Radeon 9800XT not working correctly (Very slow)

Bond007ukBond007uk
edited June 2004 in Hardware
Hello

I bought a Sapphire Radeon 9800XT two weeks ago and i havn't been able to get the thing to work fully it is very slow and choppy in games and on some games it simply crashes the system. Crashes occur even with modest graphics settings like 800x600

First I thought i may be the card so i sent it back, same problems! I have tried it in a friends pc where it performs perfectly reaching 6000 3d marks in 2003.

I Have re-inserted my Radeon 9600XT untill i can find out whats wrong, this card runs all of my games no problem! The Radeon 9800XT can't handle NFS undrground with the same settings as the 9600XT!

So far i have tried the following to no effect.

1. Friend had a spare motherboad same as mine so i borrowed it, still slow and unstable.

2. Tried setting the agp to various lower settings, no good and turned off fast rights, no effect.

3. tried running a Radeon 9800 pro, same problems!!

4. Tried two psu's a 350 and a 400w, no good

So what is going wrong? Is there a problem with this type of motherboard and Radeon cards? Is my CPU damaged, should i try anther CPU?

Comments

  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited April 2004
    Have you tried re-installing the os? I know you shouldn't need to as you are upgrading from one ati card to another but I had similar problem (but not so servere) when I went from a 9500 to a 9800xt. But before doing this I'd try the usual like completely removeing the old drivers & re-installing with latest detonators.
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited April 2004
    Try the card on a mobo of a diffrent make/model?

    Otherwise, do what Jim says and reinstall.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited April 2004
    Bond, what make & model of motherboard is it mate?
  • Bond007ukBond007uk
    edited April 2004
    On my first post it i said i have tried it i a friends PC and it works fine. He has a MSI Motherboard (mine is ASUS) that has only a 4xAGP Bus like mine and it works fine with good frame rates.

    My motherboard is a a ASUS P4T533-c, the other mobo it works fine on is a MSI P4MAM-L

    I have re-installed XP from Scratch, same problems, i have also installed the Intel Chipset drivers from my motherboard install CD.

    Would ASUS Smartdoctor work on my Sapphire card? It may tell me whats wrong.

    I have also tried a friends Radeon 9800 pro on my machine, still same problems!!

    Failing that i will try another CPU on my machine later today.

    Can't understand whats going wrong the only things could be my CPU faulty or Memory (i have 1Gb pc800 rimms)

    I am using a Intel P4 2.4Ghz + HT (533fsb)
  • RiddickRiddick Malaysia Icrontian
    edited April 2004
    Jimborae wrote:
    But before doing this I'd try the usual like completely removeing the old drivers & re-installing with latest detonators.

    catalysts ! :P
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited April 2004
    Have you run Memtest?

    Could also be something wrong with your northbridge/AGP controller.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited April 2004
    Riddick wrote:
    catalysts ! :P


    Haha, you caught me out, my only excuse is that I had just got up. I must pay more attention to what I'm writing when knackered. :)
  • Bond007ukBond007uk
    edited April 2004
    I have tried the following some getting quite desperate!

    -Changed over Motherboard for another of the same make and model.
    -Changed CPU to a 2.8Ghz (to see if my cpu was faulty it appears not)
    -Re-installed XP from stratch with chipset drivers from Mobo CD
    -Tried 3 different catalyst drivers 3.10, 4.1 & 4.3
    -played around with AGP settings 4X, 2X and 1X and swapped the Fast rights on and off.
    -changed round the power cables in my PC, giving the Radeon a Direct Cable from the PSU as apposed to sharing with the HDD.

    Are my Mothboard settings correct in the BIOS i have included all the ones i think count. My Machine has very limited settings there are very little options concerning the Graphics card, see below:

    [MAIN]

    CPU SPEED = 2800MHZ
    CPU FREQUENCY MULTIPLE = (21X)
    CPU/PCI FREQUENCY RATE = (133/33)
    RDRAM/FSB FREQUENCY RATIO = (AUTO)
    CPU VCORE SETTING (AUTO)
    LEVEL ONE CACHE (ENABLED)
    LEVEL TWO CACHE (ENABLED)
    BIOS UPDATE (ENABLED)
    PS2 MOUSE (AUTO)
    USB LEGACY SUPPORT (AUTO)

    [PCI CONFIG]

    PCI/VGA PALLET SNOOP = (DISABLED)
    PCI LATENCY TIMER = 32
    USB FUCTION (BOTH)
    PRIMARY VGA BIOS = AGP

    [CHIP CONFIG]

    RDRAM TURBO MODE (DISABLED) i have tried enabled no effect
    GRAPHICS APATURE SIZE = 128MB
    VIDEO MEMORY MODE = (UC)
    DELAY TRANSACTION = (DISABLED)
    ONBOARD PCI IDE = (BOTH)

    there you go. The PCI config and chip config are the only referances to the Graphics card, no other options. Motherboad manual very little information.

    So what could it be? The graphics card is not faulty, nor is the CPU or the motherboard!! Why won't this damn thing work??

    Help its driving me nuts!!!
    _________________
    "When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer"
    P4 2.4Ghz, Asus P4t533-c, 1Gb RDRam, 80Gb WD HDD, MSI 52x CDRW, NEC 2500A DVD+/-RW , Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800XT 256mb, Blueyonder 1mb Internet
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited April 2004
    Did you test your memory yet?
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited April 2004
    Have you tried searching the web to see if there is a known hardware issue between your board & the 9800xt if there is maybe there's bios update that fixes it? I know its pretty desperate but I can't think of anything else. Hopefully somebody with more knowledge than myself can suggest something else
  • Bond007ukBond007uk
    edited April 2004
    I did do a memory test but i didn't let it finish as it got to about 92% and hadn't reported an error, can't see how it would be a memory issue anyway as the other card (9600xt) works fine.

    I think i'm gonna order a new motherboard tomorrow night if i still can't get this to work. I have seen this one on site i buy from in the UK

    http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=493

    What memory would be best in this? Would this be ok?

    http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Adata.html#aMY_2d000_2dAD

    Have to buy new ram as i have a RDRAM (Rimms) mobo
    Thanks
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited April 2004
    what about the bios apg memory settings thing, artparture or somthing
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited April 2004
    Overclockers.co.uk suck arse big style! I sent an ati 9500 back at Xmas for an rma, 4 months later I still haven't got any kind of card back. I'm now threatening legal action against them.

    overclock.co.uk - cant recommend them highly enough. they sent a courier out to me to swap a psu out on my door step!!! now thats customer service.

    If you do get Adata memory you may be lucky cos some of their sticks had winbond chips on them which is good. I'm waiting for a 512mb stick to turn up which i got from casetech.co.uk, dunno wot chips are on it though.
  • Bond007ukBond007uk
    edited April 2004
    Well whatever you think of overclockers this card 'WORKS' But it don't work on my bloody machine!!!
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited April 2004
    I wish I had some advice for you. Your situation is strange indeed. :-/
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited April 2004
    It's got to be an incompatibility with your specific combination. Chances are it's something a patch will take care of. This probably doesn't help you right now :(
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited April 2004
    You tried the absolute latest drivers for ALL of your computer's components, correct?
  • NecropolisNecropolis Hawarden, Wales Icrontian
    edited April 2004
    If your going to buy new memory then I would recommend this this TwinMOS 512MB (2x256MB) DDR PC3200 Dual Channel Kit

    Its a little more than you where going to pay but it works fine for me.
  • dannymixdannymix
    edited June 2004
    Hi all.

    Iv got a 9800XT and I had problems with the power it wasnt getting enougth.
    I brought another PSU and it was fine.

    Im not sure how much power the 9600xt but the 9800xt need alot of power to run it.

    You need to either get another spare HD and install windows on it or borrow your mates PSU after checking weather its any different, in my case the PSU couldnt handle it. I got a 450w and it was fine.

    I was overclocking my CPU and running 2 HDs that extra 50w made a difference to me. Your mate may be running the same PSU but is he using as much power as you are?
  • Bond007ukBond007uk
    edited June 2004
    This has now been resolved. (about 3 weeks ago)

    I bought a new Mobo (Gigabyte GA-81848E-L) and bought some cheap crucial pc2700 DDR ram.

    This card is now working correctly.

    3dMark 2001 = 14000 (should be a little higher?)
    3dMark 2003 = 6000 (about what i expected + 1000 more than friends 9800 pro.) :Rocker:
  • GuyuteGuyute Gamehenge
    edited June 2004
    http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/3985.html

    Found this on ATI's Site...FYI for anyone else...

    Glad it's up to snuff now. Happy Fragging...
Sign In or Register to comment.