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I'll post this hear since it keeps getting deleted on the Sapphire support forums. 
although this is an ATI card, i'm sure this could apply to any card that overheats, or has a chip that tends to run hot.
I have a Sapphire x1950 Pro. I only bought the sapphire because at the time it was the only 512mb x19x0 card out there and performed better than the nvidia in the same price range.
everyone once in a while my display will just go black. researching around i found that it is because of no cooling on a VRM, which overheats and shuts down the card. i can still hear the game in the background, but the screen is black. i usually just hit the power button, right arrow, and enter and the machine will shut down and then i power up and all is fine. i have over clocked the card for benchmarking, but always run at the stock speeds as even at stock speeds the black-screen-of-nothingness still occurs to me.
i know people have had success by putting small heat sinks on the chip and are fine afterwards. i want to do this but i'm sure sapphire would void my warranty if anything was to go wrong with the card. i may just RMA the card to sapphire anyways if they have a newer revision that solves the overheating VRM issue.
it is not like my case is not well ventilated. i have 3-intake 80mm fans, one on the side blowing directly over the vide card+north bridge area, 2-exhaust 80mm fans, and the 120mm fan on the PSU which pushes air into the PSU and out of the case. i also have 2-92mm fans blowing directly on the card. before the 92mm fans i had a PCI-slot mounted double 80mm fan blowing directly on the card. the fans blowing direclty on the card have lowered the load temps from the 80's down to short bursts in the 60's when stressing the crap out of the card. but regardless of if i have my fans on full blast(12v) or on their low setting(7v) the VRM still manages to overheat occationally.
anyone have this happen to them with any of their cards? specifically sapphire customers?
although this is an ATI card, i'm sure this could apply to any card that overheats, or has a chip that tends to run hot.
I have a Sapphire x1950 Pro. I only bought the sapphire because at the time it was the only 512mb x19x0 card out there and performed better than the nvidia in the same price range.
everyone once in a while my display will just go black. researching around i found that it is because of no cooling on a VRM, which overheats and shuts down the card. i can still hear the game in the background, but the screen is black. i usually just hit the power button, right arrow, and enter and the machine will shut down and then i power up and all is fine. i have over clocked the card for benchmarking, but always run at the stock speeds as even at stock speeds the black-screen-of-nothingness still occurs to me.
i know people have had success by putting small heat sinks on the chip and are fine afterwards. i want to do this but i'm sure sapphire would void my warranty if anything was to go wrong with the card. i may just RMA the card to sapphire anyways if they have a newer revision that solves the overheating VRM issue.
it is not like my case is not well ventilated. i have 3-intake 80mm fans, one on the side blowing directly over the vide card+north bridge area, 2-exhaust 80mm fans, and the 120mm fan on the PSU which pushes air into the PSU and out of the case. i also have 2-92mm fans blowing directly on the card. before the 92mm fans i had a PCI-slot mounted double 80mm fan blowing directly on the card. the fans blowing direclty on the card have lowered the load temps from the 80's down to short bursts in the 60's when stressing the crap out of the card. but regardless of if i have my fans on full blast(12v) or on their low setting(7v) the VRM still manages to overheat occationally.
anyone have this happen to them with any of their cards? specifically sapphire customers?