9800xt with burnt ram chips

El Kapitano · Mar 28, 2005, 10:33 PM

I have received (for free I might add) a damaged 9800xt card which appears to have burnt ram chips as on first boot it's fine then after about 20 seconds when the drivers have fully loaded it has these blue and red lines and glitches running vertically up the screen.

I have put an arctic cooler on it to see if it helps but it doesn't so the question is if I flash it to a 9800 pro 128Mb bios might it work again?

I'll try and post a screenie asap. Thanks

redsolar · Mar 29, 2005, 03:36 AM

Tried severely underclocking it ?

daedal · Mar 29, 2005, 01:00 PM

Yeah, just try and underclock the sucker something fierce and add 3rd party heatsinks. You can pick up some cheap aluminium or copper ones from your local Radio Shack or electronic-gimmick store.

me972 · Mar 29, 2005, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Kapitano

I have received (for free I might add) a damaged 9800xt card which appears to have burnt ram chips as on first boot it's fine then after about 20 seconds when the drivers have fully loaded it has these blue and red lines and glitches running vertically up the screen.

I have put an arctic cooler on it to see if it helps but it doesn't so the question is if I flash it to a 9800 pro 128Mb bios might it work again?

I'll try and post a screenie asap. Thanks

NO.... what you can try is take an Image of the cards original BIOS and using RaBit change the memory settings to 128MB save the file and reflash... that way you get to keep the original XT bios and get to check the card..

if the damaged chips are at the higher memory addresses then you might be luck... other wise you screwed... my guess is that your screwed since on normal windows boot up... after the main window has come up.. the systet doesn't even come close to using the higher memory ranges... meaning that the lower chips are damaged and thats why you see what you see on your screen...

Brgds
me972

The_Neon_Cowboy · Mar 29, 2005, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Kapitano

I have received (for free I might add) a damaged 9800xt card which appears to have burnt ram chips as on first boot it's fine then after about 20 seconds when the drivers have fully loaded it has these blue and red lines and glitches running vertically up the screen.

I have put an arctic cooler on it to see if it helps but it doesn't so the question is if I flash it to a 9800 pro 128Mb bios might it work again?

I'll try and post a screenie asap. Thanks

IMO: umm if a card bad a cards bad.... yank of the cooler and toss the card..
the cooler is actually worth something lol

uless its under warrenty and you can try RMAing it...

El Kapitano · Mar 29, 2005, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

uless its under warrenty and you can try RMAing it...

Yeah, I was pondering that one, I sold a rig a while back with a 9800xt in it and he's saying it's a bit loud so I might install the cooler on his card (taking the warranty sticker at the same time) and reinstall his cooler on this card and see if I can't rma the sucker as an oem.

Oh bad, bad, bad.....

Logla · Mar 29, 2005, 06:50 PM

just a suggestion - check all the traces from the ram chips outward. There may be a damaged trace (which is repairable) as I have learned while removing my x800 from the case. Cut one of the traces and got a weird checkerboard effect while in windows.

pr0digal jenius · Mar 29, 2005, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Kapitano

Yeah, I was pondering that one, I sold a rig a while back with a 9800xt in it and he's saying it's a bit loud so I might install the cooler on his card (taking the warranty sticker at the same time) and reinstall his cooler on this card and see if I can't rma the sucker as an oem.

Oh bad, bad, bad.....

booo...and you wonder why cards cost so much?

Anyways...check traces, and also check you didn't bridge anything with AS5, by any chance too, if the RAM was bad, i'd think it would BSoD on you, not distort

El Kapitano · Mar 29, 2005, 09:44 PM

OK, I've managed to extract the full tale of woe that is the life of said 9800xt.

The "geezer" I got it from had tried watercooling his rig, being a "messer" it didn't suit him (quote- "too much fannying about to swap out processor or graphics cards..") so he pulled the waterblock and reinstalled the original ati heatsink. Apparently in the process he had to lose some of the strange rubbery stuff that seats on the memory and replaced it with thermal compound.

Upon reinserting the card he surfed the net for about 1/2 an hour and then realised that the graphics card was "absolutely mad hot" on the copper backplate. Up to this point the card seemed fine. He shut down the machine and tried reseating the heatsink and the card was never right again.

I think you may have something with the bridged or damaged trace. I'll try a solvent wash when I get chance and have a look at the traces see what happens.

Thanks all for your suggestions, if you have any more keep 'em coming.

Logla · Mar 29, 2005, 09:59 PM

may have knocked a cap or some other component off the pcb. If he hasn't been too carefull with the backplate then that is very possible.

El Kapitano · Apr 6, 2005, 10:42 PM

Oh well, after two major alcohol scrubs and trace checks the card is a little better but still goosed.

It is now happy with 2D but shows artifacting under 3D so I presume it has fried pipe(s).

The problem seems to be with the fact that pulling the fan connector pulls the socket assembly upwards and when the fan plug is replaced it doesn't seat on the pins without a good push, it did it when I replaced the arctic coller so I assume that's what happened when the previous owner rebuilt it. hohum.

Anyone want an arctic cooler in the UK cheap?

Chriswalker · Apr 12, 2005, 12:30 PM

Its funny u should say that as i had a saphire 9800xt which had crap cooling on it which made it overheat all the time which resulted in extensive damage. Luckily it was underwarranty still 8 months down the line and they replaced it with a x800 pro

due to not having any xt's anymore

Mar 28, 2005, 10:33 PM	#1
El Kapitano Most of the 7 dwarfs in 1 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rochdale, Lancashire Posts: 947 Rep Power: 0	9800xt with burnt ram chips I have received (for free I might add) a damaged 9800xt card which appears to have burnt ram chips as on first boot it's fine then after about 20 seconds when the drivers have fully loaded it has these blue and red lines and glitches running vertically up the screen. I have put an arctic cooler on it to see if it helps but it doesn't so the question is if I flash it to a 9800 pro 128Mb bios might it work again? I'll try and post a screenie asap. Thanks

Mar 29, 2005, 03:36 AM	#2
redsolar Off duty Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Las Vegas, USA Posts: 1,242 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Tried severely underclocking it ? __________________ Real_Men_Do_Not_Use_Space_Bar Main rig: Intel Core i7 930 @ 4.0 Ghz \| Corsair H50 Push/Pull \| 12GB OCZ DDR3 \| ASUS Radeon HD 5850 \| 3x 1TB Samsung F3 RAID5 on Dell PERC 5i SAS + 1TB Hitachi \| MSI X58 Pro-e \| 850W Antec Truepower Quattro \| RocketFish by Lian Li Full Tower Case \| Gateway XHD3000 30" LCD \| Dell 2408WFP 24" LCD \| Dell 2407WFP 24" LCD \| Logitech Z-5500 Speakers \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Laptop: Samsung x360-34P \| Core 2 Duo SU9400 1.4 GHz \| 4GB DDR3 \| 128GB Samsung SSD \| Intel 4500M w/ HDMI \| WiFi \| Bluetooth \| 13.3" WLED 1280x800 \| Windows 7 Professional x64

Mar 29, 2005, 01:00 PM	#3
daedal Uber Coffee Drinker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gatineau, Quebec Posts: 2,250 Rep Power: 0	Yeah, just try and underclock the sucker something fierce and add 3rd party heatsinks. You can pick up some cheap aluminium or copper ones from your local Radio Shack or electronic-gimmick store. __________________

Mar 29, 2005, 06:50 PM	#7
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	just a suggestion - check all the traces from the ram chips outward. There may be a damaged trace (which is repairable) as I have learned while removing my x800 from the case. Cut one of the traces and got a weird checkerboard effect while in windows.

Mar 29, 2005, 09:44 PM	Thread Starter #9
El Kapitano Most of the 7 dwarfs in 1 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rochdale, Lancashire Posts: 947 Rep Power: 0	OK, I've managed to extract the full tale of woe that is the life of said 9800xt. The "geezer" I got it from had tried watercooling his rig, being a "messer" it didn't suit him (quote- "too much fannying about to swap out processor or graphics cards..") so he pulled the waterblock and reinstalled the original ati heatsink. Apparently in the process he had to lose some of the strange rubbery stuff that seats on the memory and replaced it with thermal compound. Upon reinserting the card he surfed the net for about 1/2 an hour and then realised that the graphics card was "absolutely mad hot" on the copper backplate. Up to this point the card seemed fine. He shut down the machine and tried reseating the heatsink and the card was never right again. I think you may have something with the bridged or damaged trace. I'll try a solvent wash when I get chance and have a look at the traces see what happens. Thanks all for your suggestions, if you have any more keep 'em coming.

Mar 29, 2005, 09:59 PM	#10
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	may have knocked a cap or some other component off the pcb. If he hasn't been too carefull with the backplate then that is very possible.

Apr 6, 2005, 10:42 PM	Thread Starter #11
El Kapitano Most of the 7 dwarfs in 1 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rochdale, Lancashire Posts: 947 Rep Power: 0	Oh well, after two major alcohol scrubs and trace checks the card is a little better but still goosed. It is now happy with 2D but shows artifacting under 3D so I presume it has fried pipe(s). The problem seems to be with the fact that pulling the fan connector pulls the socket assembly upwards and when the fan plug is replaced it doesn't seat on the pins without a good push, it did it when I replaced the arctic coller so I assume that's what happened when the previous owner rebuilt it. hohum. Anyone want an arctic cooler in the UK cheap?

Apr 12, 2005, 12:30 PM	#12
Chriswalker DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Its funny u should say that as i had a saphire 9800xt which had crap cooling on it which made it overheat all the time which resulted in extensive damage. Luckily it was underwarranty still 8 months down the line and they replaced it with a x800 pro due to not having any xt's anymore