x1900XTX "unhealthy". Just bad luck?

[da_guy2]

Well I've had my x1900xtx for about a year and a month or two now (just out of warranty range) and I'm just starting to get artifacts on some images, and in 3d games. I've never overclocked this card (haven't had a chance with school and summer work and stuff), and temperatures are reasonable for this card (60-85 degress C between idle and load), so I was kinda shocked to see this.

I'm hoping there is another solution but my big question right now is if this card does die on me in the next short while, should i get another 1900 or 1950, or should I go nvidia. OR in other words do i just have bad luck or is there something wrong with these cards?

David

[White_Pawn]

That doesn't sound too good. You can try to get a new cooler to see if that helps (or replace the thermal compound), but sounds like it is starting to crap out.

...if you were to grab a new card, i'd suggest the 8800GTS. It'd be loads faster than your 1900xtx

[El<(')>Maxi]

Blow all the dust out of the case & card. You could also try raising fans speeds to see if the artifacts go away, that would be a good indication of a dirty card or bad airflow.

[thideras]

Blow all the dust out of the case & card. I'd bet that will solve your issue right away ;)

[PhysX]

mine has been artifacting lately, usually when someone has a problem like this it is a dust problem and viola its fixed, not in this case"no pun intended". H vae gone through everything ,there is not a spec of dust, ambient temps are in the 15C-18C's "nice and cool in here, but the idel temp o nthe e card is 54, and the running temp is around 85.. very annoying, i think iot just needs a new cooler, something to keep the mem cool, ive never had this problem, i guess it just developed over time.

[df0xyd]

I can relate to the dust problem ;) Used to happen ALL the time on my old 6800GT. (VERY dusty house, remodeling)

[911us]

I got that happended to my X800GTO too,just change a better cooling for your card,all problem will be solved.

[Krogen]

80C is normal for this card (unless you run under water or have an hr-03 ;)). Try blowing out the dust like others suggested.

Check this out:
Link (http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/11/14/thermalrights_the_hr-03_is_a_vga_cooler_gorilla/page4.html#cooling_performance)

[oakstave]

+1 for dust being the problem.

[White_Pawn]

Blow all the dust out of the case & card. You could also try raising fans speeds to see if the artifacts go away, that would be a good indication of a dirty card or bad airflow.

DOH. i forgot about dust being a major problem. :bang head

Personally, i've never had a dust problem.

[Shell]

80c is NOT a normal temp for that card.
I never go past 74 with my card at 650/900.

+1 for dust, the heatsink is loud and effective, but it needs to be clean otherwise you'll burn up.

[Krogen]

What cooler do you use with your card? I'm using a zalman vf-900 at 100% fan speed and I'm getting 78C after about 10min of using ATITool artifact scan feature (temp won't go higher). That's with a IC Diamond 7 Carat thermal compound (supposedly better than AS5). My case temps are 'ok' (about 28-30C).

[Shell]

Before modding, I'd get the above temps.

I chopped off the exaust grate and removed some of the excess plastic to the copper block's shroud(I removed the spare inch that helps keep air flowing over the vregs, I swapped the cheap vreg cooler with a copper one) to the X1900's stock cooler and used liquid gallium-tin as the TIM, now I never go above 70c with stock fan settings at XTX speeds, 76 at current clocks with the fan going only %10 faster.

[inkfx]

What cooler do you use with your card? I'm using a zalman vf-900 at 100% fan speed and I'm getting 78C after about 10min of using ATITool artifact scan feature (temp won't go higher). That's with a IC Diamond 7 Carat thermal compound (supposedly better than AS5). My case temps are 'ok' (about 28-30C).
I would try remounting that Zalman heatsink. How good is your case ventilation? If the air is circulating poorly you may have some 'dead spots' in the case where the temps are warmer. I find that is usually right around the vid card cause there aren't any exhaust fans. If you wanted you could pick up a PCI slot cooler that will pull all that hot air out. I'm pretty sure they are relatively cheap.

[corpsejockey]

80c is NOT a normal temp for that card.
I never go past 74 with my card at 650/900.

+1 for dust, the heatsink is loud and effective, but it needs to be clean otherwise you'll burn up.

Some of these cards do run hotter than others. Super Nade and I got our Saphire XTX's right around the same time, and his tends to run 5-8c hotter than mine on stock cooling (72 vs 80).

You could invest in an HR-03. My load temps have dropped to 51c with the HR & 100mm scyth. However, the card may just be crapping out. I guess there's only 1 way to find out - pull the hs/f, clean it, clean the card, and re-apply as5.

[oakstave]

80c is NOT a normal temp for that card.
I never go past 74 with my card at 650/900.

+1 for dust, the heatsink is loud and effective, but it needs to be clean otherwise you'll burn up.

I hit 84c when folding on my X1950XTX. But for normal gaming, I'd agree. Mine runs 68c on stock cooling. Maybe 74c while gaming.

[striker85]

My x1900gt hits 77~78C while gaming. I have just recently cleaned the card and have a secondary fan blowing at it in addition to the stock fan. I am still getting artifacts in games, though. I am going to try an older version of Catalyst before I make the call on this one. But I'm rather certain my card is taking its last breaths.

[oakstave]

My x1900gt hits 77~78C while gaming. I have just recently cleaned the card and have a secondary fan blowing at it in addition to the stock fan. I am still getting artifacts in games, though. I am going to try an older version of Catalyst before I make the call on this one. But I'm rather certain my card is taking its last breaths.

I had a tiny bit of artifacting at 688... backed it down to 682mhz, and no worries now.

[Dragonprince]

...if you were to grab a new card, i'd suggest the 8800GTS. It'd be loads faster than your 1900xtx

The 8800GTS is not "loads faster" than the 1900XTX in all games, in fact in some games the 512m 1900XTX is basically tied with the 320m version of the 8800GTS.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=778&model2=728&chart=279

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=778&model2=728&chart=288


I agree with the dust causing issues and needing to be cleaned.

80c is normal on these cards for the stock cooler in a poorly ventilated case. Im running the Fatal1ty FC-ZV9 cooler on my OC'd 1900XT and rarely see 60c even after extended gaming....