4850X2

eggrock said:
Yay for you! :cool: :cool: :cool: The Zalmans will make a huge difference if you use them. I just finished up my card this morning.



P1060298.jpg
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where'd you get that thing that helps hold up the card? Anyone know?
 
That's a Cardkeeper. You can find the link to the exact one earlier in the thread.
 
Alright guys, need some help here please!

I just hung up on the idiot tech support with Saphire.

She said that I cannot use the 8pin connector from my PSU, as it won't work. I cannot use the 8 pin to x2 3 pin molex connector that came with it as well. She said something about using x2 4pin connectors to an IDE adapter or something, I don't think she knew what she was talking about. However, I do have something resembling that in my box of crap. My PSU has *1* 4 pin connector, 3 6pin connectors and 1 8pin power connector.

Do I need to buy some kind of adapater that will let me use my 4 pin connector as an 8 pin connector?

Why can't I just use the 8 pin connector on my PSU? Problem with that is...it won't fit in all the way no matter how hard I push it!!
 
Bit-Tech has posted a blog update stating that they've received a new BIOS from Sapphire which essentially quiets the fans to "bearable" levels at the desktop, which essentially corrects one of their biggest complaints about the card. Coupled with official Cat 9.1 driver support, they now recommend the 4850 X2. (Only took them three months to come to that conclusion!)

Anyone have an idea of how to get their hands on this new BIOS?
 
Problem with this card is that I can overclock to 700 with ease, but the control panel thingy limits me to 700 clocks when it can go higher, is this because ati don't want this card to be a fast as 4870x2? Help :confused:
 
TheBigNip said:
Problem with this card is that I can overclock to 700 with ease, but the control panel thingy limits me to 700 clocks when it can go higher, is this because ati don't want this card to be a fast as 4870x2? Help :confused:
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It's because they don't want to lose money RMAing cards. If they removed OC limits, there would inevitably be people who would just keep pushing the card higher and higher until it broke, and then would blame ATi for letting them OC that far in the first place.

Is it just me, or does ATT not really work well with the 4850 X2? It has a 1000mhz OC limit even with the limits removed, which is about 7 mhz over stock memory clocks.
 
i dont know man. if i install it, tf2 does not run, it just fails immediately after i click the icon. since i dont overclock my vid card, and i dont feel like troubleshooting it, i just uninstalled it.
 
Terpfen said:
It's because they don't want to lose money RMAing cards. If they removed OC limits, there would inevitably be people who would just keep pushing the card higher and higher until it broke, and then would blame ATi for letting them OC that far in the first place.

Is it just me, or does ATT not really work well with the 4850 X2? It has a 1000mhz OC limit even with the limits removed, which is about 7 mhz over stock memory clocks.
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1000mhz limit? You talking about memory. The catalyst control center goes up to 1200mhz on the memory for the 4850x2. Just move the slider to the right. At least i think that's what your talking about.
 
TheBigNip said:
1000mhz limit? You talking about memory. The catalyst control center goes up to 1200mhz on the memory for the 4850x2. Just move the slider to the right. At least i think that's what your talking about.
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Yes, I'm talking about memory clock limits. ATi Tray Tools has a 1000Mhz limit even after ticking the option to remove OC limits, while CCC has a 1200Mhz limit. However, ATT can clock core speed higher than CCC can.

Makes no sense.

ATT's 2D/3D overclocking profiles are also useless on the 4850 X2, because they don't seem to take. It's like ATT still uses the 2D speeds when in 3D, which of course will cause instability and result in game crashes, like what vanilla_guerilla described above. I would love to be able to use ATT to set a working 3D profile of, say, 750/1150 and a 2D profile of 300/350 or so, but it just doesn't work correctly.

That's why I said that ATT seems to work incorrectly on the 4850 X2. Because, well, it seems to work incorrectly on the 4850 X2. :p
 
Wow I'm stumped. I just got a 4850x2 2gb the other day and was really excited about the boost I should get over my 4870 512mb. Anyways, I've installed the 9.1s and the 8.whatever that came with the card, using driver sweeper, safe mode, etc etc, and I can't get the thing to perform like it should. GPUz says that crossfire is enabled, and it is in CCC but I get only about 11,000 marks in 3dmark06 compared to 13,000ish I got with my 512mb 4870. With crossfire disabled, the card runs about 2 - 3 fps slower in 3dmark.

I know 3dmark isn't the end all be all, but I know it should be getting better scores than my 4870 did. I have also tried using my power supplies 8pin and 6pin pci-e connectors, and using molex to 8pin and nothing changed. I'm running a pc power and cooling 610 silencer and a single hard drive. That is it, so power shouldn't be a problem.

One thing I'm curious about is the diagnostic leds on card. If I look down from the rear of the card/case, there is a red led on the left hand side under the voltage regulator heatsink, and a green led on the right hand side. Is this normal?

I'm out of ideas.
 
What kind of CPU do you use? You might be CPU limited. You also should be using the 4850 X2 at higher resolutions with AA on, otherwise it's not really using its full potential, just like other X2 cards.

As for diagnostic LEDs, I don't recall ever seeing a red light on mine. Green, yes. Red? Not that I recall. If you suspect something's wrong with the card, create a support ticket with Sapphire.
 
3dmark06? Should be getting around 18-20k at least in 3dmark06, and around 11-14k in vantage. Sounds to me like for some reason, your 4850x2 isn't scaling in 3dmark06.
 
c2d e6550 oc'd to a modest 3.0ghz.
I just figured I should get a higher 3dmark score and not 2k less. The red light is under the black heatsink on the top of the card. You sort of have to be at an angle to see it. :confused:
 
vanilla_guerilla said:
then it will work. or even better is this one. plug 2 molex's (4 pin) from separate legs of your psu into this.


http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=78461


to the above guy - use ati tray tools. overclocks higher than ccc. but be careful, the returns you get in performance dont amount to much. this will also allow you to uninstall ccc.
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Here is the cable I got to convert one of my 6 pin connectors to an 8 pin.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186&products_id=21721
 
I agree with TheBigNip, something is definitely wrong with your setup, NVH.

A quick Google search reveals this 4850 X2 review, which states that "[w]ithout proper power, red LEDs glow to indicate a problem." So apparently you aren't getting enough juice to the card. Have you installed both the 8-pin and 6-pin power plugs, and is your PSU generating enough wattage?
 
Rydawg5143 said:
i been thinking about buying this but i hear its a loud card?
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That depends on what you deem "loud." The stock fans are louder than the average card, but this is due in part to Sapphire setting the default fan speed at a higher RPM. This can be corrected by manually adjusting the fan speeds in CCC, replacing the stock cooler completely, or getting a card with an updated BIOS. Sapphire sent out a new BIOS to 4850 X2 reviewers, who claim that after flashing their review units with the new BIOS, the card's noise drops significantly--one reviewer compared it to the IceQ 4850, which isn't very loud at all.

Personally, I think complaints about the fan noise are overrated as reviewers tend to latch on to perceived shortcomings. Think about it: the biggest complaints about the card are the stock fan noise and a lack of ATi driver support (which was nullified by the Cat 9.1s, which officially support the 4850 X2.) No one's complaining about the performance or price, both of which are absolutely outstanding.

"The card is loud!" is a mountain made out of a molehill, IMO.
 
Terpfen said:
I agree with TheBigNip, something is definitely wrong with your setup, NVH.

A quick Google search reveals this 4850 X2 review, which states that "[w]ithout proper power, red LEDs glow to indicate a problem." So apparently you aren't getting enough juice to the card. Have you installed both the 8-pin and 6-pin power plugs, and is your PSU generating enough wattage?
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Yeah, the 6 and 8 pin are plugged in. I have a PC Power and Cooling 610 Silencer running a single hitachi 1tb drive. No pci cards, no dvd burner etc.



The red box is where the red led is, under the heatsink. To the right is where the green led is. No other leds are lit up. Does anyone else have this red led on?
 
Terpfen said:
That depends on what you deem "loud." The stock fans are louder than the average card, but this is due in part to Sapphire setting the default fan speed at a higher RPM. This can be corrected by manually adjusting the fan speeds in CCC, replacing the stock cooler completely, or getting a card with an updated BIOS. Sapphire sent out a new BIOS to 4850 X2 reviewers, who claim that after flashing their review units with the new BIOS, the card's noise drops significantly--one reviewer compared it to the IceQ 4850, which isn't very loud at all.

Personally, I think complaints about the fan noise are overrated as reviewers tend to latch on to perceived shortcomings. Think about it: the biggest complaints about the card are the stock fan noise and a lack of ATi driver support (which was nullified by the Cat 9.1s, which officially support the 4850 X2.) No one's complaining about the performance or price, both of which are absolutely outstanding.

"The card is loud!" is a mountain made out of a molehill, IMO.
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Thanks for the info, what are some good aftermarket cooler(s) for this card?
 
I just checked my card, and I have a red LED in the same place as you do. Okay, it must not be the same LED referred to in that review, as my card is operating perfectly.

You might want to create a support ticket with Sapphire at this point.

Rydawg5143 said:
Thanks for the info, what are some good aftermarket cooler(s) for this card?
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eggrock removed his stock cooler and attached two Zalman VF900 coolers, one on each core, with photos posted earlier in the thread. That's probably your best bet for aftermarket cooling.
 
Good luck; let us know how the issue gets resolved! Not many 4850 X2 owners around, y'know. :p
 
lol i never noticed that red LED.... only the green one.

here my 2 cents about the fan speed....my idle fan speed is 12%, and it goes to about 40% under load i think... idle it is a bit annoying, but under load it really isnt very loud at all.

overall i couldnt be happier with it, all of the games i play i get smoother gameplay than both my previous 512mb crossfire 4850 and 4870 setups. at 1920x1200 im convinced its my perfect sweetspot for now, the 2gb ram really helps.
 
1920x1080/1200 definitely seems to be this card's forte. Since my PC is hooked up to a 1080p-capable TV set (Samsung LN32A550) I've got the perfect rig going.

But going forward, I wonder who among us will be crazy enough to attempt setting up two 4850 X2s in Crossfire. I'd like to see how that setup performs in a C2Q or i7 system...
 
Under that heatsink i have a green and a red LED that are on all the time including the green one that is obvious to sight. Everything is running fine and cam game for hours on end with no problems. Ohh, card is overclocked too :)

Id like to speak with a tech at sapphire that really knows what these LED's mean:p
 
I did a fresh windows install. Nothing changed. I think there is something wrong with the card. I get the same fps in games/3dmark score with crossfire enabled and disabled. :(

Could someone take a screen shot of GPUz with the 9.1 cats? I want to compare.
 
NotVery[H];1033714198 said:
Wow I'm stumped. I just got a 4850x2 2gb the other day and was really excited about the boost I should get over my 4870 512mb. Anyways, I've installed the 9.1s and the 8.whatever that came with the card, using driver sweeper, safe mode, etc etc, and I can't get the thing to perform like it should. GPUz says that crossfire is enabled, and it is in CCC but I get only about 11,000 marks in 3dmark06 compared to 13,000ish I got with my 512mb 4870. With crossfire disabled, the card runs about 2 - 3 fps slower in 3dmark.

I know 3dmark isn't the end all be all, but I know it should be getting better scores than my 4870 did.

I'm out of ideas.
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Yeah something is wrong with that benchmark. I got 19,800 on my C2D E8400, so yeah you should be getting better scores than than. Also, what size PSU are you using ?
 
Hey all, Got a question.
I am torn between buying a 4850x2 or a gtx 280/285. I watch a lot of movies on my PC, HD and standard. How is video playback quality on your systems?
 
Seekeroftruth said:
Hey all, Got a question.
I am torn between buying a 4850x2 or a gtx 280/285. I watch a lot of movies on my PC, HD and standard. How is video playback quality on your systems?
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I haven't played any movie files or DVDs on my system yet, but there's no reason to believe video playback quality is any different from the standard 4850.
 
DVD quality is fine.... I do not have any BD to compare it to but HD .avi looks good. I mean, my Radeon9800pro played HD files fine.
 
Still having no luck. I'm still using Xp Pro 32bit. Is anyone else successfully using the 4850 x2 on xp? I have tried every driver. 8.11, 8.12, 9.1 and the disc that came with the card. All have the same results.

Just wondering if this might be an XP issue? :confused:
 
NotVery[H];1033723257 said:
Still having no luck. I'm still using Xp Pro 32bit. Is anyone else successfully using the 4850 x2 on xp? I have tried every driver. 8.11, 8.12, 9.1 and the disc that came with the card. All have the same results.

Just wondering if this might be an XP issue? :confused:
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At this point, your problem is likely the card itself. I would request an RMA from Sapphire.
 
NotVery[H];1033723257 said:
Still having no luck. I'm still using Xp Pro 32bit. Is anyone else successfully using the 4850 x2 on xp? I have tried every driver. 8.11, 8.12, 9.1 and the disc that came with the card. All have the same results.

Just wondering if this might be an XP issue? :confused:
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Yes, I run mine on XP, runs like a champ. At this point you need to RMA


that sucks, its the first I have heard of a problem with these cards.
 
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