Build a PC Radeon 9600 PRO crashes, overheating?

[Blekk]

Hi,
I got a Sapphire Radeon 9600 PRO Atlantis 256Mb DDR Memory.

Recently I have changed motherboards from my old SiS one to a Asus Via board aswell as upgrading my memory and PSU. But I have been getting VPU Recover errors and the graphics card sometimes just crashes and I have to restart.

So I changed my Catalyst 6.4 drivers to an older version, because that is what someone else did to correct the problem, but it still kept happening. After this I posted on forums and many people said it could be overheating.

But then the 6.5 Catalyst Drivers came out and when no game crashed I thought it was better. But then it started to happen again, So has anyone got any ideas? Is there an easy way to replace the fan? Are there easier ways to lower temperature of the graphics card? Where can I send it if it is faulty? How do you find out if your warranty is still ok?

I know there are alot of questions but any reply is appreciated.

P.S. Oh yeah, it isn't overclocked, running on factory settings.

Motherboard: Asus P4V800D-X
CPU: P4 2.2Ghz
RAM: 2 x Kingston 256Mb DDR 400Mhz
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro Atlantis 256Mb
PSU: 550W 20+4 pin
Monitor (connection used): Plug and Play 17" HP Pavilion m703
Hard drives: Maxtor IDE 40Gb
Optical Drives: DVD drive and CD-RW drive
Additional PCI cards: Firewire card
Number of fans present:1 80mm case fan, 1 processor fan, PSU fan

Video Card Drivers in Use: ATI Catalyst 6.5 XP

 

[swker98]

ive had similer problems to you, i got the omega drives fwom www.omegadrivers.net and no more vpu recovery

try it may work

 

[Blekk]

Thanks, but I had already tried them and I still had problems.

Because I thought it might be overheating I got a normal 80mm case fan and propped it up at the bottom of the case with lego and blue-tack facing towards the graphics card, and it seems to be working. But this is only a temporary solution, I will probs replace the fan.

 

[swker98]

if that is working then chances are then the gpu fan is dieing for dead, check to make shore it is spinnig,

a good gpu cooler cant run you more the $30

p.s
i like the temoriy soultion though

 

[Blekk]

Lol, thanks swk98,

But I think it might be beyond repair now as during CS:S all the graphics went messed up, the colours went wrong, I got random gradients everywhere and the graphics were all chopped up and messed all over the screen. My friend had the same problem with a 9800 PRO and said it did that just before it melted and he had to send it back. Does anyone know what to do? It is a Sapphire card and my warranty is fine but I need to know how to send it back to them because I have never had to send anything back to anyone before. Shall I ring them up first and see what I need to do or what?

Any reply is appreciated.

 

[wolfram]

Sapphire is known for its bad cooling solutions.
And yes, you should call them and try a RMA. I did a RMA to Corsair last week because a bad value select module , and that was VERY easy. Just check Sapphire´s website and request a RMA.
If you want more help with the RMA, write to technical support. They are very useful.
Good luck!

 

[Blekk]

Thanks wolfram,

I am a bit of a noob, what is an RMA? And I can't send an email anywhere, the only contact shown on the Sapphire site is telephone numbers. How do I email the tech?

Any reply is appreciated.

 

[swker98]

just a note

RMA= Return Merchandise Authorization

it cna probibly be done over the fone, as i did that with a busted mp3 player

good luck

 

[Blekk]

Thanks swker98,

I will probably try that within the next few days.

 

[Blekk]

Omg, it costs £25.85 to send it to them to get a replacement!

I could just buy a new 9600 PRO for that and have some spare change!

 

[swker98]

darn (how muich is that in the US dollor?) maybe buyinbg a new cooller for about $25 will work

 

[Blekk]

Wow, you are one damn quick replier swker98!

It is $48.69 btw

This is for the RMA charge, is this what I am looking for because when my friend had his replaced and is in warranty (like mine) the company came and picked it up, replaced it and fit it into the comp and everything.

Is RMA at this stage the wrong thing or are sapphire just crap?

 

[swker98]

that is a very high cost jsut to send the card for a replacementyou could jsut pick up a 9600xtfor that. and yesi guss that chanrge is what shappire charges for an rma whitch is obseard (maybe because your in europ?) How old is the card??
maybe your cheepest soultion is just getting a new cooler?

 

[Blekk]

I got the card about 8 months ago, yeah I'll try a new cooler, and if that doesn't work I will just have to get an Nvidia.

 

[Blekk]

can you recommend any good cooling makes?

Arctic cooling, are they any good?

What is best for ATI?

Thanks.