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Should I RMA?

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lilxvietxboi

Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2004
Okay, my video card is a somewhat crappy 9800 Pro. Stock Speeds and cooling, it would run Far Cry for 5 min in Steam level and goto VPU recover or I would need a hardreboot sometimes because VPU recover didnt kick in.

Sometimes, it would produce artifacts(even at post) and in windows.(which a restart fixed sometimes or i had to take out the card and stick it back in).

So the above i fixed by adding a VGA Silencer R3 + Vantec Iceberq Copper BGA sinks.

Now:

It does artifact after running far cry in steam after i ran it for a couple hours. (1024x786 High Settings)

And it does lock up if i try to overclock.

Any suggestions? I am currently deciding if i should RMA because it shouldn't overheat on stock cooling.
 
I think you should try RMAing that board but it's going to be hard because you've placed an aftermarket heat sink onto it.

Worth a try though if you really feel like you need to.
 
you could try, but ATI is going to know that you removed the heatsink and put on the silencer. this normally voids the warranty, so i wouldn't go to any lengths to hide the fact that you did it, but if it is really artifacting at stock speeds, then something must be wrong. it would be their discretion if they decided to replace it.
 
In what way would they know i replaced the heat sink? AS5 looks almost exactly(its a little darker) like the stuff they put on. And i still have the stock heat sink.

Oh yeah, i forgot to add, but after 20 min in windows using omega drivers, it freezes and vpu recover kicks in.
 
lilxvietxboi said:
Okay, my video card is a somewhat crappy 9800 Pro. Stock Speeds and cooling, it would run Far Cry for 5 min in Steam level and goto VPU recover or I would need a hardreboot sometimes because VPU recover didnt kick in.

One thing you should do is turn off vpu recovery... that should give you some stability. vpu recovery is one of the worst things they could put in the cat drivers.
 
The thing is that sometimes it doesn't and it just freezes, i left it for 30 min. and the sound was looping.
 
lilxvietxboi said:
In what way would they know i replaced the heat sink? AS5 looks almost exactly(its a little darker) like the stuff they put on. And i still have the stock heat sink.

Oh yeah, i forgot to add, but after 20 min in windows using omega drivers, it freezes and vpu recover kicks in.

i don't know about you, but when i took my stock hs off, the pins that held it in place didn't come out unscathed.

and ramsinks are fairly obvious.
 
You voided the warrenty with the aftermarket HSF and RAM sinks, so you cant RMA it.

Try dissengaging VPU recovery and getting better airflow.
 
well ramsinks = take off and wipe clean the tape residue with acetone. it works.. yeah not sure about the heat sink.
 
You could try RMA'ing it, but you voided the warranty by removing the stock heatsink. I would try being very upfront with them, perhaps they'll let you RMA it anyway if you're polite and professional about it.
 
lilxvietxboi said:
well ramsinks = take off and wipe clean the tape residue with acetone. it works.. yeah not sure about the heat sink.

careful you don't tear off a ram chip. i've heard stories of this happening. i doubt your warranty would be any good at that point.

and besides, your warranty is void. i don't think too many people here would say "YES rma it, even though you voided your warranty".

because you haven't oc'd it, and it won't run default speeds, i would be upfront with them when trying to rma.
 
This is a great example of when you should be using your noodle. If it doesn't work at stock, just rma it, don't try to fix things it is not your fault are broken, you will end up in more trouble than you started with like you are in now.
 
Contact them tell them exactly what you have done be very apoligetic and they might let you rma it it worked for me with a old 9700 pro. Be honest it helps Sometimes.
 
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