This Tyan kinda sucks....

[SupaMan]

It cool that its a Radeon 9700 and all, but it isnt living up to what i expected. The first thing i expected was that it would have hardware monitoring, and it did not. I got one with the abbreviated PCB and no monitoring. Next up was the OCing. Now the OCing with these cards verys greatly. Peopl eget error-free maximum stable OCs at 405MHz core on some cards. but some, like MaximumPC get crappy speeds, thiers was 354MHz. well my card..is a crappy one. 3dmark crashed at 400, and had an ungodly number of errors (screen was a jumble of colors) at 375. now it runs fine at 355MHz. Very disappointing. I am now trying to think up ways of switching it. I could just say "umm...its br0k" and try to RMA it through micro-pro. Their product page for it, here (http://www.micropro.com/item.htm?item_id=VCTYG9700PRO-M&product=Video%20Cards) now says that thier cards have the hardware monitoring. I cannot remeber wether or not it said this when i bought mine, but i dont think it did. Any1 have any bright ideas? Ideally i want to get one of the new ones with hardware monitoring. I am guessing that since they are newer, they will also have better cores...

[Kurrurrin]

Tell them that it did not deliver with all advertised features: namely, the hardware monitoring. They will have to take it back as to the missing features and supply you with a new one. At least, that would be my understanding of the issue. Good luck.

[Tweaked!]

You could always take a minimal hit on it and sell it in the classifieds. Just be upfront and honest about it, plenty of people looking for one of those that really don't care if it would get them to the top scores on 3dmark. Just might have to list it in a couple different forums. :cool:

[Liquid3D]

Hey Supa- just write this person, chuck.huynh@tyan.com and tell him my name, which I'm PM'ing to you, and they should drop-ship you the extended PCB version w/monitoring software. They want their first foray into the graphics card market, to be as trouble free as possible. He contacted me thrice, and I don't even have my card yet! I had written to Monarch and told them I was concerned my Tachyon wouldn't be the version w/software. Definately tell him about it's overclocking anemia. They didn't spend as much as Leadtek on their fabrication process, placing that 1lb chunk of aluminum on there for nothing! If it were pure gimmick, they could have done something less costly for themselves. One thing about Monarch Computers, their customer service, and system knowledge is next to none. Newegg.com sure does a lot of buying, but try to talk to a "real person" they don't even know where the wharehouse is if they had to check something (like memory stepping on 9700 Pro cards)

:D

[scottk]

I just received one from http://www.monarchcomputer.com/ and it's an early version also. They advertise it as having the HW monitor support

Monarch - Tyan Tachyon G9700 Pro (http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=190630&Category_Code=VC-ATI)

Here's a page at Tyan that shows how to id the different card versions

http://www.tyan.com/support/html/tgm.html

I took a screenshot of the Monarch page for safekeeping and just submitted a RMA request to Monarch.

Liquid3D - Did Monarch resolve it directly or did you have to work it out with the Tyan contact? I sent you an email, any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks :)

[okra]

you can see why nvidia is keeping such tight controls on the manufacture of the FX.

[SupaMan]

heh...cuz they barely got it working and if any OEM messes with just one thing the whole card will blow up :)

[Liquid3D]

I just checked the Tyan site to ensure the "average" customer, wasn't missing anything. Besides the "tgm" Link above, by ALL indications Tyan states their card offers this monitoring support. What they need to do is edit this (http://www.tyan.com/products/html/g9700pro.html) page as it clearly shows the version of the card without the monitoring software, yet just above that picture it states (verbatim); "only RADEON 9700 PRO-based graphics card on the market with hardware monitoring!" It's true there are several little buttons one could click on (at the top of the page the little "tgm" box) but would the "average" consumer do so? I don't believe it's fair to call these people "stupid" or to indicate (even as I have) that hard-core enthusaists consitute most potential customers for this card, therefore would/should be aware of the difference. In EVERY review it states the Tyan Tachyon G9700 Pro has this monitoring software, and even in [H]ardOCP's review where they state their sample does not, BUT;
"One very important feature of this card, one that we mentioned earlier, is the hardware monitoring. The software can monitor the voltage, temperature, and regulate fan speed on this video card. Unfortunately, our card is an engineering sample and does not have the hardware monitoring that the production boards will have. However, I was able to at least run the monitoring software to take a brief look at it."
By the way Supa, I'm not insinuating [H]ardOCP is being irresponsible here, in fact their clearly reiterating what Tyan told them (and come to think of it did so in the PowerColor review as well). What one can glean from all this, is even an educated consumer (hard-core enthusiast) would be under the guise they were getting the version w/monitoring software, as no one has yet indicated there is a version specifically without it. In fact why would they release two versions of the card, charging the same price for them both? Why would they allow every reviewer to state these cards are equipped with this software? And why place a 1lb chunk of aluminum rivaled only by Leadtek's cooling solutions in the entire industry, and not expect overclockers to flock to this card. Considering the accouterments, the monitoring software is practically a given after it's inception, implementation, and mention by reviewers. After all, for almost $400 we should expect no less, especially with the Geforce FX just around the corner.
I still have great faith in this card, as Tyan builds some of (if not the) best dual processor mainboards on the market. And are the only company (that I know of to date) to spec their own PCB, therefore having advantageous design freedoms, well beyond other manufactuers (or assemblers). Whereas others have limited choices over voltages and different memory, Tyan can make fundamental changes, spec'ing PCB layer depths, trace lengths, etc. I've most likely overstated their eagerness, although initial reviews showed the Tachyon as top performer among 9700 Pro's.

[SupaMan]

heh, yeah. I knew about the different cards, but I bought the one because:
1. reviews always said the "Production cards" would all have the feature
2. Micropro's site did not comment on the monitoring, did not state wether it was present or not, boreline sneaky if u ask me...
3. The price was right, logically monitor-less boards should cost less. but with micropro charging $353 and tyan repeatedly saying that $350 is the MSRP you would expect...the real thing

[Liquid3D]

I totally agree with you! They need to resolve this issue. I don't think people would mind having a version without the monitoring software, had they been up-front about it, and offered it at a significantly lower price.

As I've said repeadetly, not since Leadtek has there been this type of cooling apparatus on a video card (except O.T.E.S.) being marketed towards the overclocker, the monitoring software would only seem natural, or they'd merely be cloning Leadtek's efforts.
For $350-$400 however; they need to resolve this issue expiditiously, or their first foray into the graphic card market will be their last. Among the forums I've scanned, I've not heard ONE Tachyon owner post their being content with the card's performance. And I dislike being the bearer of bad news, however; as I'm in the market for this card, I've been scanning about 15 different forums! If Tyan doesn't get some great performing G9700 Pro's in the hands of Enthusiasts, and fast, it's only going to get worse. I surmize one of reasons we've not seen this as yet, is due to the first run being delayed in the software issue (or lack thereof). One reason there are so many posting great overclocking scores on ATI Radeon 9700 Pro's (retail version) is due to the very large number of cards on the market. We are seeing about 5-8% of the thousands of cards out there, whereas Tyan probably has just hundreds, and their all in RMA status.

[RacerX]

guys, Tyan replaced my first Tachyon G9700 pro which at the time thought came with the monitoring software. Now I have the 2nd version with the monitoring. Tyan replaced the cards that came from Monarch comp. as they advertised the cards with the monitoring feature. I give Tyan credit there but these cards OC worth crap. My first did 560 thats it, I removed the shim and maxed out at 390. Now the 2nd version is even worse only hitting 380 with shim removed. The big blue heatsink is a joke. They use thin rubber pads on the inside of the sink that lines up with the ram chips on the pcb. This causes more heat and get better results with them removed.

I'll be putting on a gpu waterblock next plus a mod to increase the voltage. That should get me over 400 easy. BTW, idle the monitoring software has my gpu at 36c with my ambient temps at 30c. Probably not very accurate though.

[SupaMan]

definitly a problem.

You said the card's performance was bad. do you think that my card could be why i am missing almost 200 3dmarks? I am getting a stock score of 14k when i should really be getting high 15k or 16k with my setup. I hadnm't hard of any real flaws like that, just the monitoing and OCing issues.

[SupaMan]

i am wondering if i am better off with another brand...I have always been a hercules wh0re :) any1 got a deal on them?

[RacerX]

Originally posted by SupaMan
i am wondering if i am better off with another brand...I have always been a hercules wh0re :) any1 got a deal on them?

Only problem is you never know how the next card will OC. I only kept my card cause I new I was getting a replacement and hoping for a better gpu/pcb. It back fired on me.

I bet your shim is a tad taller than the gpu thus your heatsink is not making good contact. Tyan puts alot of white thermal paste to make it look like good contact but its not. Clean it up and install a thin layer of AS3 then check the contact.

Removing the shim is really easy and yes it voids the warranty. I would think once remove you'll hit over 380 with no problems.

Your call.

[SupaMan]

if i cant get it RMAed then I will mess with it, but right now i could put it back in the box and it could pass for new + factory sealed ( i have a friend that has access to shrinkwrap :))

[SupaMan]

i can get one of these (http://www.newegg.com/app/Viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=Sapphire+ATI+RADEON&searchdepa=0&srchFor=/310,%20DVI/TV-out/CRT%20AGP%20BULK)
and
one of these (http://www.cooltechnica.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=C&Product_Code=SMCW50&Category_Code=VCW)

for about the same price as a tyan....maybe a little more, I'd have to buy some more tygon :-s

[scottk]

Thought I'd post results of the replacement card I got through Tyan that has the hardware monitoring...

Out of box, it tops out at 380 core, 330 memory. Major tearing/artifacts with memory above 330. Quite disappointing. Tested it in the same rig that housed the first Tyan.

My first Tyan w/no HW monitoring does 380/340 out-of-box stock, so I guess I'll keep it and return the replacement (they did a cross-ship). The HW monitoring is a nice feature, but I'd rather have higher performing core and memory as a base to work with.

To Tyan's credit, they did a quick turnaround on the RMA and gave same-day responses on all emails I sent to them.

[Jasonxxx]

I got my tyan a couple of days ago and was able to hit 405/710 with stock heatsink..I just removed the shim and used AS3 of course then replaced the plastic push pins with bolts and nuts to make a little better contact than normal...


I then volt modded the vcore up to 1.63v and was able to hit 420mhz.......I have not done the vmem mod yet...I will this weekend and see what the results of this is.......

I will be putting a the mcw50-T on soon with the 156w pelt and tweak monster ram sinks.....got to get another rad and better the flow rates in my water/tec cooling I have now to cool the cpu and vid card to run at opt....

Anyone ran a 226watt tec water cooled @12v and then up the voltage to the tec little by little to see if this makes a difference in the temps??????????????????????????
That would kick A** if would improve maybe 3c or 4c in lower temps.......