Is my ATI 9800PRO dying?

[GEOrifle]

Hi.
I have not to old and not to bad PC: 3.4GH PIV CPU OC-ed now to 3.74GH w/ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU cooler, 2GIG CORSAIR RAM, OCZ 700w PSU and two 120mm & two 90mm
fans. System isn't bad except 9800PRO.
But it freezes during some games especially in GTA Vice City when driving, game stops but music still works.
Any ideas? Maybe it's just overheats (moved heatsink?) and that's why?

 

[postmortemIA]

You're lucky that it is still running, my 9700pro died almost yr and half ago.

 

[MegaVovaN]

What is the temp?
Either overheats or dying.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

temps? i'm not sure if the 9800 has a temp sensor, but if not, u may just need to replace the card, not worth buying a new cooler for it if its already bad

and do u mean "dying"?

 

[MichaelD]

Sounds like you're overheating. I have a 9800 and had the same problem. It does not have a temp sensor so the only way to tell that it's overheating is by seeing artifacts or the system crashing entirely when doing graphic-intensive tasks.

The fan on my card died. When I removed the stock HSF unit to put on the Arctic Cooling unit I bought, I also noticed that the stock thermal paste was bone dry...as in like chalk. It just crumbled off.

So, your problem is either:

1. Fan died
2. Heatsink not seated properly anymore
3. Thermal paste all dried up
4. Any combination of the above

AGP cards are still out there...though a bit pricey. I'd check to see if the fan is running, if the heatsink is seated properly. And even if both those things are good, I'd remove the heatsink, clean up the stock thermal crap and put a little Arctic Silver 5 on there.

My 9800 still works perfectly and it's at least 5 years old.

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Sounds like you're overheating. I have a 9800 and had the same problem. It does not have a temp sensor so the only way to tell that it's overheating is by seeing artifacts or the system crashing entirely when doing graphic-intensive tasks.

The fan on my card died. When I removed the stock HSF unit to put on the Arctic Cooling unit I bought, I also noticed that the stock thermal paste was bone dry...as in like chalk. It just crumbled off.

So, your problem is either:

1. Fan died
2. Heatsink not seated properly anymore
3. Thermal paste all dried up
4. Any combination of the above

AGP cards are still out there...though a bit pricey. I'd check to see if the fan is running, if the heatsink is seated properly. And even if both those things are good, I'd remove the heatsink, clean up the stock thermal crap and put a little Arctic Silver 5 on there.

My 9800 still works perfectly and it's at least 5 years old.

No it is not, 9700 pro came out in second part of 2002, and 9800 pro came out in 2003.

 

[MichaelD]

<--for your l33t math skills, postmortemIA

OK, so my card is at least FOUR years old then.

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
<--for your l33t math skills, postmortemIA

OK, so my card is at least FOUR years old then.

Your card is at most 4 yrs old

 

[GEOrifle]

Yes it's 3 year old card and paid for it good money $250.
I'll check agaen HSF and send results, card is good one and it plays all games good enough: FarCry, Prey, Spintel Cell 1-2 and so.
If i buy new one it will be used for second PC.
Which new AGP card do you recommend: 7950GT(Lifetime warranty) or X1950PRO 512 mb(1-2 year warranty) ? 7950 cost more but Lifetime warranty is really good. you see my
9800PRO is out of servise in 3 years and noone will replace it.

 

[JBird7986]

My brother's now using my old 9700 Pro in my old A64 3400+ system...it was a great card, still runs great, but it was time for a change...between the two cards suggested above, I'd go with the X1950Pro. It has better performance, and my guess is that by the time it dies on you, you'll be ready to move/have moved to PCIe.

 

[GEOrifle]

Maybe i can wait until ATI's new HD 2400-2600 cards will release in AGP format, noone knows when they will be available?

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: GEOrifle
Maybe i can wait until ATI's new HD 2400-2600 cards will release in AGP format, noone knows when they will be available?

There is no point in this, you will be bottlenecked by your CPU and RAM.

Just buy a beater card for now and then build entire new system from ground up.

Heck, I'd say your CPU (P4 @ 3.74ghz) is a bottleneck even to 1950xt.

 

[GEOrifle]

What are youn talking about: HD 2400-2600 cards will be 50% slower than X1950XT AGP.