Bought a HR-03 for my X1950 Pro

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:07 pm

Aggemam wrote:

is that what your cards all look like? mine don't have those large chips on the end...maybe that's the difference for me?

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:26 am

What large chips?

He has the S1 VRM heatspreaders on the first and the second card. The middle card has heatsinks on the heatspreader, and the rightmost card is the AGP version which also has the VRM design.

Anyway, I haven't done anything. The VRM design seems unfixable, and I have no clue how you, ryboto, have your card stable

The solution is a replacement for a newer, proper design. I have no idea if I can manage to get it... Alternatively, I could try not cooling the VRMs at all and leaving them bare. It works for you, so maybe it could work for me as well... But I just can't force myself to even *look* at the card again, much less fiddle around with it. I've bought a Ninja three bloody weeks ago, and it's still in the box because I don't want to open the case and see the x1950 From Hell (tm).

Aggemam · Post by **Aggemam** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:35 am

I'm guessing not. The one in the middle looks that way, because I've fitted the heat spreader module (That comes with the Arctic Cooling AcceleroX2 package) with four ram heatsinks, from some other VGA cooling set. It doesn't keep the card from crashing though. If it had worked, I would have put it on the other one as well. That was the plan. - But I'm not sure it's crashing due to heat. My case is really well ventilated, and I can keep my fingers on the heatsinks at all times. They get hot, but not THAT hot. I just don't know what the problem with these #%&**# cards are...

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 1:03 am

Maybe you have PSU issues? Have you tried with just one card? How does the crash manifest?

But how can you touch the VRM part? On my card, it gets so hot that I could literally fry an egg there. VR-Zone measured the VRM temperatures at 114C on some PowerColor cards that have ceramic heatsinks on them, and it's something like that on my card as well, no matter what I have on the VRM chips. My finger got instantly burnt.

Aggemam · Post by **Aggemam** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:01 am

I should be fine, in that area. I have a chieftec 560W, with plenty of juice on the 12v. I've tested both cards separately and found that one of them crashes in the same manner as you describe. It varies, but typically it'll crash after 5-20 min, while running some 3D app. I get the screwed up graphics, then it reboots and sometimes I'll get the "1 Long, 3 Short" beep code from BIOS. Which according to bioscentral.com, means "No video card or bad video RAM". It all points to some overheating component. But I just don't think my VRM's are THAT hot. Besides... to rule out the heat issue, I took off the side of my case, and pointed this big household ventilator at it. We're talking major airflow here, a gigantic cool breeze, if you will, but it crashed nevertheless. The heatsinks on the heatspreader were only slightly warm at this time.

The core is around 35 idle and tops at 51-53 after 10-20 min. load. I haven't tried to put the original cooler back on yet, but will do so soon and see if that fixes things. - This will, however, be a temporary measure. I like the low noise and more efficient cooling of the AC. I fitted them 3 months ago, and it was first last week I started having these problems. Weird indeed...

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:08 am

I think the card is faulty, as it doesn't look like a VRM issue to me. On my PC, when the VRMs overheat, I just get a black screen and the computer semi-shuts down (HDDs go off, fans keep running), I need to shut it down manually.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:10 am

Matija wrote:What large chips? He has the S1 VRM heatspreaders on the first and the second card. The middle card has heatsinks on the heatspreader, and the rightmost card is the AGP version which also has the VRM design.

I'd never seen that heatspreader before...it's a metal plate? seems pretty useless. The heatsink on the other hand makes sense, can you mount that directly to the VRMs?

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:12 am

The same thing is on the left and the midde card. It's just that the middle has some ramsinks taped/glued on the heatspreader as well. I've tried the exact same thing, and it only gave me 30 extra seconds of stability.

Aggemam · Post by **Aggemam** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:39 pm

Sigh...

The original cooler is back on, gaming is smooth sailing again. After two hours of testing, I can say with some certainty that it doesn't crash anymore. I can't explain this. The core temp has rissen to around 42 idle and tops at 70. The fact remains that these early versions of the reference design x1950 Pro cards, are a troublesome bunch. Don't know if I can blame the AcceleroX2 cooler. Has anyone had a similar bad experience with this cooler?

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:05 am

Something is very weird there

Aggemam · Post by **Aggemam** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:53 pm

Matija wrote:...[SNIP] However, I don't have usable ramsinks anymore (the thermal pads are unusable now). Would the card work without ramsinks on the memory? GDDR3 isn't supposed to heat up much, hmm...

You can buy thermal pads here: http://stores.ebay.com/Arctic-Cooling-RMA-parts - They're only 0,50$

shaitan · Post by **shaitan** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 12:47 am

Matija wrote:Something is very weird there

Hi Matija,

just read your problem. I have the same with an MSI X1950 Pro AGP card. For a long time I didn't know what couse those "shutdowns" but some months ago I figured out that those vrm chips are overheated. Working only with the original blower

So... till today I wasn't able to monitor VRM chips temperature. Today I've installed Everest 4.2 and now I have a GPU VRM line after GPU and GPU Ambient temperature!!
Hope that helps to go further... for me too

Joe Public · Post by **Joe Public** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 5:14 pm

Matija wrote:Basically, it comes to this:

If you don't have an Enermax (because everything else is garbage, "they have experience"), you should get an Enermax. If you still have problems with your card, tough luck, you have DESTROYED IT!!! YOU IDIOT!!! by using an underpowered PSU .

Haha, I was gonna say the same myself. The "Super Mod" apparently knows things nobody else on the internet knows, that 95% of PSU brands out there are "cr4p", and only two brands are trustworthy. God forbid he should actually realize that maybe, just maybe, the problem may lie with the graphics card itself for a change. He totally cracked me up when he was saying to a user that a Corsair HX620W was totally inadequate to power an X1950 Pro card. (That user later gave up and went elsewhere for help, ran into him on the [H] forums).

jimmyzaas · Post by **jimmyzaas** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:44 am

exactly.. how loud is the stock Sapphire X1950 Pro cooler?

Is it audible when the system is idling or 2D mode? If yes, how much louder is it over a.. say.. Zalman VF700 at 5V?

I read the cooler was supposed to be redesigned to be quieter than the x1900 coolers..

LeoSetta · Post by **LeoSetta** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:12 pm

Man, I got really scared about this topic. Recently I bought a AGP Saphire X1950 Pro and I was thinking about changing the original cooler for a less noiser one, but now a rethinking it. May be I can survive to the noise of the original one.

About two years ago, when I assembled my machine, I had a similar issue to yours Matija. I bought a Prescot 3.0 Ghz CPU (slot 478), then my problems started. I had to buy a Zalman all cooper (forgot the real name) for de CPU, that worked well, but the PWM (I think it is the processor voltage regulators chips) temperature stills to high, hitting almost 100 degrees celcius for my Abit IS-7 mobo. The solution was to glue some heatsinks to it with a mix of 50% thermal compound and 50% "generic super glue". Since then things just got smooth and I was happy.

Last week, with my new X1950 Pro that replaced my old 9800 Pro, I bought a new PSU too. I had a Superflower 420W and replaced it with a Seventeam 550W. So I ask you my friends: it was really necessary to change the PSU? I didn't test the new VGA with the old PSU, but now (new VGA and PSU) I'm having problems when the air-conditioning turns on (actually when it starts the compressor), at this time my machine boots. I am using a APC nobreak (ES-600-LM) with half load. Well, it's true that I have to change my home eletric system to 3 phases instead just one phase (it is an old appartment in Brazil)

So that is my experience and my question.

Leo Setta.

Edit: configuration in the signature.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:35 pm

jimmyzaas wrote:exactly.. how loud is the stock Sapphire X1950 Pro cooler?

I get ringing in my ears after 20-30 minutes of the cooler running at full speed, unless I "mute" it by loud game sounds.

In 2D mode, it can be made basically inaudible - you can turn the fan speed all the way down.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:45 pm

LeoSetta wrote: So I ask you my friends: it was really necessary to change the PSU?

no, it wasn't. I went from using my x1950pro with an old 485W enermax, to using a 120W PicoPSU...no issues whatsoever.

jimmyzaas · Post by **jimmyzaas** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:32 pm

Matija wrote:
jimmyzaas wrote:exactly.. how loud is the stock Sapphire X1950 Pro cooler?
I get ringing in my ears after 20-30 minutes of the cooler running at full speed, unless I "mute" it by loud game sounds.

In 2D mode, it can be made basically inaudible - you can turn the fan speed all the way down.

So.. what if you don't adjust it whatsoever.. using default settings.. is it loud while idling?

Your description of the 3d noise.. makes me not what to take the plunge..

Unfortunately.. this card is still the best value budget card right now..

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:10 am

At default settings, the fan is audible in 2D. It isn't loud, but you can definitely hear it. No reason to do that, however, it's easy to lower fan speed.

The good thing about the X1950 is that it's easy to make it completely silent (and even running cool) if it doesn't have VRMs. The AGP version is probably a later design with "traditional" voltage regulation, so a cheap Accelero S2 would be all you need. Just take a look at all the pictures in this thread and check the card before buying. It's definitely the best value for money.

I'm starting to wonder what would happen if I applied +5V randomly to pins in the DVI adapter. Would the card malfunction?

Aggemam · Post by **Aggemam** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:39 pm

I eventually got tired of mine... http://www.abxzone.com/forums/f3/two-cr ... 11076.html

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:44 pm

Good job

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:55 am

what a waste

Fat Bunny · Post by **Fat Bunny** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:07 am

Unfortunately.. this card is still the best value budget card right now.. Sad

jimmyzaas FWIW recently bought a Sapphire 512MB card from CC and it had the classic non-digital VRM. For my plugged ears the stock fan is quiet at idle and is drowned out by the seeks from my two 1st gen raptors. Tried to force it to speed up using ATI Tool but could not get it to so I only have ever hear a brief 'whoosh' during boot.

Bought a HR-03 for my X1950 Pro

I give up (even before start)...

Re: I give up (even before start)...