Video Card Thread (Mostly Gecube x1950xt)

I'm sure it's time for new cards in 1 or 2 years.
Even though the best ones at the moment are so much better than most that they will last for quite a while, just like the best of the 7 Series.

I updated the BIOS, no improvement, reinstalled drivers, no improvement.
I don't know what this card's problem is, guess the only options are either trying Zalman-cooling or else another card.
Even though the card doesn't get too hot, while it still crashes the computer.
I should see if it still does that now... be right back...

 

Yeap, still crashes during the 3DMark06 Demo, even earlier.

But I found some things in the BIOS of which I don't know exactly what they are and do.
Maybe you guys can inform me better:


HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability, is Disabled.
I've read about it before, it's for something like information right?
Would it help my HDDs to Enable the feature or would I need to find out if they support it?

C.I.A. Function, Disabled.
I think it's some feature by Gigabyte, do you know what it is and could I also use that?
It's one of the hidden features I could call up, sooo maybe I'll contact the CIA or something.

CPU Host Clock Control.
What is this, should I change the value or leave it alone?

Init Display First, PCI or AGP.
Those are the settings for it and it's currently on PCI, didn't change it or anything else of these features for that matter.
Maybe it could help the GPU?
But it only seems for displaying something according to the name.

And lastly, there's another hidden feature called 'Top Performance'.
Which is Disabled, could I get better performance by Enabling it or will it go heavy on my system?
When I enter that menu to choose 'Enabled' or 'Disabled' it first literally displays:
'Top Performance Setting is Highly Related to System Configuration.
Please Check Devices before Setting.'
Then press a key to continue and choose between on or off.


Anything helpful here?

 

I doubt it, Motherboards can only do so much within the BIOS by themselves. That option sounds a bit wooly.

 

All of them?...

 

There's no magic option to make your PC go twice as fast, all that will do is optimise some settings, or perform an automatic overclock. Those aren't usually that great anyway because they give no consideration for heat or voltage control.

 

Alright.

So I'm sending the card and a noisy fan back this week for the exact same ones but then new(er).
If I can't get much out of that card as-is, I'll try with a set of Zalman-cooling (even though it's pretty cool) and if then still not...
Well, then the card is just messed up for some reason or maybe only some work right, I don't know.

And if the fan is still noisy, then that's messed up and it's NOT under 24db as claimed (even by reviewers) lol.

Let's see what happens.

 

The fan's probably right. 24dB should be barely audible with no other components in your case running, I doubt it. What's the size and speed of the fan? I can probably give you how loud it actually is, based on those figures, fans don't actually differ that much!

 

Btw dinc, that geforce 9 series card will probably have dx10.5 or dx11. I don't think nvidia will be coming out with a new series of cards for a while since they just released the 8 series cards.

 

Oh yea, dinc. The option in your BIOS that says PCI selected and then agp, in my Bios I've got agp and the pci. So it looks like this:

Agp/pci

Maybe that's the problem? I don't really see how an agp mobo could be compatable with a pci-e card, so I'm not really sure what that option is for... But I would change it to agp/pci instead of what you have.

At what temps does your card get to when running 3dmark06? I've had my computer crash once when running withour my extra big fan running on it. I've even had something that resembled the bsod when it crashed.

My card is usually at 39c-41c idle and can get to 58c when playing bf2.

However, when I run the "show 3d view option" in ati tool, the temp has gotten to as high as 69c (that's when I just click the abort butten.)

Do you know why this is? Why does ati tool stress the card more than bf2?

@dinc, when you run the "show 3d view" thing, what is your fps average? Mine is around 560-570 and the highest (not average) it has gotten it to 620.

I also hear that other people get to as high as 80c when their system shuts off, so why does mine shut off at around 72? How do these people have that extra "headroom"

Dinc, I would monitor the temps while running the "show 3d view" option in ati tool and post back and tell us what it says. The temps shouldn't get over 69c.

Also tell me the fps average you get, because if you are getting low frames than me (560-570) then their is something wrong with the card, for sure.

 

Note that PCI is not equal to PCI express.

 

I fogot if it said pci or pcie, so does that mean that you can plug a video card into a pci slot?

 

I fogot if it said pci or pcie, so does that mean that you can plug a video card into a pci slot?

 

I fogot if it said pci or pcie, so does that mean that you can plug a video card into a pci slot?

 

Wow tripple post, damn I hate this thing.(Blackberry)

 

AGP boards usually only have that and PCI, rarely PCI express too. You can plug video cards into PCI slots, but only ones made for PCI. These are very slow, the most recent one I can remember is an FX5200.

 

Wow tripple post, damn I hate this thing.(Blackberry)

 

Quintuple post! Waymon's going for a record!

 

It should be a lot less noisy, this fan if making the most noise of anything in the whole case.
Even more than the previous cheaper fan of the same size that was in there orignally.

The noise is this high-pitch grinding noise (while it's not hitting anything which makes it weird), similar to an ODD reading.

It's this one:
http://arctic-cooling.com/fans2.php?idx=108&data=2&disc=
Which shouldn't make much noise at all since it doesn't have to spin as fast to give a good airflow.

Then I have 2 of these: http://arctic-cooling.com/fans2.php?idx=109&data=2&disc=
Which are really quiet, of course the patented rubber suspension probably helps a lot.
But I can put my ear against it and not be bothered, only pleased by the wind.

All these make is windy noises.
But the 120mm, when I disconnect it, it's just such a relief.
I can get another one without a problem together with the card, so I'll see if that one also does it.
This noise would be amongst the worst of fans, while they have a lot of positive reviews on this.

 

If the only problem is a 120mm fan, replace it with one that's slower. I can run my fans at 500rpm and do fine!

 

Ahm, I think I could either choose PCI or AGP, not in some order I thought, but I forgot.

And I'm guessing my temperature gets to 70-80 when running the 3DMark06 Demo, since it will crash during the Demonstration.
I can't see Everest's temperature-blocks in the tray because the Demo is full-screen.

Maybe the ATi-tool stress it more because of heavier settings on purpose.
And maybe that is to test if the card can take it, or to see the results on the heaviest load possible or something.

I can't get ATi Tool btw, because every time I downloaded it, AVG will say it contains or is a Trojan, and I don't trust it.

But, if you get framerates down to, what was the minimum, 20-40?
I mean in BF2, that's also not right with this card, unless it's at the most hectic moments and only for a second or something.
If it's like 50/60+ frames average, I guess that's good, if not it should be more(?).


And, I knew it was PCI and not PCIe.
First there was PCI, also for GPUs, then there was AGP which actually means Accelerated Graphics Port.
So they needed a faster interface so they accelerated one somehow.
And now there is PCIexpress then, the latest GPU-interface obviously.