My Sapphire 2900XT from ZZF

[Hipcrostino]

Well i must say i don't shut stuff down when i play games. Hell your lucky if i turn off my second monitor!

I always run MBM5 with processor usages in the tray, and CoreTemp95 with temps in the tray too. Both 24/7. My proc is at about 27c right now!

atm i have ~40 processes running which is the norm

 

[vixro]

The problem with that is your results can not be used for comparing other systems to. You want to minimize the variables.

Viper

This is the norm, that is how I tested the x1950xtx and how I tested the 2900XT. The point was to see performance changes between the x1950xtx and the 2900XT. Performance varies from machine to machine so much that this type of variable is minimal. Somebody with different RAM can see scores hundreds of points if not thousands different than mine, same goes for CPU or clock speeds.

It's impossible to keep the varaibles on every machine the same, which is another reason I wasn't interested in doing any kind of writeup. Doing a benchmark like that as a review for other people just leads to speculation and people saying "oh those results suck, or those are really good but how come I can't get those?".

I want to have a thread for the "average joe overclocker" that he can compare himself too. Not to the guy that formats windows, defrags, closes all programs, turns down graphics all the way, overclocks the CPU/RAM just for the test, and then gets some uber benchmark just for the scores. I hate that type of benching and am against doing that.

 

[vixro]

Since this wasn't mentioned before, I would like to mention that the temperature of my CPU at load has increased by 5c after the installation of the 2900XT. All of the ambient heat is going to my processor I guess. I went from 49-50c load to 54-55c 100% load.

 

[deathman20]

The problem with that is your results can not be used for comparing other systems to. You want to minimize the variables.

Viper

My general results tests will be the same way. I don't close anything down to play a game. I have everything up and running and thats the way I like to test things at least when I get the card. Then I'll mess around with shutting down sidebar, extra processes at least the few that I can kill in Vista.

 

[jtjuska]

I tend to take most results with a grain of salt anyways so I prefer seeing general results that have everything open. Thats personally how I game and it seems more "real world" to me to have things running while testing. I don't know a lot of the tricks (nor do I care really) that pro benchers use for getting those extra points and fps. My systems tend to run lean compared to an average joe, but I don't spend obscene amounts of time tweaking the OS just to get a few more FPS. I am a casual gamer and so while I like every detail in a game I don't care if I loose a few FPS from having extra things open (although bigger numbers are always cool).

~jtjuska

 

[vixro]

Well, I had a few problems crop up that I figured I would share.

Battlefield 2 was a complete disaster. Doesn't accept my x-fi sound card for one, so it uses software rendering for sound in Vista. Plus the 2900XT drivers failed miserably. I had constant pausing that was pretty disruptive to gameplay including blinking black shadows all over the map that disappeared and reappeared over and over in different places on the ground. Pretty crappy experience basically. Not sure how to fix this, tried compatibility mode, but no good.

Also, whenever I drag my mouse to a portion where it changes from a cursor to an arrow, like right on the edge where it can't decide to choose an arrow or a cursor I get a black box below my selection. It blinks and changes white and black really quickly and is pretty large like 96 square pixels or so. Best example would be on www.google.com if I move the cursor slowly towards the text box when I get right on the edge the black box appears and blinks rapidly until I move the mouse into the box or out of it.

 

[ViperJohn]

Well, I had a few problems crop up that I figured I would share.

Battlefield 2 was a complete disaster. Doesn't accept my x-fi sound card for one, so it uses software rendering for sound in Vista. Plus the 2900XT drivers failed miserably. I had constant pausing that was pretty disruptive to gameplay including blinking black shadows all over the map that disappeared and reappeared over and over in different places on the ground. Pretty crappy experience basically. Not sure how to fix this, tried compatibility mode, but no good.

Did BF2 play okay with a different vid card???

Viper

 

[vixro]

I have no idea to be honest, I can't remember playing it on Vista, just XP. My memory says that I did play it on Vista, but I can't be sure after all the reformats I did.


edit: yes, I checked my last play time on my older account on BF2 (i have 2 accounts) and it was within the last 2 months. I have ran Vista for 3 months which means that I used BF2 on my x1950xtx on Vista. I don't remember any problems as serious as this, so it must be the drivers on the 2900XT.

 

[Brando]

I'm wondering if maybe the lower than expected scores in certain areas and the high vertex shader scores are due to ATI looking to the future and directX10. I remember reading something about unified shader architecture(whatever that means) in dx10 so maybe they just decided to specialize in what future games will be using instead of making it better with older games as well like the nvidia cards. I hope this is the case and if so makes perfect sense to me being that the card is still more than adequate for any dx9 game in existence. I am such a genius (lol)

 

[ViperJohn]

I have no idea to be honest, I can't remember playing it on Vista, just XP. My memory says that I did play it on Vista, but I can't be sure after all the reformats I did.

edit: yes, I checked my last play time on my older account on BF2 (i have 2 accounts) and it was within the last 2 months. I have ran Vista for 3 months which means that I used BF2 on my x1950xtx on Vista. I don't remember any problems as serious as this, so it must be the drivers on the 2900XT.

It sounds more like a Vista issue with BF2 and the 2900 but man the drivers for the 2900's, both WinXp and
Vista, are definitely at the Alpha raw stage (and exactly what I expected at 2900's release). NV went through
the same thing with the 8800's at release too. It is just ATI's turn now.

The 2900XT has the potential and my stock numbers in the benchmarks in WinXP show.

Viper

 

[TTP]

Played BF2 and BF2:SF, no problems noticed.

 

[ViperJohn]

Played BF2 and BF2:SF, no problems noticed.

Was that in WinXP or ME-II (Vista)???

Viper

 

[vixro]

He's on WinXP pro according to his sig with the 2900XT

 

[ViperJohn]

He's on WinXP pro according to his sig with the 2900XT

Yeah I saw that but people often forget to update their sigs when they make changes.

Viper

 

[deathman20]

Yeah I saw that but people often forget to update their sigs when they make changes.

Viper

That reminds me i need to get to work on my new sig.

 

[vixro]

I finally got around to adding pictures. My powersupply fried on me somehow so I have no use of my computer for 2 days. I took the opportunity to take some hi-res pictures of the 2900XT for your enjoyment. Bring on the nerd porn!


http://public.fotki.com/vixro/computer-related/sapphire-hd-2900xt/


Click on a thumbnail and then click on a little link on the bottom left of the photo that says "get original uploaded photo", this will open a new window with the hi-res picture of that thumbnail.

Hope you enjoy, I had fun taking it apart even though it took me a while to put it back together. Once I found out how it was made, I'm pretty sure a secondary cooling method wouldn't really be out of the picture... especially a quieter fan perhaps....

After removing the compound I was able to get a few pictures of the nice reflection on the gpu... you may even see me!

 

[vixro]

I decided to make this easier for people who are ok with 800x800 type photos. If you want instant gratification and the hi-res pictures don't interest you as much as the pictures themselves, then here are the pictures embedded in the thread.

 

[vixro]

 

[vixro]

Hope you get as much enjoyment out of taking it apart as I did.

edit: camera = Cannon Powershot SD600 Ultra Compact digital camera

 

[Neural Net]

Great pics! Are you going to slap on some AS5 to see if temps improve or leave it for now?