RADEON 9800XT, red and white spots

[JohnFa]

I have a problem with my ATI Radeon 9800 XT 256 MB card.

Using drivers 7.11, 7.10, 7.9 games won't even start up, they just crash back to the desktop. Same with the new 7.12 drivers. Earlier drivers than that and the game starts but the graphics are buggy. Textures have white or red dots all over them. Some backgrounds are ok, but most of the surfaces just have these dots.
I've tried different control centers, but same problem.
In some games there are more dots, and in some there are less. Sims 2 and NBA Live 08, for example, work but still have some dots. In Half-Life 2, for example. there's red dots all over the place
I've tried Omega drivers, but I get the same problem.

I have a AMD 2.2 Ghz, 1 GB RAM and I use windows XP

Here's a screenshot

 

[NaDa]

Try to use even older drivers like 6.x or even 5.x. (http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/radeon-prer300-xp.html)
If the problem persists then you card is faulty or you have a heat problem.

Open your case and check the fan if it's still running or if it's full of dust.

 

[JohnFa]

Try to use even older drivers like 6.x or even 5.x. (http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/radeon-prer300-xp.html)
If the problem persists then you card is faulty or you have a heat problem.

Open your case and check the fan if it's still running or if it's full of dust.

I have a Radeon 9800 XT, aren't the drivers on that site the wrong drivers?

Anyway, tried ATI's 6.12 drivers and there was no difference. Right now I'm using the latest Omega drivers, but it hasn't helped either.

I've gotten rid of all the dust... hmm.. I used ATI Tool, and there it says the temperature holds steady at 70 degrees.
If I try the 'Scan for artifacts' thing it almost at once feels the small screen up with yellow artifacts/particles

 

[JohnFa]

Oh, and it's not on all texture. Just on dark ones. Most areas are perfectly fine.

 

[cleeve]

Sorry dude. Your card is on death's door.

 

[Onus]

Well, red spots and high fever strongly suggest your card has a bad case of the measles. Most yard apes recover from it, but I think it is terminal for GPUs. Sorry.

 

[JohnFa]

I guess I've been trying to block the reality of the situation... after all, the card is getting a bit old.
What would be a good upgrade, considering I'd like to spend at most $100 on a new card. Don't really need anything really fancy, just the equivalent or slightly better than my dying card.

 

[Onus]

Is it PCIE or AGP? If the former, you could go with this:
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130062
...for $70 after MIR. That would be a decent step up.

 

[randomizer]

Does it have that piss weak square cooler on it? If it does, replace it, that fixed this problem on my 9800 pro. I overkilled with a zalman VF700-cu, but it was quiet

@jtt283: There is no PCIe 9800XT.

 

[JohnFa]

It's AGP. And it has a round cooler.

Since it's a few years old I figure I should buy a new card. Guessing that around $100 is a fair price for an upgrade

 

[Loser777]

Yeah, that's some serious artifacting. Your card could be dead very soon.

 

[randomizer]

I am 80% sure it's the cooler since I had the same problem (except usually just red dots). But it's probably better to spend the money on a new card.

 

[JohnFa]

I am 80% sure it's the cooler since I had the same problem (except usually just red dots). But it's probably better to spend the money on a new card.

The red dots is the biggest problem. The white ones can hardly be seen.
There's alot of dust beneath the fan. I'm gonna try to borrow a vacuum cleaner and, or buy some high pressure air spray, and clean it and then try it again. If that fails I might as well just buy a new card.

 

[JohnFa]

Here's a weird thing: Played NBA Live 08 for an hour and had NO problems at all! No white spots, no artifacting, nothing!
The game I've been playing mostly is Half Life 2 and Portal, and that's where I get all the artifacting. Anyone have a clue what this means?

 

[cleeve]

The source engine (HL2 and portal) is probably stressing some pixel shaders that the NBA live engine doesn't.

BTW, $112 get's you a new radeon 2600 XT. You have to use Omega drivers with it on AGP tho.

 

[Dirty_Harry2]

I would almost suggest just stepping up to a new card. I second the 2600XT notion.

 

[bfellow]

Just get a new 9800 ... Nvidia Geforce 9800 :lol: It just won't fit in your agp slot though!

 

[NaDa]

I still think it's a driver problem. I read about this on some other forum.
Try to get 5.x drivers. Perhaps the CD that came with the card.

 

[TSIMonster]

Have you tried ATI Tool to check for temp issues?

 

[JohnFa]

I still think it's a driver problem. I read about this on some other forum.
Try to get 5.x drivers. Perhaps the CD that came with the card.

I got the card from a friend who doesn't have the CD left. I'm gonna see if I can find it on the web.

Have you tried ATI Tool to check for temp issues?

Yes I have. It holds stead at 70-78 degrees with the fan on 70%.

 

[randomizer]

I have cat 7.10s running on the same 9800 pro that was doing this, no probs at all. Driver updates beyond 5.x are pointless anyway.