X1950 Pro lockups/freezes

mishima · Jan 6, 2007, 02:16 PM

Hi,

I have a Gecube X1950 Pro 512MB. Since constructing my system a few days ago I have been unable to play ANY games.

I have an E6600, 2GB Geil 6400, Gecube X1950 Pro 512MB.

I have tried installing the retail drivers that came with the card. The catalyst 6.11's and 6.12's with the following games:

NFS Carbon
Prey
Far Cry
Colin Mcrae 2005

All games lockup after so much gameplay and I am forced to reboot the system. I have had no lockups at all in windows, the problem seems to be when the card is under demand.

I have also run 3DMark06 with no problems and scored 5145. I have also done a full system test using burninIT and that reported no errors on the memory, cpu, graphics etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice please? (im in desperation here

)

fobis · Jan 6, 2007, 05:43 PM

What kind of power supply do you have?

**kris23** · Jan 6, 2007, 05:44 PM

have you checked the temps? the card could be running hotter in real gameplay than in tests. also what type of motherboard do you have? then theres the psu which i doubt is the problem but it can be, how many watts are you running?

Dark Lord · Jan 6, 2007, 06:06 PM

i know that thing requires a pretty big PSU. even though it doesnt say it on hte box, it needs something like 450w atleast.

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jan 6, 2007, 06:24 PM

Have you configured your BIOS settings manually? Allot of mobo's fluctuate enough during normal use to cause system hangups. You want to set your ram timings and voltages and cpu clock and voltages manually. You also should search for some user input on forums and review sites about your specific hardware and learn how to optimize your various bios settings. You want to learn about optimizing xp and all driver settings. You want to make sure that all your drivers and firmware and applications are up to date and not just the versions from the cd's that came with your hardware. I have read in some other forums that there are x1950pro specific drivers available for download on AMD/ATI site. You also want to install a program to monitor your system temps and utilized resources when gaming to see if something is noticeably wrong. I use Everest. There are many others.

Fill in your user cp system profile or write a sig with your system specs so we know what you got besides what you already listed.

mishima · Jan 6, 2007, 11:17 PM

Thanks for the replies!

My system is:

e6600
2GB Geil 6400
Gecube X1950 Pro 512MB
Abit AB9 Pro (latest BIOS)
Antec Truepower Trio 550W!

I haven't monitored the GPU temp, I've been trying to find a prog that will. Everest want you to buy their software straight off. Anyone know of any free apps that I can view CPU/GPU temps?

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jan 7, 2007, 12:42 AM

Did your mobo come with some type of monitoring app for you chipset and CPU? You can use that plus Ati Tray Tools or ATI tool for the GPU. I like everest because it monitors everything at once and works with my G15. There are many others but I personally have not used anything else in a while.
Here is a link to the last free version of everest.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Tipstaff · Jan 7, 2007, 04:20 AM

If it weren't for the fact that I have an X1950 Pro Crossfire setup my first thought would be to look at the PSU too. However, having gone through the seutp of this system, and having experienced the exact same problem, my first suggestion is this:

1) run ATI Tray Tools

2) when you run ATT be sure that the "onscreen display" option is running, and that "GPU Temp" is active (right click ATT, goto "Tools and Options", "Onscreen Display". Make sure it's enabled, and on the second tab called "Flash OSD" be sure to change the drop down menu from "Manual" to "Always on". Lastly, make sure that "GPU Tempreture" is checked).

3) Play a game, and take note of the temp the system hard locks at. I have a feeling that it will hard lock just as the temp creeps just above 60-65C.

When I first built my system I had the exact some problem, mishima. For nearly 2 weeks I tried everything to keep my system going, but it would hard lock every time. I tried a higher watt PSU, different drivers, hell, I even switched to a Intel made motherboard thinking it was Asus' stupid PEG Link overclocking causing the issue. Running on my second board I noticed something odd: the card would hard lock just as the temps crepted above 60C.

For some odd reason (and this seems to be different between manufacturers) as soon as the card goes above 60C it becomes unstable, and will almost always hard lock. Sapphire and Powercolor cards seem to be better able to handle this, but I know this is a huge issue with HIS Tech cards. AND this is a huge issue for cards that are pre-overclocked. The only remedy seems to be to underclock the card to keep the temps reasonable, and in the case of HIS cards (such as mine), the only remedy is to jack up the speed of the fans to 100% in order to keep the temps down.

Dark Lord · Jan 7, 2007, 05:18 AM

any idea if this is a PCIE only problem? ive been looking at picking up a HIS 1950pro 512mg AGP towards the end of this month. only hitting 60C and hardlocking is god awful. i know ive gone over 80c on this X800pro and never had a problem.

mishima · Jan 7, 2007, 10:02 AM

Yeah I have Abit uGuru which monitors motherboard and CPU temps/volts. But doesn't monitor GPU temps.

ATT will not allow me to see the GPU temperature, whatever option I chose it remains grey and not selectable.

I was actually thinking of getting a HIS Turbo SILENT 512MB too, because I'm going to RMA this card.

Is that a bad idea?

I have £160 tops - which one http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=56&subid=404 ?

Tipstaff · Jan 7, 2007, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Lord

any idea if this is a PCIE only problem? ive been looking at picking up a HIS 1950pro 512mg AGP towards the end of this month. only hitting 60C and hardlocking is god awful. i know ive gone over 80c on this X800pro and never had a problem.

Honestly, I wish I knew. I really do. As I said the most obvious answer would be that I'm not supplying enough power, and at 480 watts I could understand it (recommended total wattage is 500watts), but I still have the same problems even after adding the 300 watt Fortan Booster (which is supplying an additionatl 150 watts to each card if need be).

I've mentioned it before in other threads, but there is one odd thing with the HIS cards that could be contributing to this problem: incorrectly set GPU. With the HIS X1950 Pro ICEQs they are extreme overclocked cards, pushing the limit at 620mhz. Due to the cooler used it should be more than enough. However, for some reason they are not actually clocked at the boxed specs, but are infact clocked 15mhz higher at 635mhz in the bios. I've still some work to do on it (when I get the time I might risk flashing the cards bios), but all I know is that by jacking the fans up to 100% I can keep the temps below 60C. After that I can play for hours on end.

Oh, btw, both the PCIE and AGP versions of the HIS X1950 Pro ICEQs are clocked at 620mhz. Given my experience with them, you might want to think twice about getting one. Especially if that clock rate is more like 635mhz.

mishima · Jan 7, 2007, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by >GSXR<mrbusa

Did your mobo come with some type of monitoring app for you chipset and CPU? You can use that plus Ati Tray Tools or ATI tool for the GPU. I like everest because it monitors everything at once and works with my G15. There are many others but I personally have not used anything else in a while.
Here is a link to the last free version of everest.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

I tried that, it doesn't support my card. Think its PCI/AGP and not PCI-e the program. I'll try and get hold of everest trial version!

Dark Lord · Jan 7, 2007, 05:54 PM

ya... maybe ill wait a bit longer on that card. let other people play the part of the guinea pig first. or if powercolor ever releases a 512meg version, ill just grab that.

i know sapphire is haveing problems right now. ive been hanging out in the ati section on hardocp latly and im seeing more reports then i like of the card dieing already. seems to work amazingly well for the first few days, then starts artifacting too all hell.

from one of the posts there.

"Just to restate, my Sapphire X1950pro 512MB AGP card definitely seems to have failed. I have tried underclocking (from its stock settings) even, but it will just lock up my system. I am getting major artifacts at POST, constant crashing in Windows and games."

**kris23** · Jan 7, 2007, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

Honestly, I wish I knew. I really do. As I said the most obvious answer would be that I'm not supplying enough power, and at 480 watts I could understand it (recommended total wattage is 500watts), but I still have the same problems even after adding the 300 watt Fortan Booster (which is supplying an additionatl 150 watts to each card if need be).

I've mentioned it before in other threads, but there is one odd thing with the HIS cards that could be contributing to this problem: incorrectly set GPU. With the HIS X1950 Pro ICEQs they are extreme overclocked cards, pushing the limit at 620mhz. Due to the cooler used it should be more than enough. However, for some reason they are not actually clocked at the boxed specs, but are infact clocked 15mhz higher at 635mhz in the bios. I've still some work to do on it (when I get the time I might risk flashing the cards bios), but all I know is that by jacking the fans up to 100% I can keep the temps below 60C. After that I can play for hours on end.

Oh, btw, both the PCIE and AGP versions of the HIS X1950 Pro ICEQs are clocked at 620mhz. Given my experience with them, you might want to think twice about getting one. Especially if that clock rate is more like 635mhz.

so as long as the fan is at full power the card will run lower than 60c at 635mhz? i really do want to get this card because of the added power, looks, and big heatsink for cheap. is it possible to underclock it to standard defaults using atitool or something?

Tipstaff · Jan 9, 2007, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

so as long as the fan is at full power the card will run lower than 60c at 635mhz? i really do want to get this card because of the added power, looks, and big heatsink for cheap. is it possible to underclock it to standard defaults using atitool or something?

Yep. At 100% fan the card maintains 54C. Mind you, my system is currently in the basement, and it is cool down here year round. I would hazzard a guess to say that the temps would be a little higher if it were upstairs. As for underclocking, yes, you can do that, however only RivaTuner properly detects the memory speed for the X1950 Pro. It's the only program that won't underclock the ram, or hard lock if you change any of the clock settings.

Just to clairify this: Whenever you change the clock rates for the ram or GPU they are both affected whether you change one or the other. Set the GPU speed, and the ram gets set, and vice versa. Problem is that with this card ATI Tray Tools detects the memory as being shown as DDR3 timings. So, even if it is showing you 740mhz it "thinks" it's showing it at 1.48Ghz (1480mhz in ATT). Change the GPU clock, and the ram will get set to 360mhz (1/2 default). Try to correct that, and bam! Hard lock.

Tipstaff · Jan 12, 2007, 08:42 AM

Update:

I decided not to post this in the news section as it is still in beta (plus it was released about 4 days ago, meaning it was past the news worthy date anyways), but I thought it necessary to post the fact that there was a new beta version. The reason being is that this version has fixes specicially for the X1950 series of cards. ATT now detects the ram speeds correctly, so it no longer craps out when you adjust the clock rates. There are also other fixes for the series, including a database update for some Advanced Tweaks, updated overclocking support, and some test voltage regulation support for the X1950XT.

As of right now HERE is the link for the newest beta of ATI Tray Tools v.1.2.6.977. Whenever Ray updates the beta he updates the file in that link, so you will always get the most recent beta from that link.

Dyre Straits · Jan 12, 2007, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

Update:

I decided not to post this in the news section as it is still in beta (plus it was released about 4 days ago, meaning it was past the news worthy date anyways), but I thought it necessary to post the fact that there was a new beta version. The reason being is that this version has fixes specicially for the X1950 series of cards. ATT now detects the ram speeds correctly, so it no longer craps out when you adjust the clock rates. There are also other fixes for the series, including a database update for some Advanced Tweaks, updated overclocking support, and some test voltage regulation support for the X1950XT.

As of right now HERE is the link for the newest beta of ATI Tray Tools v.1.2.6.977. Whenever Ray updates the beta he updates the file in that link, so you will always get the most recent beta from that link.

Thanks for that link and update!! It'll get plenty of testing on my own x1950 Pro for sure!

Dark Lord · Jan 12, 2007, 06:20 PM

there seems to be a ton of problems with the 1950pro cards right now. people are blameing it on eveything from not enough power (30amp+ on a single 12v, 22amp+ on 2 12v, cant find anything about 3 12v rails) to some new voltage regulartors on the card. i guess it makes it incredibly hard to up the juice to the card.

all i know is ive been hanging out in hardocp's forums for awhile now where there are several active threads on this. there are a TON of people haveing problems with these cards. ranges from over clockers to stock users. the card just seems to run well for the frist 24-48hrs and then its dead.

this was 15mins of use on a well ventilated system, stock speeds, and memory heat sinks.

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2...sinfearlc6.jpg

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jan 12, 2007, 06:42 PM

Hey Dark Lord,
That image is from a personal experience?

Dark Lord · Jan 12, 2007, 07:26 PM

no, not my self. was from some one over on the hardocp forums.

ive been quite hesitant to buy one now that im seeing all these problems.

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jan 13, 2007, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Lord

no, not my self. was from some one over on the hardocp forums.

ive been quite hesitant to buy one now that im seeing all these problems.

You have to remember that most of the people with problems from these cards are upgrading from an existing card. I have seen a huge amount of upgrades this year and most of the issues are user error. People think they can run to the store and buy a new card, come home and slap it in and play there game. Some people have not even removed there drivers or even known that they should. There was a person on these forums that insisted because he was upgrading from one ATI card to another that the drivers were the same so he didn't have to uninstall the old drivers.

Dark Lord · Jan 13, 2007, 04:51 AM

as long as the drivers are current, 6.12/7.1, they shouldnt have any problems doing just that.

when i do my upgrade i think im just gonna do a reformat, provideing my damn 2nd hard drive is returned by then.... going on 2 months now for the freaking replacment.

Dyre Straits · Jan 13, 2007, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Lord

as long as the drivers are current, 6.12/7.1, they shouldnt have any problems doing just that.

when i do my upgrade i think im just gonna do a reformat, provideing my damn 2nd hard drive is returned by then.... going on 2 months now for the freaking replacment.

I may stand to be corrected, but, I think you're wrong on this. Just because the same version drivers work well on an old 9700 doesn't mean the same version will work well on a newly installed x1950 AGP version card. The drivers, when being installed, take note of the particular features/capabilities of the card that's in the slot and install accordingly. By changing the card without changing the drivers, it's causing malfunctions and conflicts.

If this isn't a fact, I'd love to hear from someone in the driver development department.

However, I know with all of my own past and MANY upgrades from one ATI card to another, I never had a successful upgrade without also uninstalling the current drivers and then reinstalling the same exact version once the new card was in place.

They may be 'unified' drivers, but only in the fact that it's one size fits all with the drivers tweaking themselves for the card that's in place.

>GSXR<mrbusa · Jan 13, 2007, 06:33 AM

There is no correction needed.
If you swap GPU's, you have to eliminate all reference to the old card and drivers for a stable install. Not doing this does not guarantee that the card will not boot, but what it does guarantee is that there will be problems with 3d games and stability of the card. Some people will disagree and that is fine. Whats screwy is the same people who disagree are the same ones posting a million threads related to unexplainable game artifacts and low overclocks and BSOD's.

The same goes for other hardware also, wifi, nic, sound, tv dvr, etc. Some driver developers are better than others at keeping there install clean and organized so that certain shared system files do not conflict with other devices. The problem is that there are more shitty drivers than good and that is where all the conflicts come from and the reason for all the weird problems people have with there systems.

My opinion is an ideal and not a technical statement so all the real techs out there please take it easy.

Dark Lord · Jan 13, 2007, 05:02 PM

well, learn something new every day.

i probably should update drivers again some time too... havnt botherd updateing since 6.9s. meh, ill just wait till i get a 1950pro, whenever that may be.

camaro3377 · Feb 3, 2007, 11:50 AM

Hi mishima and everybody,

did you or anybody else find a solution for that problem now? Cos I am experiencing the same problem, only with the powercolor 1950pro extreme. Actually my screen looks like in the link postet by dark lord in some games, not all. It seems to occur when the card is in heavy use, however, the gpu temps I monitored are looking fine, only slightly above 50° C right before freeze. Odd thing though, while they ATT shows fan speed at 90 % after i manually set it that way, the fan actually doesnt move any faster than before, where it was set at 40 %.
My guess is that other parts on the card, such as transformers or Ram, that arent under the cooler, get too hot. Try and touch that part right next to the power plug, its freaking hot. On the other hand, not more so than my northbridge cooler and the board is just doing fine. I am really starting to think those cards work at the verge of what they can take and slightest thing pushes them over the edge, since lots of users have similar problems with cards from different manufactorers. This might explain why they work fine under 2D and even some games, but crash on more hardware hungry ones.
Anyway, if you found a solution in the meantime, I would be glad to hear it, cos I am ready to get the card exchanged (only to which one? lol).

Dyre Straits · Feb 3, 2007, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaro3377

Hi mishima and everybody,

did you or anybody else find a solution for that problem now? Cos I am experiencing the same problem, only with the powercolor 1950pro extreme. Actually my screen looks like in the link postet by dark lord in some games, not all. It seems to occur when the card is in heavy use, however, the gpu temps I monitored are looking fine, only slightly above 50° C right before freeze. Odd thing though, while they ATT shows fan speed at 90 % after i manually set it that way, the fan actually doesnt move any faster than before, where it was set at 40 %.
My guess is that other parts on the card, such as transformers or Ram, that arent under the cooler, get too hot. Try and touch that part right next to the power plug, its freaking hot. On the other hand, not more so than my northbridge cooler and the board is just doing fine. I am really starting to think those cards work at the verge of what they can take and slightest thing pushes them over the edge, since lots of users have similar problems with cards from different manufactorers. This might explain why they work fine under 2D and even some games, but crash on more hardware hungry ones.
Anyway, if you found a solution in the meantime, I would be glad to hear it, cos I am ready to get the card exchanged (only to which one? lol).

Before you get drastic enough to exchange the card, I'd encourage you to do a Window Repair installation. I'm using a PowerColor X1950 Pro 256, not the Extreme version like you, and I'm using the latest Omegadrivers with the latest beta ATT.

The PowerColor 1950 is new enough that some earlier versions of ATT weren't getting the correct data.

I've played Oblivion for hours as well as the complete game of Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. I've also started the addons for Far Cry. These games are playing just fine.

So, if you upgraded your X1950 without doing at least a Windows Repair installation, I really encourage you...and anyone else....to do that.

Cheers and good luck!

camaro3377 · Feb 3, 2007, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

Before you get drastic enough to exchange the card, I'd encourage you to do a Window Repair installation. I'm using a PowerColor X1950 Pro 256, not the Extreme version like you, and I'm using the latest Omegadrivers with the latest beta ATT.

The PowerColor 1950 is new enough that some earlier versions of ATT weren't getting the correct data.

I've played Oblivion for hours as well as the complete game of Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. I've also started the addons for Far Cry. These games are playing just fine.

So, if you upgraded your X1950 without doing at least a Windows Repair installation, I really encourage you...and anyone else....to do that.

Cheers and good luck!

Hi,

thanks for the heads up, but I am afraid that aint gonna fix my problem, since I built a new pc with that card and therefor the Windows XP is fresh. Also, i am using newest omega drivers and latest beta of ATT. I even tried underclokcing the card with it as the powercolor comes with a slightly higher GPU speed (595), but that didnt help either.

Dyre Straits · Feb 3, 2007, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camaro3377

Hi,

thanks for the heads up, but I am afraid that aint gonna fix my problem, since I built a new pc with that card and therefor the Windows XP is fresh. Also, i am using newest omega drivers and latest beta of ATT. I even tried underclokcing the card with it as the powercolor comes with a slightly higher GPU speed (595), but that didnt help either.

What you might try before RMAing the card is to leave the side cover off the case and place a small fan pointed at the area of the video card. If this helps, then the cooling on the card is definitely defective. Then that's something you can tell the company where you got it from.

Good luck!

camaro3377 · Feb 3, 2007, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

What you might try before RMAing the card is to leave the side cover off the case and place a small fan pointed at the area of the video card. If this helps, then the cooling on the card is definitely defective. Then that's something you can tell the company where you got it from.

Good luck!

I did that during my tests today, doesnt make a difference either. I got some pretty interesting results though. I played NFSU2 where it doesnt crash, although the gpu temp is up to 53° C, then I play Doom 3, and after a while it crashes there, as always, and the temps are even below 50°. I cant make any sense of this. Can other parts get in fact hotter, even if the gpu shows a lower temp?

Jan 6, 2007, 02:16 PM	#1
mishima DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 23 Rep Power: 0	X1950 Pro lockups/freezes Hi, I have a Gecube X1950 Pro 512MB. Since constructing my system a few days ago I have been unable to play ANY games. I have an E6600, 2GB Geil 6400, Gecube X1950 Pro 512MB. I have tried installing the retail drivers that came with the card. The catalyst 6.11's and 6.12's with the following games: NFS Carbon Prey Far Cry Colin Mcrae 2005 All games lockup after so much gameplay and I am forced to reboot the system. I have had no lockups at all in windows, the problem seems to be when the card is under demand. I have also run 3DMark06 with no problems and scored 5145. I have also done a full system test using burninIT and that reported no errors on the memory, cpu, graphics etc. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice please? (im in desperation here ) __________________ [COLOR=red]__________________________________________[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]e6600 - 2GB Geil 6400 - X1950 Pro 512MB - AB9 Pro[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]-----------------------------------------------------------[/COLOR]

Jan 6, 2007, 05:43 PM	#2
fobis DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 716 Rep Power: 51	What kind of power supply do you have? __________________ MacBook Pro Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.4 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz 2GB DDR2-677 ATi Mobility Radeon X1600 256MB 120GB 7200RPM SATA HDD

Jan 6, 2007, 05:44 PM	#3
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,013 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	have you checked the temps? the card could be running hotter in real gameplay than in tests. also what type of motherboard do you have? then theres the psu which i doubt is the problem but it can be, how many watts are you running? __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jan 6, 2007, 06:06 PM	#4
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	i know that thing requires a pretty big PSU. even though it doesnt say it on hte box, it needs something like 450w atleast. __________________

Jan 6, 2007, 11:17 PM	Thread Starter #6
mishima DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 23 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for the replies! My system is: e6600 2GB Geil 6400 Gecube X1950 Pro 512MB Abit AB9 Pro (latest BIOS) Antec Truepower Trio 550W! I haven't monitored the GPU temp, I've been trying to find a prog that will. Everest want you to buy their software straight off. Anyone know of any free apps that I can view CPU/GPU temps? __________________ [COLOR=red]__________________________________________[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]e6600 - 2GB Geil 6400 - X1950 Pro 512MB - AB9 Pro[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]-----------------------------------------------------------[/COLOR] Last edited by mishima; Jan 6, 2007 at 11:39 PM.

Jan 6, 2007, 06:24 PM	#5
>GSXR<mrbusa im a FREAK Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,107 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Have you configured your BIOS settings manually? Allot of mobo's fluctuate enough during normal use to cause system hangups. You want to set your ram timings and voltages and cpu clock and voltages manually. You also should search for some user input on forums and review sites about your specific hardware and learn how to optimize your various bios settings. You want to learn about optimizing xp and all driver settings. You want to make sure that all your drivers and firmware and applications are up to date and not just the versions from the cd's that came with your hardware. I have read in some other forums that there are x1950pro specific drivers available for download on AMD/ATI site. You also want to install a program to monitor your system temps and utilized resources when gaming to see if something is noticeably wrong. I use Everest. There are many others. Fill in your user cp system profile or write a sig with your system specs so we know what you got besides what you already listed.

Jan 7, 2007, 12:42 AM	#7
>GSXR<mrbusa im a FREAK Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,107 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Did your mobo come with some type of monitoring app for you chipset and CPU? You can use that plus Ati Tray Tools or ATI tool for the GPU. I like everest because it monitors everything at once and works with my G15. There are many others but I personally have not used anything else in a while. Here is a link to the last free version of everest. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Jan 7, 2007, 04:20 AM	#8
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,772 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	If it weren't for the fact that I have an X1950 Pro Crossfire setup my first thought would be to look at the PSU too. However, having gone through the seutp of this system, and having experienced the exact same problem, my first suggestion is this: 1) run ATI Tray Tools 2) when you run ATT be sure that the "onscreen display" option is running, and that "GPU Temp" is active (right click ATT, goto "Tools and Options", "Onscreen Display". Make sure it's enabled, and on the second tab called "Flash OSD" be sure to change the drop down menu from "Manual" to "Always on". Lastly, make sure that "GPU Tempreture" is checked). 3) Play a game, and take note of the temp the system hard locks at. I have a feeling that it will hard lock just as the temp creeps just above 60-65C. When I first built my system I had the exact some problem, mishima. For nearly 2 weeks I tried everything to keep my system going, but it would hard lock every time. I tried a higher watt PSU, different drivers, hell, I even switched to a Intel made motherboard thinking it was Asus' stupid PEG Link overclocking causing the issue. Running on my second board I noticed something odd: the card would hard lock just as the temps crepted above 60C. For some odd reason (and this seems to be different between manufacturers) as soon as the card goes above 60C it becomes unstable, and will almost always hard lock. Sapphire and Powercolor cards seem to be better able to handle this, but I know this is a huge issue with HIS Tech cards. AND this is a huge issue for cards that are pre-overclocked. The only remedy seems to be to underclock the card to keep the temps reasonable, and in the case of HIS cards (such as mine), the only remedy is to jack up the speed of the fans to 100% in order to keep the temps down. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jan 7, 2007, 05:18 AM	#9
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	any idea if this is a PCIE only problem? ive been looking at picking up a HIS 1950pro 512mg AGP towards the end of this month. only hitting 60C and hardlocking is god awful. i know ive gone over 80c on this X800pro and never had a problem. __________________

Jan 7, 2007, 10:02 AM	Thread Starter #10
mishima DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 23 Rep Power: 0	Yeah I have Abit uGuru which monitors motherboard and CPU temps/volts. But doesn't monitor GPU temps. ATT will not allow me to see the GPU temperature, whatever option I chose it remains grey and not selectable. I was actually thinking of getting a HIS Turbo SILENT 512MB too, because I'm going to RMA this card. Is that a bad idea? I have £160 tops - which one http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=56&subid=404 ? __________________ [COLOR=red]__________________________________________[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]e6600 - 2GB Geil 6400 - X1950 Pro 512MB - AB9 Pro[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]-----------------------------------------------------------[/COLOR]

Jan 7, 2007, 05:54 PM	#13
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	ya... maybe ill wait a bit longer on that card. let other people play the part of the guinea pig first. or if powercolor ever releases a 512meg version, ill just grab that. i know sapphire is haveing problems right now. ive been hanging out in the ati section on hardocp latly and im seeing more reports then i like of the card dieing already. seems to work amazingly well for the first few days, then starts artifacting too all hell. from one of the posts there. "Just to restate, my Sapphire X1950pro 512MB AGP card definitely seems to have failed. I have tried underclocking (from its stock settings) even, but it will just lock up my system. I am getting major artifacts at POST, constant crashing in Windows and games." __________________

Jan 12, 2007, 08:42 AM	#16
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,772 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	X1950 owners take note: ATT beta 1.2.6.977 works! Update: I decided not to post this in the news section as it is still in beta (plus it was released about 4 days ago, meaning it was past the news worthy date anyways), but I thought it necessary to post the fact that there was a new beta version. The reason being is that this version has fixes specicially for the X1950 series of cards. ATT now detects the ram speeds correctly, so it no longer craps out when you adjust the clock rates. There are also other fixes for the series, including a database update for some Advanced Tweaks, updated overclocking support, and some test voltage regulation support for the X1950XT. As of right now HERE is the link for the newest beta of ATI Tray Tools v.1.2.6.977. Whenever Ray updates the beta he updates the file in that link, so you will always get the most recent beta from that link. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jan 12, 2007, 06:20 PM	#18
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	there seems to be a ton of problems with the 1950pro cards right now. people are blameing it on eveything from not enough power (30amp+ on a single 12v, 22amp+ on 2 12v, cant find anything about 3 12v rails) to some new voltage regulartors on the card. i guess it makes it incredibly hard to up the juice to the card. all i know is ive been hanging out in hardocp's forums for awhile now where there are several active threads on this. there are a TON of people haveing problems with these cards. ranges from over clockers to stock users. the card just seems to run well for the frist 24-48hrs and then its dead. this was 15mins of use on a well ventilated system, stock speeds, and memory heat sinks. http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2...sinfearlc6.jpg __________________

Jan 12, 2007, 06:42 PM	#19
>GSXR<mrbusa im a FREAK Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,107 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Hey Dark Lord, That image is from a personal experience?

Jan 12, 2007, 07:26 PM	#20
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	no, not my self. was from some one over on the hardocp forums. ive been quite hesitant to buy one now that im seeing all these problems. __________________

Jan 13, 2007, 04:51 AM	#22
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	as long as the drivers are current, 6.12/7.1, they shouldnt have any problems doing just that. when i do my upgrade i think im just gonna do a reformat, provideing my damn 2nd hard drive is returned by then.... going on 2 months now for the freaking replacment. __________________

Jan 13, 2007, 06:33 AM	#24
>GSXR<mrbusa im a FREAK Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,107 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	There is no correction needed. If you swap GPU's, you have to eliminate all reference to the old card and drivers for a stable install. Not doing this does not guarantee that the card will not boot, but what it does guarantee is that there will be problems with 3d games and stability of the card. Some people will disagree and that is fine. Whats screwy is the same people who disagree are the same ones posting a million threads related to unexplainable game artifacts and low overclocks and BSOD's. The same goes for other hardware also, wifi, nic, sound, tv dvr, etc. Some driver developers are better than others at keeping there install clean and organized so that certain shared system files do not conflict with other devices. The problem is that there are more shitty drivers than good and that is where all the conflicts come from and the reason for all the weird problems people have with there systems. My opinion is an ideal and not a technical statement so all the real techs out there please take it easy.

Jan 13, 2007, 05:02 PM	#25
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	well, learn something new every day. i probably should update drivers again some time too... havnt botherd updateing since 6.9s. meh, ill just wait till i get a 1950pro, whenever that may be. __________________

Feb 3, 2007, 11:50 AM	#26
camaro3377 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	Hi mishima and everybody, did you or anybody else find a solution for that problem now? Cos I am experiencing the same problem, only with the powercolor 1950pro extreme. Actually my screen looks like in the link postet by dark lord in some games, not all. It seems to occur when the card is in heavy use, however, the gpu temps I monitored are looking fine, only slightly above 50° C right before freeze. Odd thing though, while they ATT shows fan speed at 90 % after i manually set it that way, the fan actually doesnt move any faster than before, where it was set at 40 %. My guess is that other parts on the card, such as transformers or Ram, that arent under the cooler, get too hot. Try and touch that part right next to the power plug, its freaking hot. On the other hand, not more so than my northbridge cooler and the board is just doing fine. I am really starting to think those cards work at the verge of what they can take and slightest thing pushes them over the edge, since lots of users have similar problems with cards from different manufactorers. This might explain why they work fine under 2D and even some games, but crash on more hardware hungry ones. Anyway, if you found a solution in the meantime, I would be glad to hear it, cos I am ready to get the card exchanged (only to which one? lol).