Questions about installing an X1900

Misrach

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I'm looking to upgrade to an ATi X1900XT within the next two weeks but still have some lingering questions. Please be aware that these will be "ATi-newbie" questions....

1. Are the ATi drivers posted on their website universal, regardless of the manufacturer? I'm considering a Sapphire card.

2. Any recommendations for a utility/method to completely remove my old nVidia drivers? I'm thinking that Driver Cleaner Professional Edition should be enough.

3. Does the CCC come with a temperature monitor?

4. If I don't plan to overclock, is there any need for a 3rd-party tool such as ATiTools?

5. Is there any reason to install anything from the driver CD that comes packed with the card? Normally, I download the most recent drivers and install them directly. The only time that didn't work was with my nForce4 chipset drivers (what a nightmare that was).

6. To those who have bought an X1900XT/X from Sapphire: have you had any problems or conflicts with your card? I've only read good consumer responses for them.

7. Any other general suggestions or comments about purchasing an X1900XT/X?

If I sound overly obsessive about being prepared, I apologize. The reviews on the X1900 cards have ranged from frightening (90C temps!) to complete euphoria over this card. Since I have a couple of weeks before purchase, I'd like to make sure that I've covered as many bases as possible. I've also heard many complaints about ATi's driver updates, but to me it seems fairly straightforward, so I'd like to make sure I'm not missing something.
 

Vokofpolisiekar

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I'm looking to upgrade to an ATi X1900XT within the next two weeks but still have some lingering questions. Please be aware that these will be "ATi-newbie" questions....

1. Are the ATi drivers posted on their website universal, regardless of the manufacturer? I'm considering a Sapphire card.

Yes, the drivers are universal - so getting CAT 6.x will work on any make X1900 card

2. Any recommendations for a utility/method to completely remove my old nVidia drivers? I'm thinking that Driver Cleaner Professional Edition should be enough.

You are indeed right - uninstall Nvidia drivers, reboot into safe mode and use Driver Cleaner Pro to a.) Clean the cab file and b.) remove any and all Nvidia drivers. Reboot and install Catalyst Drivers

3. Does the CCC come with a temperature monitor?

Yes it does, but ATiTool is the best to use - can adjust fan speeds and monitor temps on a graph and avg summary plus you can write all temps out to txt file for analysis

4. If I don't plan to overclock, is there any need for a 3rd-party tool such as ATiTools?

See above

5. Is there any reason to install anything from the driver CD that comes packed with the card? Normally, I download the most recent drivers and install them directly. The only time that didn't work was with my nForce4 chipset drivers (what a nightmare that was).

Dont see any reason why extra software should be installed - Driver + AtiTool will be more than enough

6. To those who have bought an X1900XT/X from Sapphire: have you had any problems or conflicts with your card? I've only read good consumer responses for them.

Can't comment

7. Any other general suggestions or comments about purchasing an X1900XT/X?

Well, my 1900 was also running hot, but using ATiTool's customs fan speed settings, I got that down to 71C max. It's a bit of work, but PM me once you get the card and I can give you my fan speed settings.

Lastly, using Catalyst Control Center wil require that you use .Net. This lets the user see in real time the effects the changes makes. The downside of .Net and CCC is a.) it uses more memory and b.) the screen will flicker alot when opening CCC or starting the PC and going through Windows startup. An alternative to this is to use 3rd party (optimized) drivers such as Radeon Omega drivers. They still use the old interface, and sometimes provide more performance. But basically, it's the latest drivers from ATI, in the old Catalyst Control Panel. They do take some time to come out after the initial ATi release (2-3 weeks).

If I sound overly obsessive about being prepared, I apologize. The reviews on the X1900 cards have ranged from frightening (90C temps!) to complete euphoria over this card. Since I have a couple of weeks before purchase, I'd like to make sure that I've covered as many bases as possible. I've also heard many complaints about ATi's driver updates, but to me it seems fairly straightforward, so I'd like to make sure I'm not missing something.
 

Misrach

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Thanks for your reply; it helped a lot. I'll check back in a couple of weeks when I get the card. The wait is gonna kill me....

Just curious: what do you consider to be a high temperature for a videocard? And how are you cooling it (case fans, any aftermarket coolers, etc.)?

I've read that the new Artic Cooling Accerlo is definitely worth the purchase. It retails around $30-35 and is easy to install (just pop the old one off, install the Accelero and screw it on -- it comes with thermal paste pre-applied). The only drawback is that the fan blows into the case, but the review I read got temps at least 10C cooler. Also, it's whisper quiet. I might pick one up at a later date, once I know that the card is up and stable.
 

Vokofpolisiekar

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Well, no one actually knows the absolute max any given GPU can go to - so it is a great point for debate.

I've had a x800 card that ran constantly in the 90's, and it's still running. Some people don't like this high temp - so for the sake of interest I'd say anything above 80C is pushing it. My case inside is only 1C higher than ambient temp outside - it's sealed and I just did the whole air flow thingy properly - plus the noise is more than bareable. The Gcard at this stage, with Winter here in ZA, is topping at 71C. That's opposed to the 90C I got when the card was first installed.

I'm also against the whole 3rd party cooler thing - personally I love the BIG ati coolers, seeing that the intake of the card can take any bottom front of the case airflow, and expel it. So I just insured that it gets the cold air in big quantities - and the card runs at very nice temps. I still say, revise your case to your gcard's aesthetic features, and you can benefit alot in terms of temps.

But, if you have the cash to blow, then you can go the 3rd party route, seeing that the warantee is gone then. I'm just anti 3rd party, seeing that I pay through my behind for gcards in South Africa (ZA).
 

kerriritter

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i have 2 x1900xtx's (2 separate computers). with good case cooling by fans only, they idle at 43c and maxxed out don't hit 60c. originally i think they idled in the mid 50's.

as far as after market coolers, i did not want to void the warranty by using them so sought case cooling solutions overall instead.
 

Misrach

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My current nVidia 7800GTX 256mb tops at around 72C, even with 2x80mm fans blowing on it. There is a failsafe device in the card that's viewable through the display properties that will slow the GPU down if it tops 115C (I haven't found a way to raise/lower it). Considering how many people have reported top temps of 90C without artifacts (not all, but most), my guess would be that 100C is starting to move into dangerous territory.

Yes, voiding the warranty would also make me hesitant to swap the cooler for an aftermarket one. I figure that if I wait about 4-6 months when the new cards come out (supposedly), I'd be better off. The X1900's might be cheaper by then, or the new line of cards might be comparably powerful for less money (like the 7900GT vs the 7800GTX 256mb). From what I hear of the Accelero's, however, messing up the installation would be difficult.

Of course, if I can get the temps down to the 70's, and if my case fans drown out the card's fan, there'd be no reason to swap.
 

RichPLS

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FYI...

HiS is releasing an IceQ3 X1800XT and XTX version within a couple of weeks.
This is an excellent stock cooling, much better than ATI's and also exhausts out the back of the case.
the only con is that HiS cards cost about $30 to $50 more than the cheapest varients from other brands, but they clock higher and run cooler.
 

Vokofpolisiekar

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By all means - a modified cooler that carries a warantee is the best way to go if temps are a concern. It usually happens a month or more after a new card is released. Even Saphire has a new X1900 that has a isolated water cooling unit (it's called Blizzard I think). Maybe if my a** didn't itch as much, I would've waited for such an option. But to me it's much more fun to do my own alterations in the case to bring temps down.

Besides, ATi's fan speed settings at default really sucks - alot of people get much better results by using custom settings, with minimal dB increase.

But yes, HiS really has awesome cards with proper/creative cooling, the funny thing is that certain makes of cards enjoy peak times of sales, which makes them the only way to go here in SA - seeing that the more a product sells, the cheaper they get. So currently, we have a massive flood of GeCube cards and ASUS aswell. HiS was hot here last year, but they are once again scarce - if the price is being considered.
 

Misrach

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I've seen that card on Sapphire's website but have yet to find it for sale. I haven't made a concerted effort to look, however.

Which version of ATiTool are you using? Also, where is a good place to download the Omega drivers? I found a site once using my laptop (I was trying to update the laptop's ATi drivers... to no avail), but on my desktop I tend to be very cautious about keeping it clean. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 

Misrach

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*doi*

Silly me. I found the Omega Drivers website, which I'm assuming is the best source for downloading the non-CCC drivers....

Is there a particular order to installing the Omega driver and ATiTool? I was thinking to reboot into safe mode and installing the driver (once I get the nVidia drivers completely off my system), then rebooting again into safe mode and installing ATiTool. My main concern is how the card's fan will react without CCC or ATiTool installed.