X800 problems

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Hi guys,
Want to know if anyone had a problem with a 9800 or X800 pro/XT. I got a shiney new X800 pro from peats or parnell street. Worked fine for a daty or two. Then when I changed it to a new motherboard the thing would not post all I got was a message saying power cord not connected "even though it was" power was getting to the card cause with the card out of the AGP slot the fan still spun. So after trying it in another machine I brought it back.
Peats are great for returns to no questions swap but I had to wait a couple of weeks for one to come back into stock.
Got a new one. Sapphire this time not 3dconnect. This time the damn thing would not start at all. The post code beeps were telling me the vga bios could not be loaded. So I brought this back got a new one again. Thought my PSU might be blowing them but if that were true why did my old 4600 Ti work?
The new Sapphire now works fine????? What are the chanced of two faulty cards. I have had many graphics card before non with any problem. Am I just unlucky or could any of you guys think or what the problem is. See my sig for specs
PSW has a 18amp on the +12 rail and the x800 actually draws less power than a 9800XT. I earthed myself bofre installing also.
Any suggestions much appreciated

netman

The power supply wouldn't really fill me with confidence, 350w for an Athlon64 and X800 Pro is cutting it a bit close.

Also, don't always trust the manufacturer's specs, most of them are just misleading.
Have a look at this...
Your power supply's specs are 350W
+3.3 V : Max 28A
+5.0 V : Max 30A
+12.0 V : Max 18A

Well, lets just check what that adds to... 458.4W ?!?!

The power supply doesn't have a dedicated rail for each of these, rather, it will deliver a max of 18A for example on the 12V line, but it won't be able to deliver 30A on 5V line at the same time.

Try installing motherboard monitor, or winbond hardware doctor etc, to check your voltages under load. For example you can set motherboard monitor to log the voltages, run prime95 in the background and have a spin of 3dmark 03.

I'll bet you'll see a significant drop in voltages when the components start looking for more juice.

Maybe you got lucky with this third card, that it might be more tolerant.

Well, it could be a dodgy power connector too, I had a problem like that with a hard drive... Turning itself off in the middle of work, and then turning itself back on a little while later. Fiddling with the power connector solved the problem for me.

Other than that, it might be a bug in the MSI motherboard BIOS. You could always try updating the BIOS... maybe you've tried that already.

If this new card "fails" after a while you should definitely look at replacing the power supply. Not to mention that most power supplies out on the market are unable to meet the specified wattage. Tom's hardware had a test of different power supplies, some even exploded during the test (no joking!), before even reaching the specs on the sticker! Scary stuff...

netman

Oh yeah, forgot to mention.. The fan on the card isn't powered off the 12v connector, so it would be spinning anyway, even if you forgot to plug the connector.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Thanks Netman
As far as the fan spinning....I was testing if the molex connector was supplying power to the card. So with the system on but the card not in the AGP slot but the molex connector plugged in the fan spun. Unless it has solar power it must have been getting power from the molex. So the message about the plug not being in was a problem with the power getting to the GPU no the actual molex connector.
Have tested the voltage under load and the +12 rail stays very close to 12v all the time not fluctuation. The sharkoon PSU is a quality unit and the reccomended PSU for the Athlon 64 is 300w and the X800 is 350 w. I should be OK here. I tried the other systems with an exermax 450w PSU also (too loud so dont use it) and the same problem and the 12v rail here is rated at 28amps? I think it was the cards but getting two busted card is unlikely? Yeah updated the bios straight off....no help. The cards would not even POST so not a lot else I could do. Unplugged everything...down to one Dimm even...no joy.
Its a head scratcher. No other boards are posting MSI K8T problems with X800 or 9800 cards? I was really annoyed after spending nearly 1000e on these new components. Was very grumpy for a few days. You are correct though If it haddens again I will change the PSU immediatly. I just hope that it does not damage the card in the mean time although running under voltage should not cause damage?
Any opinions greatfully recieved

netman

Running undervolted won't cause it any harm.. It might cause windows to hang but that's about all. I haven't heard many people complaining about X800's but then again not too many people have them.

At least you have full warranty and you can replace it if something goes wrong.

Just out of interest, how much did it cost you in Peats ?

BloodBath

I'd definately get at least 480psu for that rig. Ideally you don't want to be running your psu over 70% of it's capacity for steady rails and long term survival. Even if that psu manages the system I can see it dying in the near future.


BloodBath

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Thanks guys....cost 499e in peats. Really dont want to spend any more on a new PSU but you are correct it is a little unrated for the rig...will look into it soon. A nice 500w good quality PSU is hard to come by though

netman

I can heartily recommend Antec TrueControl 550W if you're going for an upgrade.
It's got separate rails for 3.3v, 5v and 12v, and you can adjust each one of them manually. There's also fan speed adjustment through the front-panel, and molex fan connectors for internal fans that are also controlled through the front panel.

It's a two-fan design, 80mm and 92mm, which are pretty much silent when run at the lowest setting. That's the way I've had it for over a year. They're both termally controlled, but rarely go to audible levels.

There might be a newer model out there with a 120 or 135mm fan instead.