Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro problems

Grow up, kids

I'm having some problems with my Radeon 9800 pro lately. It started when the fan became really, really loud, especially upon booting. It sounds like a garden strimmer, but then settles down after 3 to 5 minutes. It still sounds erratic though. Sometimes when I boot, though, it sounds fine. Very odd. Anyway, I was putting up with the noise until recently, my PC has started freezing, and I've had to do a cold reboot.

I got it about 8 months ago from Komplett, but I really don't want the hassle of doing an RMA, so I'm hoping somebody here has a solution. A mate of mine is buying the PC, so I'd like to get this sorted before I pass it on.

Thanks.

Offalycool

I’m no expert, but it sounds to me like there is something physically wrong with the card. I think you can buy replacement or upgraded coolers, for overclocking and such.. Maybe you could replace the fan! Good luck.

K.O.Kiki

I had a similar problem with a 9600pro -- it refuses to output signal every 20-ish boots, forcing me to turn it off & on again.
No idea what it is, though.

BadCharlie

Grow up, kids wrote:

I'm having some problems with my Radeon 9800 pro lately. It started when the fan became really, really loud, especially upon booting. It sounds like a garden strimmer, but then settles down after 3 to 5 minutes. It still sounds erratic though. Sometimes when I boot, though, it sounds fine. Very odd. Anyway, I was putting up with the noise until recently, my PC has started freezing, and I've had to do a cold reboot.

I got it about 8 months ago from Komplett, but I really don't want the hassle of doing an RMA, so I'm hoping somebody here has a solution. A mate of mine is buying the PC, so I'd like to get this sorted before I pass it on.

Thanks.

Are you sure its the video card and not something else. In my case my motherboard does the noise when booting up. Its a abit and abit motherboards are knowing to have this problem.

Grow up, kids

It's definitely the video card. The loud noise is from the card's fan. I did a bit of research, and apparently it's a very common problem when playing World of Warcraft, which I do a lot. On reflection, it's only ever crashed during or shortly after playing WoW. I've lowered some of the graphics options in the game, and touch wood, no crashes since.

MartMax

sorry for digging out old thread.

mine is all of sudden getting loud as well. the PSU and CPU fan don't make noise to the room. checked that many times and it's definitely the stock fan on Radeon 9800 Pro. is the a sign that it's gonna die any soon?

what have you guys done to sort out the issue? please share.

thanks

mart

BadCharlie

Make sure the fan is free from dirt and dust. Prob wont make any diff but i opened up my friends computer over the weekend and i never in my life seen so much dust in a computer before. And the fans in the machine were just covered in the stuff.

After that i would just keep my eye on the fan and make sure its always working. My motherboard is still making lots of noise on start up and is still working since i posted in this topic at the start of the year. So noise dont always mean the fan is on the way out.

But you could always replace the fan.

MartMax

thanks for your advice.

i would not say my computer is dust-free but i have always keep the internal side clean. having our place easily get dusted, i normally clean up the fans and heat sinks inside at least once a month. otherwise, the fans would be spinning faster and noiser. if this GPU fan not going to die but just noisy - it's not big deal. just kinda defeats the point of me having other silent fans.

cheers

Mart

BadCharlie

I know what you mean.
My fan is drives me mad some times. Have a heat sink that i migh just stick where the fan should be. The chip dont get that hot and i have a good airflow so it should be fine.

ricka05

I"d say its time to upgrade:
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=36
they are sailent and offers better cooling performance
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Arctic_Cooling_System_Coolers.html

Gyck

I have a stock fan and heatsink for a 9800 pro, if you are interested you can have it for nothing, drop me a PM.

Damn things are noisy, if you are sure it's causing the problem I'd advise buying an Arctic cooler or something similar. That's what I did (when I had a 9800 pro, nice card).

MartMax

hi lads

i think my card is acting up! the pc rebooted couple of times by itself and funny looking display. when opened up the case, the card felt very hot! must be the fan not spinning good enuff.

gyck, i sent u a pm.

cheers

Mart

Khannie

Gyck wrote:

Damn things are noisy, if you are sure it's causing the problem I'd advise buying an Arctic cooler or something similar. That's what I did (when I had a 9800 pro, nice card).

I also had an arctic on my 9800 pro. Be careful applying it, but they're great coolers. The stock heatsink is just too small, and the stock fans crap out easily. I actually burned my finger touching the heatsink when the stock fan was on its way out.

One thing you can do in the mean-time is underclock the card. This will keep it cooler, but allow you to still use it (it will also make the card slower, so only do this as a temporary measure). Grab a copy of ati-tool which will allow you do that with ease. Just the GPU core frequency needs to be adjusted (downwards).

Edit: If you need more help you can PM me....I don't frequent this forum. Just noticed the thread on the front page.

generalmiaow

This is an issue with the 9800 alright, and it will crash when it gets too hot. If you cant get the cooler from Gyck I have a free ATI cooler as well

hopeful

If it is of any use I have an Arctic Cooling Rev.3 sitting in my attic which needs a good home.....free of course.

Joeface

I may be able offer assiantance , I have a Cooler form a 9800 pro thats not in use , recently changed to an Arctic Cooler , if hopefully cant find his artic cooler in the atic u can have mine.

MartMax

Hi lads

Thanks to all for the offer. Finally I replace the stock cooler with Artic Cooler which I got from hopeful. My desktop now has a new life, case temperature drops by 5-6 degrees. All these years!!

Cheers

Mart

hopeful

That's good news. I'm glad the cooler is working well for you

HungryJoey

Be careful around these cards. I have been through 3 9800Pros my self. One had an arctic Silencer on it, Ran for about 6 months and died. RMA'd it got a new one. Same thing died after about 5-6 months. Just when using the PC the screen just went black. And the 3rd one same thing Just switched it for a 6800 back a year and a half ago. Not a bother with this card.

Fans were noisey alright. I amn't sure if it was heat that killed these now. I doubt it I never heard unusual fan noises, And the fact it also died with a arctic Silencer on it, Pretty much prooves it wasn't heat in my perticular case.

But back a few years it was quite disapointing to see such an expensive card ( in its time !! ) to die 3 times. They were great cards, But if you google 9800pro's dieing, Its quite common for 9800's to die after several months of use for no apparant reason.


Hj

Joeface

/crossfingers and touchs wood


4 years running a 9800pro, I had it for 3 and my Brother has had it for the last year. and no trouble, must be one of the lucky ones there are alot fails when u google them.

candlewax

Hey guys,

i've a 9800 pro (256mb) and was just wondering about the arctic coolers. Their site lists two 9800 pro compatible coolers: the VGA Silencer, Rev. 3 and the ATI Silencer 1 (Rev. 2). Just wondering if anyone knows which one is newer (or indeed better)? - I get the impression it's the Silencer 1.

Also, googling seems to bring up this image for my card as opposed to this image which is the one I have (notice the significantly larger amount of metal). I'm kinda worried that i'll get the cooler and it won't be compatible with my card due to the weird heatsink(?) on my particular card.

Any thoughts would be really helpful.

8T8

Your card has a passive cooler no fan correct ?

what's on your card is a heatpipe & heatsink combo, the mounts of the card should be standard so you can replace it with with any cooler that's compatible with the 9800 line.

Any one of the Artic coolers will do it doesn't really matter which as long as it's compatible. But you should consider getting a simple Zalman GPU cooler just as effective if not more so.

candlewax

Cheers 8T8 - that's a big help. I've heard one or two sites mention the Zalmans (at least the newer ones) are around as good as the arctic coolers - especially the VF900s. My only issue is that they don't seem to have a DHES (Direct Heat Exhaust System) which would be an issue for my system considering it's lacking in circulation and fans without an awful lot of room for more.