Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro problems.

[duffelbag]

So a couple months ago I bought a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro Atlantis 128mb video card. I install all the drivers for it, start playing my games, and after a while I notice there's a checkerboard pattern on some shades of colors, not just in games but on the desktop. Obviously this pattern is very annoying. I can post screenshots once I figure out how, but has anyone heard of this problem before? Occasionally my games minimize and a VPU recover error comes up saying there was a problem with my card, restart it, blah blah blah. My computer restarts at random times too. When it's back on, it said the error was due to a device driver...Once the first driver is installed, which came with the card, the pattern appears. I figured alot of people on these boards may know what the problem is? I plan on sending the card back to the manufacturor to be fixed, so if anyone knows how to fix this, please help. Thanks! :banana:

[Disposibleteen]

update the drivers from ati's website, if this doesnt help it may be a heat issue if you say your computer restarts at random times, could also be an overloaded powersupply, what powersupply are u running?

[duffelbag]

i'm running a 420 watt psu Atex which came with the case. If the card is getting too hot, how would I cool it down?

On the PSU I have my hard drive, motherboard, cd rom, 2 fans, and a power splitter for a fan/video card.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

sorry, this is not the right section for this question, this is the Graphics Software area...

[jjcom]

Hey, I don't believe thats a true Radion 9800 Pro. Try and use drivers from Sapphire. I believe they made a 9800 Pro, but it wasn't the same as the regular one. So now they include the word "Atlantis" at the end. Something like its got a 128bit memory interface. hope the clears something up

jjcom

[duffelbag]

Thanks jjcom, I downloaded some drivers restarted. I could tell at first it was gone, but then for s econd the whole screen turned black and when it came back, it had the patern. i'll look more into the drivers in the morning. but i can tell the drivers did get rid of the pattern, but for some reason it resorted back to it....? :confused:

[thephenom]

It's likely the heat, do you have good airflow in your case? Or if you have good airflow in the case, it mite just be a faulty card.

[jjcom]

yeah, heat can cause issues. I sometimes end up with little green blocks on Far Cry but they go away...mmmm...falty card seems more likly because of how its acted in the past.

jjcom

[duffelbag]

well i have 2 fans in the back, one on the side panel, abd the cpu fan. how would i circulate the heat better? i saw some fans at best buy yesterday that go in the pci slots... what else can i use to decrease the heat?

[thephenom]

well i have 2 fans in the back, one on the side panel, abd the cpu fan. how would i circulate the heat better? i saw some fans at best buy yesterday that go in the pci slots... what else can i use to decrease the heat?
THat would, but it sounds like you got decent airflow, so it's more likely a faulty card.

[Holst]

Id say its faulty as well.

RMA it.

[TrIx]

have you try to see if the card is sittong right in the motherboard i had that same kinda problem once try pushing the card into place but not to hard..it can be a problem with contact..

[Disposibleteen]

maybe try in a different system, if it malfunctions in that system too it should be RMA

[duffelbag]

yea, i got drivers, made sure it was pushed in, so i filled out form last night for RMA. thx for help, i'll keep you updated.