ATi Radeon 9700 AE2 Stepping AGP 8x Bug???

Candyman · Sep 12, 2002, 09:28 PM

Read this over at TweakTown...things that make you go hmmmmmmm...

"Since receiving our Sapphire Radeon 9700 graphics card a couple of days ago during testing we have been experiencing a few strange problems – such as continuous system reboots and programs and games crashing back to Windows desktop when used on all SiS 648, VIA KT400 and P4X400 based motherboards with AGP 8X support operational which we currently have testing.

We cannot be 100% sure if this is an isolated problem however can be sure in saying we received confirmation from our contact at Epox Taiwan (who got first hand information direct from ATi) saying the problem is only occurring in AE2 stepping Radeon 9700 chips, and not the newer AE3 chips which are now shipping from the Canadian company, who say fix the problems discussed here. The problem is, the AE2 stepping chips are vast, and thus many made it into the retail market where end-users are no doubt going to suffer. It’s important to note that we had no problems what-so-ever running the AE2 stepping Radeon 9700 on VIA KT333 and Intel 845E/G based motherboards operating in either AGP 2x or 4x modes."

I wonder....

Zardon · Sep 12, 2002, 09:36 PM

as much as I love ATI and have a 9700 ordered myself, I get the feeling from reading quite a few threads on this card on this and other issues, like the KR7A raid etc ... that perhaps ATI released it when it wasnt completely finished.

I suppose ill find out when mine arrives soon, in the meantime I think ill be hanging onto my 4600 as well.

DarkFoss · Sep 12, 2002, 10:47 PM

Wonderful looks like I'll be calling ati and rma'ing mine from all the posts at rage 3-d I doubt it's going to work in the new GA-7VAX I've ordered.. Hope it arrives tomorrow fed ex hasn't updated my shipping order since 1:15am 9/11 when it left Compton CA .. Knew I should have spent the extra 15$ and gone 2nd day

Guess I shouldn't be too anxious the AE3 cards aren't even going to start shipping until around the 23rd anyways.

RadeonMAXX · Sep 13, 2002, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DarkFoss
Wonderful looks like I'll be calling ati and rma'ing mine from all the posts at rage 3-d I doubt it's going to work in the new GA-7VAX I've ordered.. Hope it arrives tomorrow fed ex hasn't updated my shipping order since 1:15am 9/11 when it left Compton CA .. Knew I should have spent the extra 15$ and gone 2nd day Guess I shouldn't be too anxious the AE3 cards aren't even going to start shipping until around the 23rd anyways.

I ordered that same motherboard & have it ready for installment. Just need the ram, the Samsung PC-3200 256mb, which will be here tommorow.

The Gigabyte 9700 pro has no problems what so ever in AGP 8x. It just some of those current retai 9700 cards that do. Some people have there retail working with no problems in the ASUS A7V8x boards while others do. Right now, it's hit & miss with AGP 8x. But the good news, like you read from rage3d, you can RMA your board & get the newer boards with the bios revision 1.3 which fixes this AGP 8X issue. I sure hope everything goes smooth for me tommorow, if not. I will be call ATi & getting my RMA #.

Cool thing about the Gigabyte 9700 card, you can flash your bios. I sure wish ATi would go this route, it would make life easier.

Anyways, if you have problems, CALL ATi. They will handle it.

Edit: Oh yeah, http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/4080.html

RADEON 9700 PRO 128 MB - System does not POST on some AGP 8x capable motherboards

In certain cases, after installing the RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB in an AGP 8x capable motherboard, the system will not post, or boot up.
Not all AGP 8x motherboards are affected. Some Customer's have reported that lowering the AGP transfer speed in some instances, will allow the system to then post.

ATI Engineering has been advised of this issue and is investigating. Any updates will appear on this page when they become available.

Please provide the following information to ATI Customer Service:

your name, address, and phone number
make, model, and revision of the motherboard
102 part number from the affected RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB
make and model of the power supply
current AGP transfer setting
a completed ATI Problem Report (if able to boot at a lower AGP transfer setting)

INFO-BASE# 4080

KEYWORDS: RADEON 9700 for PC POST BOOT 8X AGP MOTHERBOARD

Furious · Sep 13, 2002, 01:24 AM

Does anyone know the p/n's for the affected boards? How do I tell when I don't have an 8X motherboard, YET?

I don't want to upgrade my motherboard one day and THEN find out I've got the problem.

V8VENOM · Sep 13, 2002, 07:26 AM

I realize this is something that needs to be resolved by ATI if people can't boot. But even so, 2X, 4X, or 8X the bandwidth is still no where near as capable as the video card's on-board memory and multiple pipelines. I really don't understand why Mobo & Video designers really even bother, the bandwidth on the video card is consistantly out pacing the AGP bus bandwidth. Most video card designers are providing 128MB or more so that the AGP bus bandwidth is not really required.

This is by no means a defense of ATI, but more of a why waste the effort on 8X. From a technical standpoint the entire AGP 2X, 4X, 8X is like a dog chasing it's tail -- it'll never catchup with video card memory performance.

Qba73 · Sep 15, 2002, 09:32 PM

this is why im waiting for christmas b4 i drop $ on a 8x board and the 9700..so they iron out all the bugs. never get something when its first released (rule of thumb)

My 8500 & Tusl2 does quite well for now.

Sep 12, 2002, 09:28 PM	#1
Candyman [DH] Lover! Join Date: May 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 284 Rep Power: 0	ATi Radeon 9700 AE2 Stepping AGP 8x Bug??? Read this over at TweakTown...things that make you go hmmmmmmm... "Since receiving our Sapphire Radeon 9700 graphics card a couple of days ago during testing we have been experiencing a few strange problems – such as continuous system reboots and programs and games crashing back to Windows desktop when used on all SiS 648, VIA KT400 and P4X400 based motherboards with AGP 8X support operational which we currently have testing. We cannot be 100% sure if this is an isolated problem however can be sure in saying we received confirmation from our contact at Epox Taiwan (who got first hand information direct from ATi) saying the problem is only occurring in AE2 stepping Radeon 9700 chips, and not the newer AE3 chips which are now shipping from the Canadian company, who say fix the problems discussed here. The problem is, the AE2 stepping chips are vast, and thus many made it into the retail market where end-users are no doubt going to suffer. It’s important to note that we had no problems what-so-ever running the AE2 stepping Radeon 9700 on VIA KT333 and Intel 845E/G based motherboards operating in either AGP 2x or 4x modes." I wonder.... __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1700+ @ 2.53GHz Abit NF7-S v.2 Thermalright SP-97 w/ TT Smart Fan 2 2 x 512MB GeIL PC3500 Platinum DDR 2 x 120GB WD HDD - RAID-0 2 x 80GB Barracuda V HDD - RAID-0 ATI Radeon AIW 9800PRO SB Audigy 2 HP L2335 23" LCD (DVI-D) WinXP Pro SP2

Sep 12, 2002, 10:47 PM	#3
DarkFoss HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Downers Grove IL Posts: 688 Rep Power: 0	Wonderful looks like I'll be calling ati and rma'ing mine from all the posts at rage 3-d I doubt it's going to work in the new GA-7VAX I've ordered.. Hope it arrives tomorrow fed ex hasn't updated my shipping order since 1:15am 9/11 when it left Compton CA .. Knew I should have spent the extra 15$ and gone 2nd day Guess I shouldn't be too anxious the AE3 cards aren't even going to start shipping until around the 23rd anyways. __________________ Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety,deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Ben Franklin, 1755

Sep 13, 2002, 01:24 AM	#5
Furious I'm blind not deaf!! Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 260 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Does anyone know the p/n's for the affected boards? How do I tell when I don't have an 8X motherboard, YET? I don't want to upgrade my motherboard one day and THEN find out I've got the problem. __________________

Sep 15, 2002, 09:32 PM	#7
Qba73 Bench This Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Land of the Lost Towers Posts: 93 Rep Power: 0	this is why im waiting for christmas b4 i drop $ on a 8x board and the 9700..so they iron out all the bugs. never get something when its first released (rule of thumb) My 8500 & Tusl2 does quite well for now. __________________ I7 920 @ 4.02Ghz 6gb Corsair Dominators P6T Deluxe BFG 285 GTX OC OCZ Powerstream 700w Samsung 2693HM 25in PS3/X360 60" Panny

Sep 12, 2002, 09:36 PM	#2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	as much as I love ATI and have a 9700 ordered myself, I get the feeling from reading quite a few threads on this card on this and other issues, like the KR7A raid etc ... that perhaps ATI released it when it wasnt completely finished. I suppose ill find out when mine arrives soon, in the meantime I think ill be hanging onto my 4600 as well.

Sep 13, 2002, 07:26 AM	#6
V8VENOM DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 33 Rep Power: 0	I realize this is something that needs to be resolved by ATI if people can't boot. But even so, 2X, 4X, or 8X the bandwidth is still no where near as capable as the video card's on-board memory and multiple pipelines. I really don't understand why Mobo & Video designers really even bother, the bandwidth on the video card is consistantly out pacing the AGP bus bandwidth. Most video card designers are providing 128MB or more so that the AGP bus bandwidth is not really required. This is by no means a defense of ATI, but more of a why waste the effort on 8X. From a technical standpoint the entire AGP 2X, 4X, 8X is like a dog chasing it's tail -- it'll never catchup with video card memory performance.