"I'll stop being an A-Hole if you will stop being an Idiot."
BigAkita is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-June-04, 05:52 PM   #4 (permalink)
Direct Cool Hoe
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 0
ZENNZZO is as respected as he/she is honorableZENNZZO is as respected as he/she is honorableZENNZZO is as respected as he/she is honorableZENNZZO is as respected as he/she is honorableZENNZZO is as respected as he/she is honorableZENNZZO is as respected as he/she is honorableZENNZZO is as respected as he/she is honorable
Default

yeah Welcome to PR...
I take it "300 baud" ain't a fat chick and a 286 aint just a piece of ceramic where you find good BGA ramsink stock?
Man learn somethin' new everyday!
ZENNZZO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-June-04, 06:06 PM   #5 (permalink)
Apex Techie Wannabe
 
The Waltz King's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 4
The Waltz King is an unknown member
Default Who said a pimp can't be both fast AND good?

Damn, I am impressed! 3 replies in the time it took me check both my e- and s- mail. And useful too! Thankee, thankee....

I think one thing I am defnitly gonna do is swap out the PSU for something a bit more stable and hairy-chested. Got a foo on Ebay sellin a Vantec Stealth 470 for $60 (so far), I'll see if I cain't come thru the winner on that one. Otherwise it'll be my old pal NewEgg....

Since I have next to nowt to lose now, I'll try the FX5900XT with the brawnier PSU and see how the bastich likes it. If it still no go, it's RMA time baybee!!

Thanks agin, homeez, I'll be back often. Just not braggin up FRONT in future.


--- The Waltz King.
The Waltz King is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-June-04, 07:22 PM   #6 (permalink)
Gridiron
 
NoSlak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Hovering over the Neg Rep Button
Posts: 3,640
NoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for allNoSlak is the ideal member and friend for all
Send a message via AIM to NoSlak Send a message via MSN to NoSlak
Default

I dont have an answer for ya but the same thing happened to me with my MSI 5900XT, I RMA'd it and the next one worked kosher, or is that kosherly ?
NoSlak is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
My 5900xt needs a kick up its..... ukgamerdood Video Card OC 4 06-February-05 11:42 PM
5900xt aftermarket cooling Dakas Video Cards 9 13-September-04 10:14 PM
drivers for.... msi 5900xt? ilovehooters1385 Video Cards 2 04-August-04 08:08 PM
will this vga cooler fit on 5900xt? AMD-playa Video Cards 4 01-August-04 05:50 PM
5900xt truth or lie?? WDoG Video Cards 7 08-March-04 08:49 AM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:26 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0 RC5
Copyright PCApex.com, GameApex.com, ForumApex.com 2001 - 2008
Advertisements

Page generated in 0.26233 seconds with 9 queries