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Problems with new BBA 9800 pro

M

MajinWu

Gawd
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
604
Today I received my brand new 9800 pro (OEM) from Mwave.com. Before I installed it I did a quick inspection on the build quality of the card, and found a glaring problem: The heatsink seemed a little loose and insecure; it would even move a bit when I wiggled it around. Thinking it was supposed to be that way, I carefully placed the card into my system. (Note: past 9700 drivers have been uninstalled prior to this installation)

I installed the drivers that came with the CD. After the computer rebooted and WinXP finished loading up for maybe 5 seconds, the whole screen became distorted with interference. Flickering everywhere, proportion way off, almost as if the card went throught a bad overclock. I restarted my computer again, and the problem did not reoccur. (Note: the resolution was 1280x1024 on a Viewsonic VP171b LCD)

After installing the newest Catalyst drivers, I ran a 3dmark03 test. To my dismay, artifacting appeared in tests like Battle of Proxycon and Troll's Layer. I stopped the test immediately. Games like Need For Speed Underground and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic yielded the same artifacts.

I'm thinking the loose heatsink is the culprit. Can anyone give some explanation on what's going on? And what can I do about it?
 
Well if you remove the heatsink and reapply it, you'll need to readd thermal compound. You'd be voiding your warranty.

Just RMA it.
 
Sorry to have to ask this, but would I have to file an RMA with Mwave.com or with ATI? I'm not sure how RMA works and what responsibilities I have to carry out.
 
When I uninstalled the 9700 drivers, I used the Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel to do it. I'm not sure if this is the most effective mean to doing this, since when I restarted my computer, everything looked just as nice as it did before the uninstallation (32 bit color was still available). Can someone please tell me on the proper way to wipe my system clean of all traces of my video card information?
 
I'm about to RMA my video card, go through the hassle of not being able to use my computer, and lose money on the shipping and insurance. At the very least I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to get it fixed before Monday.

Anyways, I just ran Driver Cleaner (http://www.driverheaven.net/cleaner/) and did a complete reinstallation again. Unfortunately, no improvement.

My 3dMark03 score is a 5511. As a side note, my old Powercolor 9700 NONpro scored a 5012.
 
I underclocked the card down to 9700pro speeds (324/310). No aritifacts (!)

I guess it really is the heatsink problem (or the screws holding it in place)

Should I just get an Arctic VGA Silencer (I was planning on getting one to begin with) or just pay the shipping and insurance to get it RMAed?
 
Can someone please check their card and see if the heatsink (stock) is secure? (No slight wiggling when moved)
 
Christ man, if the heatsink came loose, just RMA it. It ain't worth it going through all the trouble and voiding your warrenty (if you don't o/c and such) by adding a VGA silencer etc. Unless you beforehand wanted to add extra cooling etc, I would just RMA it. Prolly back to mwave.com
 
lately they been suking... yes seen lots of loose heatsinks.

lately they been using a silvery paste instead of the old yellow glue stuff which did a nice job of holding the heatsink down tight.

I'd recommend pulling the heatsink off, cleaning it and the core, and applying AS3. Then reinstall the heatsink and make sure you push the plastic pushpins in ALL the way so they apply some force holding the heatsink on. I got 390/390 on the stock sink after doing this....about 3 weeks ago. Have since switch over to the 1U copper and OCZ ram sinks. One key improvement is to flash in the Gigacube "Edie 8/29/03" bios for 9800pro....assuming you have Samsung xxxxx8E-2C ram's onboard.
 
Don't touch anything! If it is artifacing at stock speeds, just send it back. This really is a no brainer. Even if you could get it to stop artifacing with a re-apply of the stock heatsink or addition of 3rd party cooling, you shouldn't have to! The first 9800 Pro I got off eBay did this and I sent it back.
 
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