Hot! News about the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro! ATI admits that it does not POST on some AGP 8x!

[RideFree]

Get your ATI newz here!

In certain cases, after installing the RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB in an AGP 8x capable motherboard, the system will not post, or boot up.

Friends, do not let friends buy defective video cards!:Q

 

[RideFree]

Credit where credit is due!

Broken 9700s There's a pretty good chance that EVERY Radeon 9700 card in existence today is likely to have the AGP 8X problem. ATI has apparently made revisions to boards which correct this.

This was gleefully plagiarized word for word from...
overclockers.com

 

[RideFree]

iamme,
I am smart enough to know that it goes here...
As I said, "Friends don't let friends buy defective video" or whatever.
In the HOT Deals section, there are plenty of posts encouraging the purchase of this product.
If this post saves anyone from making a BIG mistake, it is most certainly posted in the correct place.

I'm willing to let the MODS make whatever decision they deem fit!

 

[IMiIKo]

I agree, even though there's no way I'll fork over more than 200 for a video card. Now I have another excuse not to get this card.

 

[GoingUp]

Thanks for the info Ride......

I was going to trade in my GF3 ti500 for the Radeon 9700 in a couple of months.....i have a visiontek gf3 and they are out of business so i dont wanna have to worry about a warrenty.....hopefully ati fixes the problem by then, although it will be interesting to see what NVIDIA brings out.......

 

[jzodda]

This post does not belong here

It belongs in the general or Video Forums or OT

So maybe you are not as smart as you say


If your trying to Label the 9700 as some kind of defective junk well you are even less smart. It works for the Overwhelming majority of people that I know who went out and got one...The Drivers need some work though but every new ATI Card goes through that.

So let me guess....Nvidia Fanboy....No?

 

[AnimEva]

ATI has already corrected this problem. This problem comes with their AE2 Stepping, i think it is called. Their AE3 Stepping cards fix this problem.

So if you get this card, get the AE3, not the AE2, should be fine if you do that.

 

[ynotravid]

I don't know about defective but there is a risk factor. This would not stop me from buying this card but on the other hand, I love problems.

 

[RideFree]

jzodda,
Read this right here on AT!
BTW, I use a lot of Matrox (1st choice) and nVidea (2nd choice). NO! ATI since years ago when I got bit while ATI "worked out the bugs in it's drivers".

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: AnimEva
ATI has already corrected this problem. This problem comes with their AE2 Stepping, i think it is called. Their AE3 Stepping cards fix this problem.

So if you get this card, get the AE3, not the AE2, should be fine if you do that.

There's only one problem with that fella, THERE'S NO WAY TO TELL IF A CARD IS AE2 or AE3 if you buy it online or even in a retail store. NO WAY WHATSOEVER. The only way you'll know is if you take it home and rip off the heatsink.

AE2's have flooded the market so you're screwed and all the original 9700's shipped have been AE2's (meaning people that have them right now).

 

[lamga]

Yeah, they found out the AE2 cards had problems, they've fixed the problem, and are offering free returns or BIOS flashes to fix the problem, and only two AGP8x-compliant boards are having this problem, so what do you want? The matter is closed.

*Some other mobos did not have AGP8x support in their BIOSs to begin with, check with your motherboard manufacturer to d/l a new version.

 

[KeyzerSoze]

Since when was off topic not off topic anymore?
Good intentions, but still wrong forum.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: lamga
Yeah, they found out the AE2 cards had problems, they've fixed the problem, and are offering free returns or BIOS flashes to fix the problem, and only two AGP8x-compliant boards are having this problem, so what do you want? The matter is closed.

*Some other mobos did not have AGP8x support in their BIOSs to begin with, check with your motherboard manufacturer to d/l a new version.

It's not just TWO boards. It's KT400, P4X400, AND SiS648 boards that are having problems. From Rage3D:

Since receiving our Sapphire Radeon 9700 graphics card a couple of days ago during testing we have been experiencing a few strange problems ? such as continuous system reboots and programs and games crashing back to Windows desktop when used on all SiS 648, VIA KT400 and P4X400 based motherboards with AGP 8X support operational which we currently have testing.
We cannot be 100% sure if this is an isolated problem however can be sure in saying we received confirmation from our contact at Epox Taiwan (who got first hand information direct from ATi) saying the problem is only occurring in AE2 stepping Radeon 9700 chips, and not the newer AE3 chips which are now shipping from the Canadian company, who say fix the problems discussed here. The problem is, the AE2 stepping chips are vast, and thus many made it into the retail market where end-users are no doubt going to suffer. It?s important to note that we had no problems what-so-ever running the AE2 stepping Radeon 9700 on VIA KT333 and Intel 845E/G based motherboards operating in either AGP 2x or 4x modes.


Hopefully I'll get an official response from ATI soon.

 

[breweyez]

theres not a hot deal here....please change the title to "delete" thanks

 

[cnicol]

Originally posted by: ridefree
jzodda,
Read this right here on AT!
BTW, I use a lot of Matrox (1st choice) and nVidea (2nd choice). NO! ATI since years ago when I got bit while ATI "worked out the bugs in it's drivers".

This would be a Great" post in the "motherboard"section!!
(could also work in the General Hardware....or video sections as well! )

Here it's just off topic!

 

[Devistater]

I'm pretty sure ATI knew about this before shipping. I think I read stuff on hardocp and elsewhere about some problems at 8x. I have an idea they figure hardly anyone is at 8x AGP, so why not sell all the defectives first, let the people with 4x use them fine, and replace a small minority.

 

[Jstic]

I would say that the many Radeon 9700 users are having problems. If you take the time to read some other forums, you will see that there are driver issues, AGP 8x issues and compataility issues. Not that this is
unexpected because it is cutting edge technology. But to make a broad statement that most users are not having any problems is just not accurate.

 

[Coraanu]

Good, maybe we'll see some in Newegg refurbs!

 

[jzodda]

ridefree


Hehe dont get me wrong, I love this kind of info and presented in the right language its sure to start a flame war and I love a good flame war but you would have more fun with this post in General hardware....I just do not know how it belongs here

 

[Orbius]

Guess what the 9700 still blows Nvidia out of the water right now, you'd be better off accepting that fact than taking pleasure at a small problem, thats already been fixed.

 

[Smolek]

Originally posted by: Coraanu
Good, maybe we'll see some in Newegg refurbs!

could only hope

 

[Oakenfold]

Good, maybe we'll see some in Newegg refurbs!

Um still wrong forum though.

 

[Dacalo]

you are exaggerating the bug out of proportion. it is not difficult to fix this, as bios update and free replacement are offered.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Orbius
Guess what the 9700 still blows Nvidia out of the water right now, you'd be better off accepting that fact than taking pleasure at a small problem, thats already been fixed.

I know this much - if I had one of the AGP 8X boards that blew a fuse with the R9700, I wouldn't be having any "pleasure" with that "small problem" that caused system/app crashes.

Maybe the R9700 blows the gF4 Ti out of the water - but at least I know mine will run on a KT400 bug-free. Like was mentioned by NFS4 - you'll be taking a gamble buying cards new or used. If it's just a BIOS flash - long as they make it easy enough for Joe User, that's great. I'd hate to see a worldwide R9700 recall.

- M4H

 

[chasm22]

Hey Mod; WTF! is this thread and others like it doing in Hot Deals? Last time I looked the forum was suppossed to be a place to; "Post the hottest prices and deals you've found on the net...". How does this thread qualify? If anything, it might go under the Brag and Moan thread, but in reality it should be placed in General Hardware or under a thread that was initiated for just this topic in the Anand Tech News forum. Why initiate a thread there and let this thread exist here in the wrong forum? Maybe we should all start posting our own little "Hot! News" threads. I think I'll start a Hot! News thread about Fujitsu shipping 10 million faulty drives. Or how about Maxtor cutting the warranty on its IDE hard drives from 3 years to 1 year. To me these topics are as newsworthy as what ridefree has posted. I'll put money on it that there ain't 10 million radeon 9700 pro's out there. And I bet a lot more people will be affected by the maxtor announcement. But, to put it simply, news isn't what this forum is about. Like I said before, there is the Anandtech news forum for that.
This forum is for hot deals.