Radeon 9700PRO; an odyssey of crap cards

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
C

coderbybirth

Junior Member
May 13, 2003
5
0
0
This bugged me enough that I thought I'd post
my experience with the R9700PRO on this forum.

I recently bought a Sapphire Radeon 9700PRO.
Upon testing the card, it turned out there were weird artifacts
in the shadows and discoloration when using pixel shaders.
I returned the card and got a new one.

This card worked perfectly. Except.
Every fifth reboot or so, the screen was messed up. And I mean messed up.
Windows desktop and even the BIOS display during boot-up was trashed, with multicolored signs appearing
all over the screen. This wouldn't go away without a cold reboot.
A quick check on the Sapphire forum confirmed that this was a problem
with the entire series (not all Sapphire 9700PROs, just the ones in
this particular production series).
This problem was probably also present in the previous card, but
didn't manifest itself during the few reboots it took to see that
the card was in all other respects messed up.

I returned the card and got my money back.

Okay, so now I had seen some of the magic the R9700P could do (even when
partially or wholly messed up), and my old gf2 400mx felt like driving a
Volvo '72 after having a testdrive in a Dodge Viper.
I'm still willing to have another go with the 9700.

I decided to try my luck with the Gigabyte line of cards.
I get the card. I'm feeling depressed even before launching 3dMark.
And guess what?
Everything looks like the Muppet Show on acid.
I return the card and get my money back.

I know you're all probably thinking (and probably the people at the store too)
that I'm installing the card in a prehistory PDP-10 while
standing on top of a wool carpet with greasy fingers.
But I'm not. I even use one of those geeky wriststraps.
Also, all the cards were confirmed as faulty at the store, where they
probably have a high-end computer with a sufficient PSU.

Now what?
I'm still driving the Volvo, I still want to get a new card,
but I'm definitely having doubts.
Am I some kind of statistical freak?
Who else has bought three faulty cards in a row?

Bleh!
 
Regs

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
21
81
Get a new computer and stop sticking 03' Mercedes benz car parts on a broken down ' Pinto.
 
P

Pete

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
4,953
0
0
Maybe buy a retail ATi 9800 at your local BB/CompUSA, so returns are easier. They should be about the same cost as a 9700P; even if they are extra, I'd think the convenience of instant returns/exchanges would be worth it.

And if this card does the same, I'd double check the carpet. ;) Seriously, is your MB properly grounded (no extra standoffs touching where they shouldn't)?
 
5150Joker

5150Joker

Diamond Member
Feb 6, 2002
5,549
0
71
www.techinferno.com
Originally posted by: coderbybirth
This bugged me enough that I thought I'd post
my experience with the R9700PRO on this forum.

I recently bought a Sapphire Radeon 9700PRO.
Upon testing the card, it turned out there were weird artifacts
in the shadows and discoloration when using pixel shaders.
I returned the card and got a new one.

This card worked perfectly. Except.
Every fifth reboot or so, the screen was messed up. And I mean messed up.
Windows desktop and even the BIOS display during boot-up was trashed, with multicolored signs appearing
all over the screen. This wouldn't go away without a cold reboot.
A quick check on the Sapphire forum confirmed that this was a problem
with the entire series (not all Sapphire 9700PROs, just the ones in
this particular production series).
This problem was probably also present in the previous card, but
didn't manifest itself during the few reboots it took to see that
the card was in all other respects messed up.

I returned the card and got my money back.

Okay, so now I had seen some of the magic the R9700P could do (even when
partially or wholly messed up), and my old gf2 400mx felt like driving a
Volvo '72 after having a testdrive in a Dodge Viper.
I'm still willing to have another go with the 9700.

I decided to try my luck with the Gigabyte line of cards.
I get the card. I'm feeling depressed even before launching 3dMark.
And guess what?
Everything looks like the Muppet Show on acid.
I return the card and get my money back.

I know you're all probably thinking (and probably the people at the store too)
that I'm installing the card in a prehistory PDP-10 while
standing on top of a wool carpet with greasy fingers.
But I'm not. I even use one of those geeky wriststraps.
Also, all the cards were confirmed as faulty at the store, where they
probably have a high-end computer with a sufficient PSU.

Now what?
I'm still driving the Volvo, I still want to get a new card,
but I'm definitely having doubts.
Am I some kind of statistical freak?
Who else has bought three faulty cards in a row?

Bleh!
Click to expand...


Sounds to me your power supply is giving you issues.

 
C

cnhoff

Senior member
Feb 6, 2001
724
0
0
Don't blame his hardware!

I have had the same issues with the Sapphire 9700 Pro and i have a P4/2.4 on an Asus board and a 430Watt ps.
My friend has the same problems with his Asus board and his 2500+.

I am sick and tired of people calling me a newbie or telling me i don't have an appropriate system, when i complain about this vid card. Especially over at Rage3D you get thrashed when you say something against their toys...
 
43st

43st

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
3,197
0
0
Classic power supply problems. Either get your current PS tested or get a new one.
 
S

Smilin

Diamond Member
Mar 4, 2002
7,357
0
0
Ok so lets assume for a sec ATI & Buddies make a crappy video card. Even so do you think by the third card you might begin to suspect something else is wrong?
 
Mem

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
13
81
The ATi 9700 Pro works fine in most boards,however there are some boards that have problems,yes a good quality PSU with enough wattage is a must,I was lucky that my Sapphire 9700NP works fine in my VIA board(Epox 8KHA+) and I only had to use Driver Cleaner to get rid of my old Nvidia drivers so no reformat needed for me.

Yes I`ve seen the threads over at Rage3D,the final solution there is to change motherboards which is not an option for everyone,all I can say is if you have tried all the normal things and know your card is not faulty is to replace it with a different brand or model.





 
5150Joker

5150Joker

Diamond Member
Feb 6, 2002
5,549
0
71
www.techinferno.com
Originally posted by: cnhoff
Don't blame his hardware!

I have had the same issues with the Sapphire 9700 Pro and i have a P4/2.4 on an Asus board and a 430Watt ps.
My friend has the same problems with his Asus board and his 2500+.

I am sick and tired of people calling me a newbie or telling me i don't have an appropriate system, when i complain about this vid card. Especially over at Rage3D you get thrashed when you say something against their toys...
Click to expand...

Which asus board and what PSU? I guarantee you it's a hardware issue unless you bought a defective card.
 
rbV5

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
0
I am sick and tired of people calling me a newbie or telling me i don't have an appropriate system, when i complain about this vid card. Especially over at Rage3D you get thrashed when you say something against their toys...
Click to expand...

I don't blame you, I'm getting tired of this crap too. Rage3D is a minefield most definately, but ALOT of good help there if you can tolerate to wade through the BS, use the search engine if possible:). Oh, I'm guilty of it myself, and its damn embarrassing to read some of my own "heat of the moment posts" now when I look back. Its just not helpful.

Also, all the cards were confirmed as faulty at the store, where they
probably have a high-end computer with a sufficient PSU
Click to expand...

3 bad cards in a row is highly unlikely, don't assume they know what they are doing either. It does sound like power supply, but it could be chipset drivers, AGP driver (what does smartgart tell you?) fubured display driver, wrong bios setting somewhere, poorly seated card..on and on.
 
V

Viper96720

Diamond Member
Jul 15, 2002
4,390
0
0
Don't you think maybe your motherboard or powersupply is screwing the cards up. Then when you take it back to the store and they check it. You had already fubared it in your
computer.
 
C

Corporate Thug

Lifer
Apr 17, 2003
37,622
0
76
are u sure this isnt a driver issue or driver conflict? i got that same weird screen coincidentaly on every 5th or so reboot as well. this was cuz i was using nforce2 drivers with cat 3.4. i unistalled cat 3.4, installed cat 3.2 and problem gone
 
C

coderbybirth

Junior Member
May 13, 2003
5
0
0
This is most probably not an issue with my hardware;
the different cards all displayed different errors.
The second Sapphire card was not faulty in that it
worked the way Sapphire intended (in this case meaning
it worked about four out of five reboots).
Also, as stated, the errors were confirmed in the store.

Also, as for my computer somehow exerting a "negative
influence" on the cards, I find this highly unlikely.
My old GF2 has been in and out of there more
than ten times without it being damaged.

My guess is that all this comes down to mishandling
at the distribution storehouse, or pretty damn
shabby quality assurance procedures at
the manufacturer.

And no, DAMMIT, I don't need a bigger PSU.
Shit, I think no one does.
On every post regarding any problem with anything
computer related (and sometimes not even that) someone
replies with the obligatory "get a bigger PSU" comment.

 
43st

43st

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
3,197
0
0
My PSU comment was based on personal experience. The system was booting with garbled graphics every 5th or so boot. A new PS fixed the issue, nothing else.

No doubt there's a ton of things can go wrong with a PC. I was simply relaying my experience.
 
rbV5

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
0
The second Sapphire card was not faulty in that it
worked the way Sapphire intended (in this case meaning
it worked about four out of five reboots).
Click to expand...

Good luck
rolleye.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom