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vga silencer: mission failure

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EgoFumPapa

Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Location
MN
i just got my new vga silencer rev. 3, and last night i went to install it onto my good ol 9700 pro. i did everything the instructions said, and i was sure nothing went wrong, or could have gone wrong. it seemed easy enough, justa as everyone here on the forums has said before. but now, i get nothing. no video whatsoever. the fan works, and thats it. ive tried it in two different machines for the same results. how could this have happened? i even had on my anti static wrist guard (you know, just for kicks) this is really not cool, since i just got a whole bunch of new games. is there any way i can find out whats wrong? or try to repair or fix whatever is going on? or is this thing just dead? am i correct in saying this also voids whatever warrenties i may have had? thanks guys
 
you might have over tightened it, which i think is the reason how most have fubared their cards, you are supposed to stop tightening when the black washers are STARTInG to compress
 
Reinstall the factory heat sink to make sure the card is not fubarred
 
i reseated the card, and tried it in my second machine. i checked the vga silencer and replaced it again, then i tried putting back the stock hsf, and all the same, nothing. one thing of note, while i was removing the hsf, i had to twist and tug a bit, but nothing more. the screws were i bit tight after i first put it on, but nothing too much i think. this is bad...
 
could you have scratched out a trace while removing the stock hs with pliers? i was afraid i was going to do that when i installed my vga silencer
 
Did you remove your shim? most 9700pro's the shims were slightly higher than the core itself, it may be totally possible that the vga silencer wasn't making proper contact with the core and booting up the pc that way fried the gpu. Was there a good imprint of the gpu when you took off the vga silencer?
 
If you can't get card working again, try reinstalling your stock heat sink. If that doesn't work, send it back to ATI and try your luck if they will send you a replacement. I think those came with 3 year warranty, right? I'm not too sure about that. Anyway, if that also doesn't work, then this will be a good excuse for you to go buy the 6800 or x800 card.

good luck to you.
 
nothing was fried. theres no physical damage at all. it just wont send any signals period. i think its time to give up hope. ill put it away in its antistatic grave and start saving for a 6800nu. i was going to do that anyway :)
 
How old is this card? Go to the ATI website and request for an RMA number. They will give you instructions on how to get a replacement card.
 
.. yeah, about that. i bought the card off of ebay, so no good there. im stuck with it.
 
...nevermind. i checked it out at the ati site anyway, and i guess i can apply for an rma. they dont need a proof of purchase or anything. and since it is a built by ati card, im in business. i should be getting an rma number soon. i was thinking though, and first of all. if i send them my card, and they see that the hsf has been messed with, does that void my warrenty? also, if this does work, would they send me a 9700 or a 9800? i didnt think they made 9700's anymore. i mean, i actually thought about this before, i had been getting some weird artifacts and tearing lately, i think the card was on its death bed anyway. hence, is why i bought the vga silencer in the first place to try and get the thing under control... ironic.
 
ATI Warranty Statement and Conditions (http://www.ati.com/support/rma/warranty.html)
This warranty does not apply to the software component of a product or a product which has been damaged due to accident, misuse, abuse, improper installation, usage not in accordance with product specifications and instructions, natural or personal disaster, or unauthorized alterations, repairs or modifications.
So in other words, your warranty is voided, and you should not RMA this card. Doing so amounts to illegal activity, which will not be discussed on these forums.

Really sucks loosing a card on accident though :( I had to live with a Rage 128 recently until I scraped up enough to replace a dead 8500 with a 9500.

JigPu
 
1-Man-Army said:
did u plug in the floppy power connecter, kinda dumb thing to sugest but sum ppl do forget.

Done that a few times... :bang head

Did you make sure not to get any thermal paste on any thing else?
 
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