$300 paperweight

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
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Hmm well my BBATi 9800 Pro seems to be a very expensive paperweight. I put a new HSF on it last night, and this morning i installed it. It seemed to be working fine but i didnt have time to mess with it cuz i had to work, i just let the computer fold while i was working. Got home, fired up 3d01 at 420/365, and got massive artifacts. This was strange because i could run at that speed when the card was stock. So i restarted, tried again at stock speeds of 378/337.5 and still got artifacts. So i turned the memory clock down to the minimum, like 303mhz and got no artifacts. i then turned the core clock up to 430 and got no artifacts. I put the stock HSF back on and the same thing. evidently there is something wrong with memory on my card, because if i turn it up past like 320mhz i get artifacts... i wonder why this happened? i checked over the card very carefully and could see nothing that would cause this. there was no thermal compound anywhere, no bent capacitors, nothing. I tried reseating it and still nothing. Right now im using a GF2 mx200 If i cant figure this out, im not sure what im going to do really. I would just get a 9800 Pro, but the RV420 is coming out in a bit. But i cant wait that long without a card. so who knows. I guess we have all broken stuff, it happens when you mod a lot, comes with the territory. it just doesnt make sense though that its the memory. enough of my rant.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,047
18
81
Let me ask you something...

Did it work correctly before you attempted to install a new heatsink? If so, then it is your fault completely. If it didn't work correctly before, you should have attempted to RMA before installing a new HSF.

This is your doing.
 

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
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Originally posted by: Excelsior
Let me ask you something...

Did it work correctly before you attempted to install a new heatsink? If so, then it is your fault completely. If it didn't work correctly before, you should have attempted to RMA before installing a new HSF.

This is your doing.

ditto
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
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yes it worked just fine before i did this. I had vantec iceberq on before this and it was fine along with the tweakmonster ramsinks. I just dont see why the ram wont run at its rated speed after installing a HSF. The core is obviously fine and the new HSF is doing its job, since I can run 3d01 at 430/303 but not at 378/337.5...... So its obviously the memory which makes no sense.
 

Zephyr106

Banned
Jul 2, 2003
1,309
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Originally posted by: PCBliss
yes it worked just fine before i did this. I had vantec iceberq on before this and it was fine along with the tweakmonster ramsinks. I just dont see why the ram wont run at its rated speed after installing a HSF. The core is obviously fine and the new HSF is doing its job, since I can run 3d01 at 430/303 but not at 378/337.5...... So its obviously the memory which makes no sense.

Static discharge damaged RAM modules?

Zephyr
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
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Hmm could be. Ill just agree with any explanation at this point, lol since im baffled by it.
 

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
9,396
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quite possably static shock. sense you stll can run the card at 430/303 it is hardly a paperweight; it just isn't as fast as it once was. but you might as well use it anyway, being a little slower isn't going to kill you.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
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Originally posted by: TheSnowman
quite possably static shock. sense you stll can run the card at 430/303 it is hardly a paperweight; it just isn't as fast as it once was. but you might as well use it anyway, being a little slower isn't going to kill you.

And it'll still be much faster than a GeForce2 MX200 =)
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,304
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eh id rather just sell it on ebay and get a powercolor 9800 pro on newegg for $219. I saw a clearly labled defective 9800 pro go for $103 last week so ill probably just get rid of it. Im trying to break 20k in 3d01 and this wont help lol.
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,304
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Someone on another forumed mentioned it could have been damaged by a power surge. I didnt think this was possible at first, because only the ram on my video card was damaged. But then my GF just brought up a real good point. Last night it was really windy here. Before i started the HSF mod on my card, the lights flickered for a second.... and my computer was on at the time... Maybe it damaged it then? Because i didnt play any games at all last night, so i wouldnt have noticed the damage because the artifacts arent noticeable in 2d, only in games and benchmarks. Shortly after the lights flickered i took the card out and put the new hsf on. THen this morning i reinstalled the card, and went to work. Maybe thats the explanation. Really wierd and freaky if thats what happened to it.
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,304
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Because i dont like to settle with stock cooling. I dont leave anything stock, i see no point in that. Sure sometimes stuff breaks but it doesnt bother me. There is no way the HSF mod did anything to the memory anyway. The HSF mod works perfect because the back of the card is barely warm when the core speed is at 430mhz.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
2,997
126
Because i dont like to settle with stock cooling.
Why? Stock cooling is designed to work with the out-of-the-box configuration. The only real reason to change it is if the noise bothers you and/or you're planning to overclock the board.
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,304
0
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Lol and I plan on overclocking the board a lot! Obviously, or i would have left the stock one on. Anyway, nothing i did could have caused this so whatever. Crap happens. Oh well. Ill just get a new one and mod that.
 

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
9,396
0
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Originally posted by: PCBliss
eh id rather just sell it on ebay and get a powercolor 9800 pro on newegg for $219. I saw a clearly labled defective 9800 pro go for $103 last week so ill probably just get rid of it. Im trying to break 20k in 3d01 and this wont help lol.

it would be ironic if you went though all that trouble only to find the new 9800pro you got doesn't overclock for crap and can't even beat the score you can get with your current card. :D
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,304
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People on this site are extremely negative. More so than any other forum i go to.
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
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I wish you good luck with your next one. You're apparently willing to accept the cost of failed mods, I don't see why anyone should have anything against you.

Now why someone would pay $100 for a defective 9800 Pro....wth is up with that?!
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,304
0
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Thanks! I have modded a lot of things and they usually go fine. I really dont think this mod failed, something else failed. The HSF mod works great, its the memory that doesnt. But either way it doesnt matter. SOme people dump tons of money into their car engine, and it blows up cuz they push it so hard. Then they just rebuild it even better. thats part of the fun, and you learn. Its all good. About the 9800 pro, i dont know. I had a ti4600 stop working last summer ( I didnt mod or overclock it:). It was a chaintech lol. Anyway i put it on ebay, clearly stating it was defective. sold for $76, and the guy left good feedback.. so i dunno
 

modedepe

Diamond Member
May 11, 2003
3,474
0
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Hell, if the thing just runs the ram at 320mhz instead of the usual 340mhz I'd definitely pay $100 for it. Anyways, good luck!
 

Gagabiji

Golden Member
Oct 1, 2003
1,460
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Originally posted by: Rollo
Now why someone would pay $100 for a defective 9800 Pro....wth is up with that?!


I was wondering the same thing...and can't figure it out. :confused:
 

PCBliss

Golden Member
Jan 6, 2004
1,304
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Hmmm what would mess it up? Its on the actual dies that makes contact with the HSF, or in the area between the core and the shim?
 

Megatomic

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
20,127
6
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Originally posted by: PCBliss
People on this site are extremely negative. More so than any other forum i go to.
We had a rash of posts recently about people RMAing cards that they messed up (warranty breakers). That is probably why some of the replies here are kind of negative.

Also, you mentioned an ATI product that is not working properly, there are a lot of ATI fans here that can't bear to see such things on the intarweb. They'll flame you before they let you slander an ATI card. :)