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See if you can figure this out! Radeon 9700 Pro issue

A

ArachPres

Member
Ok, here is the issue.

I bought a Radeon 9700 Pro awhile ago, sometime last November. Now, I had several weeks of perfect performance and had no complaints. Then, once in awhile, the computer would boot to Windows XP and a very strange grid pattern overlayed onto the entire screen wherever you went. I tried to restart and then the grid changes as the resolution changes, even into the POST screen. So, obviously this looked like a video card problem: likely a render-issue or output bug.

I tried putting the card into different systems and it occurs once in awhile. Once it occurs, I need to shutdown the entire system, then turn it back on and try again. Sometimes it goes away, sometimes it comes back. It's entirely random. HOWEVER, once the computer is running, it will run forever (once for an entire 2 weeks) and will not screw up. It's basically a hit or miss situation when the visual error occurs.

Has anyone seen this before? Can I flash the BIOS and install a newer version or maybe the BIOS is corrupted? Well, here is a picture of the distortion.

Wierd visual anomaly

Now, the anomaly DOES NOT affect 3D performance. It just really distorts everything and is very dynamic in its distortion depending on what I'm doing when it occurs. It only occurs on startup sometimes and when it occurs will occur EVERYWHERE (in dos area as well) until I shutdown.


Any ideas? PLEASE? 🙂
 
you can try flashing the bios as well as a different power supply (maybe its not getting enough juice) but in the end i think you are going to find out that the video card itself is the issue. that card is going bad bro, you need to rma it (if under warranty) or get a new card. thats just my opinion since i saw the same thing with a bad g4 ti4200 that i had. good luck.
 
Maybe overheating? Is the heatsink on the video card super hot when this happens?

If not overheating, I agree with Unforgiven. Especially since it happens in multiple systems.
 
Nah, definitely not overheating. Temps are constantly consistently across the board. It appears very random with no easy explanation.
 
I would also like to emphasize that performance is GREAT with the card. It appears as though the events are isolated to visual anomaly. But man, I hate restarting the computer 3 times to get it to go away.
 
If you can monitor your voltages, watch them. I had a similar issue which turned out to be my PS. The +12v rail on my Antec truepower 480 would drop to like 10.5v and bam instant display corruption. Both my powersupply and my Radeon card (AIW 9700pro) had been running strong for months when the issue started. At first rebooting would correct it, then it got progressively worse. Replacing it with an enermax 350 I had laying around fixed it (been running perfect for mnths again) Oddly, my antec runs perfect on another rig of mine. Worth a shot.
 
I had that same problem with 2 different 9700pro's, one AIW and one regular. It was very commone in the early version 9700pro's. It seems to be worse with some motherboards or other combinations. AFAIK no one ever came up with a good solution. Try disabling "fast writes" in the ATI control panel and run the card at 4X instead of 8X and see if the problem doesn't improve. I finally got tired of "dumbing down" my video card and bought a 9800pro and have had no problems since.

Hope this helps.🙂
 
It seems to me he tried the card in two diff computers with the same results. Unless the two PC's are identical and there might be some conflict between the card and some hardware or software in both systems, I would suggest getting a new video card before you drive yourself crazy chasing down a problem that might not be there. The video card is probably just bad.
 
Originally posted by: wassupG
It seems to me he tried the card in two diff computers with the same results. Unless the two PC's are identical and there might be some conflict between the card and some hardware or software in both systems, I would suggest getting a new video card before you drive yourself crazy chasing down a problem that might not be there.  The video card is probably just bad.
Click to expand...

I think it's obvious the card is bad.. but it's a design flaw, not just a card that has gone bad. As I pointed out, this was a very common problem and is well documented on numerous sites. I had my two 9700pro's in systems with all different hardware/mb combinations, in some it was worse, but it was there in all of them. Just try my suggestion about disabling fast writes and run the card at AGP 4X and I think you will find the problem "almost" dissapears..😉

It is sure cheaper than replacing the card!
 
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