my card -> HIS Radeon HD 3870....awhile ago i made a post about which graphics card manufacture to go with (Sapphire or HIS) and alot of ppl were on a firm decision with HIS cuz the Sapphire was know to have an annoying fan. Im not exactly sure when this started but last night when playing Crysis i noticed that there was this high pitched screeching noise, like it almost seems like when your ear is ringing. and im pretty sure its coming from the graphics card cuz i never herd it before. its kinda hard to recognize with the sound on but at night when everything is quite you can hear it pretty good and its getting really annoying. i really dont wanna send it back cuz i am really happy with the performance and i dont wanna stop playing Crysis for awhile so is there anyway i can fix it myself?
The X1900s were prone to that and it was a known design glitch. My 3870 hasn't done it yet, but it could happen I suppose. My X1900XT was still in perfect working order when I removed it after nearly 20 months of regular use, and it made that noise from new. It affected all brands, my Sapphire did it, as did my mate's HIS X1900XT-X.
so is there anyway i could fix it myself or should i just send it back and get a new 1? also i was thinking about going dual cards but I need a new mobo that has 2 PCIE x16 slots, mine only has 1 =/ would it REALLY show improvements on frame rates in games from going dual cards? i really picked a crappy mobo with my first PC build =/ know of any good mobos for my PC? specs of my computer are in my sig. also i know im going to have to get a better PSU but im not exactly sure how much better ill need
Well I've just bought a Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 with the very intention of running two 3870s in crossfire. One of the cards I'm using is currently being RMA'ed, so it'll be a while before I'm able to report on how successful I am, but one of the guys on here, Waymon3X6 has had good results using it with a quad core CPU. I'm thinking with a dual core the benefits may be somewhat smaller, but certainly not insignificant. On the basis that my 3870 hasn't made that noise, I would send it back as a precaution really, because if it only fails after the warranty's up, you'll be out of pocket. Your PSU is fine for crossfire by the way.
im guessing thats an intel mobo cuz i cant find it at newegg under the AMDs any1 know of any good AMD mobos? i was thinking maybe something like this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128074R or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128074 i can use DDR2 800 RAM on a DDR2 1066 mobo right? Ill be calling up newegg today then to request a replacement, should i go along with HIS again or choose a different manufacture?
It is indeed an intel motherboard, since I don't really know any gamers who use AMD CPUs with top end hardware, that's the assumption I make these days, so sorry about that. The mobo you've posted is good, but don't buy the open box version. As for HIS, they're one of the better brands, and since most of the electronics are assembled by ATI, your problem could have happened with any brand.
is an intel core 2 duo really THAT much better then an AMD Athlon 64 x2 6400??? seriously it really cant be THAT much better. AMD will probably pull something out eventually that will rein over the dual processors. but anyways i guess ill try to go with HIS again. as for the mobo, it says uses DDR2 1066 but anything under that will work too right? cuz i have DDR2 800 RAM
At stock the 6400+BE compares to the lower middle end Core 2 Duos. The midrange E6750 is notably faster. The main advantage of the core 2 duos though is they overclock ridiculously far and ridiculously easily. The CPU I currently use costs a third of what the 6400+ Black Edition does, and yet using relatively inexpensive parts it is running at such a speed that it is at least 30% faster than the Athlon. Remember, this is the cheapest Core 2 Duo of all. It would be nice for AMD to produce something competitive because a one-horse race is bad for the consumer, but at the moment, a one-horse race is how it's going to stay. Right now, the E6750 is 10% more than the 6400+, and when overclocked, it will be a good 60% faster, that's using typical cooling, motherboard and memory. When a motherboard supports 1066 memory, that means it'll also support DDR2 400,533,667 and 800.
I had an HIS 3870, and it made the same high pitched noise after a few days of use... I got a replacement and that had the same problem. I replaced it with an MSI and haven't had a video card related problem with that yet. Probably just bad luck, but who knows... @ sammorris: did you already get the x38-ds4? I have the EX38-DS4... that system worked for 2 days... and now it just keeps rebooting over and over like the P35's did... Is there any fix to this, or do I have to RMA? also, any idea what causes this?
hmm, luck isn't on your side of late is it? As far as I can remember if the PC is continuously powering off and rebooting, it means that the system simply isn't posting. It can happen with the boards though. Check for any cause of the system not POSTing, and if you're left with nothing but the CPU or Mobo to blame, RMA the board. I do now have the GA-X38-DS4 but can't install it yet as I'm not with my PC. In a week or so's time I should be able to.
lol no luck is definitely not on my side with this most recent build. As far as checking for post issues, I took everything out of the case, and removed everything except ram, vid card, and cpu/hsf... still has same problem... Unfortunately I can't test out different components because I don't have spares (no other RAM/gpu)... Before this issue started, I got a BSOD with ati2diag error (driver stuck in infinite loop)... Then system rebooted, and froze at gigabyte logo... rebooted again, and said "bios recovery..."... since then it's been on/off on/off on/off... I dunno, guess based on the BSOD it could be GPU as well, but from my understanding, system should still post, and give me an error.
hmm, that's a tricky one. As far as I'm aware an ati related error message wouldn't show up in the details for a BSOD unless the problem related to graphics. I'd try replacing that as a precaution (yeah I know, again) as it's simpler to replace than a motherboard. If the same issue with the new GPU then replace the board. I've yet to see a case where the motherboard goes and it gives a graphics related error, usually you're looking at something like 0x000008E exception not handled if you're getting memory or chipset failures. Best of luck, sounds like you'll need it!
are you sure a 650W PSU will be enough to handle my system with 2 Radeon HD 3870s??? Ive usually seen systems with that kinda set up with like 800W+ PSUs also wat should my moniter refresh rate be? i herd its killer on your eyes for LCD screens to be at 60Hz but thats what mine is at and its not too bad expect sometimes certain background colors of website make it look like lines are scrolling to the right. i have an HP 22in widescreen LCD btw
No offense intended, but people who use 800W PSUs are retards. The PSU debate came about a little while back when people were reporting widespread failures of 500W units. They naturally assumed they needed more watts. They didn't, they just needed power supplies that weren't crap. To many people buy cheap no-name brand power units that can't produce anywhere near the amount of power they say on the label - you look at the components inside the things, their ratings don't add up to the figure on the label, it just isn't going to happen! It's for this reason that people started going for PSUs with higher and higher ratings. I use an overclocked Core 2 Duo (from 1.8Ghz to 3.15Ghz), 4GB of RAM, two hard drives and one radeon HD3870. My PC draws 205W from the mains under full load when gaming. The ratings for PSUs are at the D.C. low voltage side, so factoring in the efficiency of the PSU, my PC is actually using more like 180W. Doubling the entire power usage of the system therefore means that even 400W would be enough, let alone 650, and you're not doubling the entire system, all you're doing is adding an extra graphics card. Corsair make PSUs that can actually produce what they say they can. You'll be fine. Your refresh rate should be 60Hz. For CRT monitors, 60Hz was flickery and horrible, so you had to go with 75 or higher. Due to the different way LCDs work, however, 60Hz is fine. Since most monitors will only deliver their highest resolution (and therefore best picture) at 60Hz, that's what you should use.
never got a chance to call newegg last night...was too busy. i was gonna request a replacement through email but i could not find this "RMA Number" that i needed. i was looking EVERYWHERE for it, my customer number was hard enough to find -_- so I'll just call them about it monday. thanx for that info on the PSU sammorris, how do you tell how much power is going into your computer? or are you just making a close guess?
In order to get an RMA number you need to email or call them and request one... It doesn't come with the invoice! I measured the amount of power my PC uses with a socket power meter. In the US they're called the Kill-A-Watt and you can get them from electrical stores.
ha that makes sense, sorry i had just woken up and wasnt exactly in a right state of mind lol. but yea i got my RMA so I'll be sending back then. once i get my new graphics card ill update on it then *edit* UGHH i cant find the box the graphics card came in =[ i have EVERY other box for all my other computer parts except the graphics card. Looks like im not sending it back after all =/ hopefully ill come across it though within the next 16 days, which is before my replacement warranty expires =/ another thing i was looking at though were those physics graphics accelerator things. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143055 from what ive got out of it, its suppose to enhance graphics in supported games and makes graphics in any games run much faster and smoother. Its a PCI card so if i slapped 3 of these babies on would the specs stack up or would having multiple physics card do nothing? is it even worth getting 1?
