Problem with my ATI 4850 X2

OSiriS

I bought my Sapphire Radeon HD 4850X2 1GB GDDR3 about 9 months ago, and it has run without any issues up until last night. I was bringing the computer out of standby, and suddenly the fan sounded like it went into overdrive. It was running much louder that it had ever been, and no signal went to the monitor.

I turned the computer off, then switched it back on, and the graphics card wouldn't post for the BIOS. The loud fan noise was still there, but after 30 seconds, the computer gives a long beep, and then seems to continue to boot. There was still no monitor signal, but I have a Logitech G25 wheel attached which calibrates itself after the BIOS posting phase of boot up.

I tried removing the card, blowing the dust ut of it, and the motherboard socket, and reseating, and I've also tried changing the fan and gfx card power leads, but the problem remains.

Any insight would be appreciated. It cost me nearly €300 less than a year ago, so I'm not keen on the idea of buying a new one.

marco_polo

OSiriS wrote: »

I bought my Sapphire Radeon HD 4850X2 1GB GDDR3 about 9 months ago, and it has run without any issues up until last night. I was bringing the computer out of standby, and suddenly the fan sounded like it went into overdrive. It was running much louder that it had ever been, and no signal went to the monitor.

I turned the computer off, then switched it back on, and the graphics card wouldn't post for the BIOS. The loud fan noise was still there, but after 30 seconds, the computer gives a long beep, and then seems to continue to boot. There was still no monitor signal, but I have a Logitech G25 wheel attached which calibrates itself after the BIOS posting phase of boot up.

I tried removing the card, blowing the dust ut of it, and the motherboard socket, and reseating, and I've also tried changing the fan and gfx card power leads, but the problem remains.

Any insight would be appreciated. It cost me nearly €300 less than a year ago, so I'm not keen on the idea of buying a new one.

First thing to check is the diagnostic LEDS on the back of the card: D1601, D29, and D30 D25 should all be green.

HD4850X2 LEDs

D1601 : ASIC CTF Enable (GPU overheat protection)

D29 : 8 pin external connector no power

D30 : 6 pin external connector no power

D25 : Boot up fault LED (Re-plug the VGA board or D1601,D29,D30 all failed)

D1250~D1252 : Turn on with normal behavior in the left ASIC

D1253~D1255 : Turn on with normal behavior in the right ASIC


At BOOT/POST, the card's fan will spin @ 100% for a short while, the LEDs will light up for a brief period and then go out. This is NORMAL behaviour as the card is performing it's own type of POST test.

Green LEDs lit mean the VGA card is working normally. A RED LED will show on D1250~D1252 / D1253~D1255 to show normal operation.

Also all Sapphire cards come with a two year warranty so you have no worries there.

OSiriS

Thanks, I hadn't known of those LEDs. I tried the card again, and the D1601 and D25 LEDs flashed for about 30 seconds, the BIOS gave it's beep code (one long beep and two short beeps - Video error (reseat or replace video card)), then the RED LEDs stayed on.

An overheating issue is surprising, the card has never shown any symptoms of heating issues up until now, so it's strange that it would present this fault and simply refuse to work even when started cold. Do I have any options before I consider sending it back and claiming on the warranty?

The rest of the system specs:

Motherboard: Abit's Fatal1ty AN8 SLI
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz
RAM: 2 x Corsair Dominator 8500C5D 1024MB, 2 x Geil PC2 6400 800 CL=5-5-5-15 1024MB
PSU: Hiper Type M 780
Operating System : Vista x64

marco_polo

If you are getting red LEDs I think its probably RMA time myself TBH. Can't think of anything else that you could do off the top of my head.

Had it been an old, out of warranty card, I would suggest warranty-voiding activities such as stripping the card down and reapplying the heatsink etc, but since it is still a fairly new and very expensive card that is still under warranty I would not risk tampering with it under any circumstances.

OSiriS

Looks that way, thanks for the nudge in the right direction