Survey: ATI Radeon 9700

Have you had problems with Radeon 9700?

  • Had major problems that were never resolved

    Votes: 3 14.3%
  • Had major problems that were eventually resolved

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • Had some minor problems but nothing serious

    Votes: 3 14.3%
  • Had no problems whatsoever

    Votes: 13 61.9%

  • Total voters
    21
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Nic

Posts: 1,519   +1
Hopefully many of you will find this survey useful and it might provide some insight into the problems that many users have had with the ATI Radeon 9700 series of cards. We all know that these cards are excellent performers, but for those of us that have had problems it has been an absolute nightmare. Please give us feedback on your own experiences so that others can benefit from any information we gather.

Please do not vote that you had no problems whatsoever, unless you are running your card at its full spec (e.g. you have not had to lower your AGP settings from 8x to 4x etc. just to get your card to work).

EDIT: My specs

System #1
========
Jetway 663AS Pro mainboard
CWT 450w PSU
Athlon 1.3 GHz CPU
512MB RAM
SB 5.1 Live Value Soundcard
Promise Ulta100TX2 IDE Controller
Fujitsu 40GB Hard Drive (x2)
Maxtor 80GB Hard Drive (x2)
Teac CD540 CDROM
Teac CW512EB CDR
3com 905TX NIC

System #2
========
Abit NF7-S v2.0 mainboard
Enermax 431w PSU
Athlon XP 1700+ CPU
512MB DDR Ram
IBM 180GB Hard Drive (x2)
Teac CD540 CDROM
Teac CW512EB CDR

My Radeon 9700 Pro (sent back) refused to work in either system.
 
It might be a good idea if users could also post their system specs, such as mainboard make/model and PSU make/model/wattage, just so as we have some useful info for those that are considering buying a Radeon 9700 card. Feel free to comment as much, or as little, as you feel suitable, and remember that all info should be accurate, so no fan boys misreporting their experience please.
 
I chose "no problems", as except for having a wee trouble getting it to run in AGP 8x, there was nothing...

And getting it to run in AGP 8x was just a case of me forgetting to install the VIA 4-1....

For my specs, click the profile...

[EDIT]
Let's see if I can't just copy/past the specs:

My System Specs (#1)
Babylon 5
Processor
AMD Athlon XP 2500+
Motherboard
Asus A7V8X-Gold
Memory
1GB DDR PC2700 TwinMos
Cooling
Stock Cooler
Videocard
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
Soundcard/Speakers
Realtek onboard sound, Yamaha sub, 2 speakers MAXX SOUND
Hard Disk(s)
1x IBM 75GXP 75 GB, 1x IBM 60GXP 60GB (or was it 80), 1x WD Caviar 80GB Special (8mb cache)
Other Drives
Crappy 2x Creative DVD

Hmm, I had forgotten to update my specs since I upgraded... Fixed now... [/EDIT]
 
Thanks for posting your system specs Mr Garibaldi. now if only others could do likewise.

The main reason for this post is so that users that have mainboard 'x' and/or PSU 'y', can look here to see if buying a Radeon 9700 will be worthwhile for them.

If they see that other users with the same mainboard/psu have had problems, then at least they will know that they may have to upgrade, and can then select other components that are known to work with that particular card.

Its not enough to simply vote, as that doesn't provide the info that others need to make an objective decision should they be considering the purchase of this card.

Thanks again to all that reply with suitable info.
 
I also chose "no problems". I haven't had the first problem with my 9700 Pro. I run 6xAA, 16xAF, Vsync on, Truform and everything in the Control panel maxed out and for "quality". It runs Splinter Cell and Unreal II, which, subject to argument, are probably some of the hardest games to run and they run just fine.

Processor
Pentuim 4, 3.06
Motherboard
Intel D850EMV2
Memory
512 PC1066 RDRAM
Cooling
Stock Cooling
Power Supply
Astec 250 Watt
Videocard
ATI 9700 Pro
Soundcard/Speakers
Audigy, Boston Acoustics 4.1, Koss cordless headphones
Hard Disk(s)
Maxtor 200 Gig DiamondMax Plus 9, (8mb cache)
Other Drives
CD Burner, DVD Burner
Other Peripherals
19" LCD, Logitec Cordless Keyboard and Mouse
 
The only problems I've had with the 9700 Pro is its quite laggy online or offline playing Warcraft3, when it shouldnt be at all :mad:

Here are the Specs:

350W P4 Ready PSU
AthlonXP 2600+
SLK900 /w 34CFM fan
Asus A7N8x
1GB Corsair DDR333, in Dual Channel mode
SerialATA 80GB Harddrive (8MB Cache)
Sapphire Readon 9700 PRO (128MB, 8x AGP)
Samsung CDRW (52x24x52)
 
I've had no problems with the 9700 whatsoever.

Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz -> OC 3.5GHz
Crucial 1GB DDR333 PC2700 CL=2.5 Dual-Channel RAM
ATI Radeon 9700 AGP 8X Graphics Card
ASUS P4SDX Motherboard
Generic Mini-Tower ATX Case w/ 4 System Fans
400-watt Power Supply
Viewsonic A90f+ 19" Flat screen CRT Monitor
ProView 17" Flat screen CRT Monitor
Western Digital 60GB Hard Disk Drive ATA100 7200RPM
Maxtor Ultra DMA Controller Card
DVD-ROM Drive
CD-R/RW
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Sound Card
Creative Labs Megaworks 650 6.1 THX 600-watt Speakers
 
Originally posted by ---agissi---
The only problems I've had with the 9700 Pro is its quite laggy online or offline playing Warcraft3, when it shouldnt be at all :mad:

Here are the Specs:

350W P4 Ready PSU
AthlonXP 2600+
SLK900 /w 34CFM fan
Asus A7N8x
1GB Corsair DDR333, in Dual Channel mode
SerialATA 80GB Harddrive (8MB Cache)
Sapphire Readon 9700 PRO (128MB, 8x AGP)
Samsung CDRW (52x24x52)


It's your connection, your RAM, video settings, or anything else running in the background. Close off any file sharing programs and any downloads. See what mode you run in (for vid).

I know too much about Blizzard games....

And then, if you can't solve it, turn off music (in game), portraits, animations, etc.

(I used to own a Blizzard fan site which recieved 1,500 unique hits a day, I was presented with every problem relating to the games.)
 
Thanks guys. Great feedback.

Olefarte: Very interesting that you only have a 250w PSU, despite you're having a power hungry system (P4@3.06GHz + 9700 Pro), and no probs as well.

I'm beginning to suspect that maybe there is a lot of variation between 9700 production batches. Not enough results yet to draw any conclusions.
 
XTR,

(1) Nice avatar, looks great

(2) I've tryed almost everything, including what you suggested. Its really weird :( Does WC3 use OpenGL? Because UT runs perfectly using DirectX, but slow and glitchy using OpenGL. The pooter is also running the latest Cats, v3.5.
 
Start the game, go to options > video. Play with all those settings. Change your resolution for playing a little lower and play with those variables. I'm not positive about the mode WarCraft III runs in but I can't imagine why you have problems... What connection do you have? Dial-up or broadband? Dial-up is your problem if that is it. Get Direct X 9 if you don't have it already. Do you have more than 256MB RAM?


And a simple solution could be that you've just gotten lucky enough and played with some laggers (that is.... if you're not on dial-up).


Thanks, I made it in Photoshop 7 as well as my logo banner which I removed.
 
I know about the "options > video" settings, as I said I tryed everything...I have DSL, and it lags equally as bad offline, if there isnt any laggers in the game. Its 1GB of Corsair RAM, in Dual Channel mode. The PC is running DirectX9, and all of the latest windows updates.
 
Originally posted by Nic
Thanks guys. Great feedback.

Olefarte: Very interesting that you only have a 250w PSU, despite you're having a power hungry system (P4@3.06GHz + 9700 Pro), and no probs as well.

I'm beginning to suspect that maybe there is a lot of variation between 9700 production batches. Not enough results yet to draw any conclusions.

That's more of a testament to poorly tested PSU's, and improper vaules being stamped onto them. My 300W PSU works just fine w/ my R9700n/pro. The problem lies in many PSU's that are poor quality, yet have 300, 350, 400, 450 or even higher ratings....I'd suggest you read a few PSU reviews to give you an idea of just how off the mark many PSU's are. It's quite enlightning...and disturbing

Specs:
1700 T-bred @ 2136
MSI KT-3 ULTRA ARU (Via Chipset)
512 MB Kingston 333 Ram
 
Nic said,
Olefarte: Very interesting that you only have a 250w PSU, despite you're having a power hungry system (P4@3.06GHz + 9700 Pro), and no probs as well.
I must admit, the only thing about my "Custom Built Gateway Computer" that bothers me is the power supply. I never really thought to much about these things until I started reading TechSpot though. I do know that if I ever upgrade to another video card, a new power supply will be one of the things that will accompany it. Other than the power supply, I think the other components are of pretty good quality. But, even though the power supply specs aren't anything special, it seems to be doing a okay job on my computer.
 
Originally posted by PreservedSwine
That's more of a testament to poorly tested PSU's, and improper vaules being stamped onto them. My 300W PSU works just fine w/ my R9700n/pro. The problem lies in many PSU's that are poor quality, yet have 300, 350, 400, 450 or even higher ratings....I'd suggest you read a few PSU reviews to give you an idea of just how off the mark many PSU's are. It's quite enlightning...and disturbing
Good comment.

Luckily I know quite a bit about PSUs (that's why I have an Enermax 431w), a lot more than some reviewers even (due to past employment in aerospace industry). I select my PSUs very carelfully due to bad experiences with cheaper PSUs in the past.

The worst thing about cheap PSUs isn't stability, but that they often lack proper overvoltage/overcurrent protection and noise filtering, which can in some cases cause fatal damage to other system components in the event of failure. If your cheap PSU fails, then it will likely take out all your hard drives and cdrom drives due to voltage spikes. Mainboards are more resilient due to voltage regulation onboard. Something to bear in mind when selecting your next PSU.

Also be sure to go to the manufacturer's website to check out the specs for power output on each rail, as that's one thing that is easy to check, and that plays an important role in ensuring system stability, especially in a heavily loaded rig (PC). Cheap PSUs tend to have low current ratings for +12v rail. This used to be normal for PSUs until recently, when the higher power demands of current CPUs and Graphics cards mean that higher current ratings are now required. This is something that cheap PSUs tend not to have, as it costs more to produce a higher current PSU due to higher spec components being required. PFC (Power Factor Correction) is also the sign of a better PSU and means that more of the rated output will be usable.
 
Originally posted by ---agissi---
I know about the "options > video" settings, as I said I tryed everything...I have DSL, and it lags equally as bad offline, if there isnt any laggers in the game. Its 1GB of Corsair RAM, in Dual Channel mode. The PC is running DirectX9, and all of the latest windows updates.

You know, I was reading the FIC Radeon 9700 pro review here at techspot and it shows that it performs way better in Direct3D than OpenGL. This may be for all the 9700 pros.
 
nVidia cards tend to be best in OpenGL (they bought 3dfx), whereas ATI has historically been better in Direct-X. Most games run Direct-X these days.
 
Originally posted by Nic
nVidia cards tend to be best in OpenGL (they bought 3dfx), whereas ATI has historically been better in Direct-X. Most games run Direct-X these days.

Direct-X, as in Microsoft DirectX?

Also, I'll be adding my comment soon when my comp arrives.
 
There is only one DirectX, and that is Microsoft's. Direct3d is part of DirectX.
 
I was confused between Direct3D and DirectX, I thought you were reffering to something like DirectX (replace X with 2 or 3).
 
Originally posted by Nic
nVidia cards tend to be best in OpenGL (they bought 3dfx), whereas ATI has historically been better in Direct-X. Most games run Direct-X these days.

Im with you on that one..
 
I'm a WarCraft III freak. I just bought the expansion. I'm nearly what someone would call "gosu" but not yet. I think I can call myself a "gosu" in certain ways as a warcraft iii player that doesn't hack. Most of all the other ones hack. One step to my victory is having a smooth high performance system, I did when it came out, now others have that advantage over me.

Agissi, if you can't get the problem fixed, I'm probably gonna buy NVIDIA, they've always been nice to me. :)
 
"Video: 8MB 3D video card (TNT, i810, Voodoo 3, Rage 128 equivalent or better) with DirectX 8.1 support. For Mac OS® systems, a video card consisting of an ATI Technologies or nVidia chipset with at least 16 MB of memory is required."

This suggests that in fact WarCraft III does not run in OpenGL mode and as long as ur packin a ATI or a nVidia, you're fine.

Also, you're scaring me away from buying a Rad 9700 pro.

Edit: Also, which one does yours most look like?

14-102-254-04.JPG


or....

14-102-246-06.JPG
 
Only two thirds of users experience no problems whatsoever. That's scarey - one in three chance of things going wrong.

I bet ATI already know about problems with the card, but won't come clean for obvious reasons. What we don't know is whether the problems are down to incompatable hardware, or due to manufacturing variations with the card.

It's not unknown for manufacturing problems with electronic products due to lack of sufficient testing in order to keep costs down.

I had a bad experience with an entirely different electronic device recently (I won't say what it was, as I'm sure its being looked into), I carried out my own tests on several units after several replacements were also 'out-of-spec', and discovered that most items failed to meet suitable performance levels.

It seems that the manufacturer did not test these items (to cut costs) and was instead relying on most being OK, and replacing any that customers complained about.

That way sales can continue and costs are minimised, but the consumer ends up being very frustrated if they are unlucky and get a bad unit.

This may not apply to the Radeon 9700 series graphics cards, but as we do not have answers for this particular product, we can only speculate.
 
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