card problems

[bryce]

Hello, I have some issues with a radeon 9200se 64mb card that I cannot figure out- When you play any 3d game, little dots flicker all over the screen periodically- also solid objects have spiked shapes shooting out of them occasionally. Anyones input would be greatly appreciated. System specs are as follows: athlonxp2800+cpu,pc3200512mhzddr,n2paplite motherboard. All drivers are current, bios is updated,nothing is overclocked. Please help before I pitch this card.

 

[mrface]

whats your ventilation like inside your case?

<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Apostalic Alcoholic.}=-</A>

 

[pauldh]

Hate to say it, but it sounds like you should pitch the card. Your descriptions sound like the snow from OC'in the core and the artifacts from Oc'in the memory. Was the card bought new or refurbished? If refurbished, someone may just have pushed that puppy too far. I bought a refurb Gainward GF3ti200 powerpack golden sample that was full of artifacts at default speed.

You could try rage3dtweak to underclock the card and see if it goes away. Not saying you really want less performance for games, , but I'd be curious if it would help.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[bryce]

my system stays at31.0c and my processor is 40.5c everything else works great, would I still need more ventilation running at these temperatures?

 

[cryo]

if you bought the card from somebody else (second hand), looks like the guy screwed you... it seems that the card has been overclocked for long periods of time without proper cooling.
If it is brand new, go and have it replaced.

"I cannot give you a brain, but I can give you a diploma"
- The Wizard of Oz, talking to the Scarecrow

 

[mrface]

well those are about normal temps so, the next question would be what the rest are asking,

whom did you buy the card from?

was it a refurb or new?

if it was refurbed its quiote possibly someone else has OC'd to much and actually damaged the card, RMA'd it and the company sold it to you.

Or if you bought it from someone else they might have sold you a damaged card.

<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Apostalic Alcoholic.}=-</A>

 

[bryce]

I bought the card from a company called computergeeks, they said it is new and has a year warranty on it. So is that the problem, that it had been overclocked?

 

[bryce]

If so, could you give me some advice on choosing a decent card for my system?

 

[pauldh]

Computergeeks won't give you a refund, but if within RMA time, they will exchange for the same card. If they are out of stock, they may offer a refund or a free upgrade. If you waited too long to test it, bummer. Of course return shipping will be out of your pocket. So it's a loss for you either way.



ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[bryce]

You know I used that progam- the rage tweaker and underclocked everything and the games that I am playing work great. I do not know why, but the games play just fine- thanks for the suggestion.

 

[pauldh]

You have a nice system except for the video card. The 9200se is about as lame as you can buy now. Not sure what your price range is, but if you like to play games and can afford it, a Radeon 9800pro for $200 is the best deal in high end now. For about $130 you could buy a name brand Radeon 9600 Pro, which is unbeatable in that price range. Under $100, you are looking at a GF4Ti4200 or plain Radeon 9600 (NOT the se).


If money is no object and you can survive with that card for a month, the next generation cards will be out. But prepare to spend $399 or $499 on one of those.





ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[pauldh]

Well, good deal. They play slower now, but it shows that your card was struggling at stock speeds. Now you are stressing the core and memory less and generating less heat. What speeds are you set at now?

So you need to do the same as people who overclock. Find the speed where the problems start by going up 5MHz at a time, and then back it off a good 10-15 MHz from there to be safe. Your card still might not last as long as it should have, but at least it is useful for now.


ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[bryce]

On the program, I have the card's core set to 200mhz and the memory at 156mhz. Those are the default settings. If I try to go up from that, the program will reset to the defaults everytime.

 

[bryce]

I also noticed that in the smartgart settings I had enabled 8x. It shows 8x as the setting but then at the bottom it shows the setting to off, so is the card even enabled? Just trying to cover all the bases before I throw the thing out the window.

 

[cryo]

shows 8x as the setting but then at the bottom it shows the setting to off

Are you sure it's not the FastWrites that is off? FastWrite is ok off, you don't need to enable it (on the contrary, if you're having video problems, you should disable it)

"I cannot give you a brain, but I can give you a diploma"
- The Wizard of Oz, talking to the Scarecrow

 

[bryce]

It might be the fastwrite that is off. You know, when I try to turn fast write on it will not allow me to even if the motherboard I have supports it. I enabled it in bios but the card settings just wont allow it. This card really sucks.

 

[bryce]

I tried that 3dmark 2001 program just to see how well this card sucks and I only obtained 2938 marks. How is that compared to any other inexpensive cards?

 

[mrface]

i used to have a 7500 64mb and it ran 6000's in the 2001

<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Apostalic Alcoholic.}=-</A>

 

[bryce]

what is my problem then? Shouldnt I get way over what I have?