X1950xt hangs. is it heat problem or PSU?

[cosmicizzat]

first timer here, nice to meet you'll!

just recently bought a gecube ati radeon x1950xt 512 gddr3 PCIe. whenever I play assassin's creed or call of duty, or any other 3d game really, my computer hangs. the sound still continues but the graphic goes blank. first I thought it was the temp, so I opened the casing and added more fans. it still hanged. then I thought it was the PSU, so I hooked up another PSU (could not afford a higher wattage at this moment) for the VGA only. still it hanged. so Im confused...what could be wrong?

would really appreciate if anyone could help

thanks a bunch!

spec:
AMD X2 3800
MSI K9 Mobo
seagate 250 g sata
gecube x1950xt
simbadda 430w casing
2 g 5300 ddr2

 

[outlw6669]

First thing that comes to mind is lack of power.
What is the +12V amperage on your PSU?
Tried to google it but works firewall keeps blocking me.

Second thing that comes to mind is the drivers.
Did you make sure to uninstall the old drivers before upgrading to the x1950xt?
If not, uninstall all video drivers, run drivercleaner and reinstall the drivers.

 

[cosmicizzat]

the amperage on my PSU? i'll go check it out. and no, I didn't uninstall my old driver. will do it later tonight. thanks for the tips! hope this time it really works.

 

[cosmicizzat]

one more thing, are you sure it has nothing to do with my temperature? cause to be honest, my casing kind of sucks

 

[bobjmoran]

For the X1950XT a minimum of 450W with 30 Amps on th 12 volt rails is recomended by the manufacturer.

 

[evongugg]

Run memtest86+ and hard disk diagnostics also.

 

[jay2tall]

I had an X1900XTX prior to my 8800GTS and I will tell you right now you need a better PSU. Those cards are power hungry monsters. Trust me on this one. You want good 550 or 600W PSU. They aren't like the newer low power draw cards.

 

[jay2tall]

double post *

 

[cosmicizzat]

im a novice on these advanced gaming computers, and I have a theory on my problem: my casing is a middle class family living in a small apartment, while my VGA is a rich kid who needs a lot? is the analogy correct?

 

[Eizo]

Hello cosmicizza t!
I've had a similar problem, you're discribing, with an ATI X1900XTX graphics card on a 550W PSU.

Call of Duty 2 & 4, suddenly froze up after a short period of gaming, but the sound in the game "continued". This issue only seemed to occur when I was using a program called XFire while playing.

In short, XFire is like messenger, but with your gaming buddies on a list, so you can see what game they are playing, and if it's online gaming, then joining the server your friends are gaming on through XFire (hence a lot easier to game together).

For some reason I was able to play much longer, if I did not have XFire running while playing. My first thought was "It's gotta be that program then". But at any givin' point, my system will eventually crash with a BSOD (Blue screen of death) during gaming, and everytime with a BSOD-error-code-0x0000009c referring to memmory issues.

To make matters whorse, I actually got a new PSU just last night for my new nVidia 9800GX2 graphic card (1000W PSU). First of, I tried the new PSU with my old graphic card, just to check the system was running. I got the same error, with or without XFire running.

Then I installed my new graphics card, on top of my new PSU. I'm still having the same problem but with a new graphic card and PSU. In a earlier thread, there was a guy who suggested "memtest86+" to check your memmory modules. I've tried that, but with no errors, what so ever. But I'm pretty convinced my memmory is at fault here still.

If I where you, I'd try and test with other memmory modules to see if the game freezing goes away.

Best of luck!

Eizo

 

[Eizo]

Oh, btw, my current motherboard ASUS A8R-MVP, CPU AMD4800+ 64 X2 and memmory 2x1GB modules are out the drain, when I get home later today. They are being replaced, I've had it with AMD, and ATI, LOL!

 

[jay2tall]

I still say power issue.

what the heck is a "simbadda" power supply anyways? Did it come with your Computer case?

 

[cosmicizzat]

thanks eizo for the post. will try your suggestion.
Simbadda is a casing brand really, and yes, my PSU came with the casing. I tried using 2 PSUs with one to exclusively power my VGA (the fans and vga itself) but the problem remained. thought I had the power issue ruled out. but now I'm thinking probably it still wasn't enough because they were both crappy PSUs.
are you guys sure its not the temp?

 

[jay2tall]

^
|
Yeah those stock PSU are usually pretty crappy. There are a few, and I MEAN a few, cases that come with ok PSU from a few vendor, but 95% of them aren't ment to run a higher end card. Those X1900 and X1950 cards are power hogs to. I believe the x1900xtx sucks as much power as an 8800XTX.

 

[Eizo]

NP jay2tall!
My previous PSU was from LC Power, Silent Giant, 550W.
New PSU is from Antec, True Power, TPQ-1000, 1000W.

I find it odd that I get the same crash state, regardless of which PSU is in use. I am 90% sure, it's a memmory issue for me, 10% uncertain it's the card itself.
Then again we're talking about two different systems from mine to cosmicizzat, in the first place.

I wouldn't worry to much about the temperature on the graphic card. My card get extremely warm aswell. Like jay2tall says, there like vacumcleaners when it comes to power consumption.
For a fact X1900XTX uses under full load about 360W on it's owne. I'd say it's about just the same for a X1950XT card.

Do please write back when you've tested out a different memmory configuration, if it's solved your problem or made this canundrum even more puzzeling

Regards Eizo