2900 Pro Owners Thread

[Draxx]

did you test/bench before you flashed? All these Pros have seemed very consistent in general...

I've not flashed mate, still on Pro BIOS.

Unless its my PSU, but it does look like my pro sucks

[NickS]

I've not flashed mate, still on Pro BIOS.

Unless its my PSU, but it does look like my pro sucks

It might be, OCZ Modstream's were never really "high quality."

[Draxx]

It might be, OCZ Modstream's were never really "high quality."

But would the PSU cause the GPU to display artifacts when it's being pushed? Also would it cause the PC to hard lock when pushed?

The 12v amps are only 28 on the modstream, which is under the requirement for the XT.

[CrimInalA]

results with these cards are very consistent as someone mentioned earlier .
draw your conclusions when yours isn't consistent .

Buy a good PSU , it's a very if not most important component for having a stable system (especially when Oc-ing and pushing every single component in your pc to the limit)

[Draxx]

Well if the cards are so consistent and mine isn't, then are you saying that it IS my PSU causing the problems? Or do I have the one exception to the rule?

[Tsaroth]

Well if the cards are so consistent and mine isn't, then are you saying that it IS my PSU causing the problems? Or do I have the one exception to the rule?

Could be either.

The only true way to test is to use a quality PSU.

Right now I have my Card running at 830/900 on stock bios and voltages. I have ran the fur rendering test for half an hour and benchmarked with the fur rendering thing and 3dmark06 and haven't had any artifacts or lockups while doing it.

By the way, I have been running the fur rendering thing at 1440x900 which is my resolution with 8x MSAA and it hasn't crashed. Is that a good setting to run it at?

I am using a corsair 620watt PSU.

[WrigleyVillain]

fur rendering thing at 1440x900 which is my resolution with 8x MSAA and it hasn't crashed. Is that a good setting to run it at?

Sure, if running for stability testing as that's stressing it more. Obviously, if you're going for score, not such a good setting

[nickless]

thx nickless! this is a stock 1GB Pro bios w 1.2?

Yes, this is a stock bios of my Sapphire HD2900Pro 1GB with 1.20v GPU .


PP. Today I've tried with XT bios. The OC is the same 886 / 2394 with stock 1.20v GPU and 914 / 2466 with 1.263v GPU, but score of 3D Marko06 was lower than with original Pro bios with a same settings. Maybe the RAM timings of HD2900Pro are better then XT. That is way I,ve returned the old good Pro bios .

[Hicksetto]

Yes, this is a stock bios of my Sapphire HD2900Pro 1GB with 1.20v GPU .


PP. Today I've tried with XT bios. The OC is the same 886 / 2394 with stock 1.20v GPU and 914 / 2466 with 1.263v GPU, but score of 3D Marko06 was lower than with original Pro bios with a same settings. Maybe the RAM timings of HD2900Pro are better then XT. That is way I,ve returned the old good Pro bios .

Then why am I monitoring 1.15v. VGPU with your BIOS?

[NickS]

LOL. That's weird. It's probably a mis-read. It's stock 1.15v, period.

[WrigleyVillain]

Then why am I monitoring 1.15v. VGPU with your BIOS?

Good question. Damn. How does it bench compared to your Pro bios?

[Tsaroth]

Sure, if running for stability testing as that's stressing it more. Obviously, if you're going for score, not such a good setting

Ah ok. So leave as default if I'm trying to get a good score but if I'm running for stress then higher = better.

Ok I have a question. If it locks up while running Fur does that mean it's not stable? Is Fur the best stability tester when it comes to GPU?

I have it set up as

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/csknm/

And I haven't had any problems. I seem to get lockups on fur when I'm running at 835 core or 840 core but 830 seems to be ok. I just ran the benchmark at default settings and got 3190 score. How long should I run the Fur Renderer for to test for stability?

I'm just trying to get it as high as possible on stock voltages while being able to run a benchmark stable and not crash in games lmfao.

Then I'm going to work on my CPU. I already got my socket 939 2.0ghz 3800+ to 2.5ghz and my temps are reading 28 and 36 on the two cores. I'm sure my mount isn't that great but it's stock cooling so I'm going to put my big typhoon on it when I get my new Fans and rounded cables from performance-pcs.com

Thanks for any input on this matter and you guys are awesome.

By the way, my voltage in ATI tool says 1.10....... is that right?

[WrigleyVillain]

Ah ok. So leave as default if I'm trying to get a good score but if I'm running for stress then higher = better.

Sure thats true of any 3d bench. When going for score make sure everything is set to best performance including mipmap settings, fsaa etc off, i even quit all services I dont need.

Ok I have a question. If it locks up while running Fur does that mean it's not stable? Is Fur the best stability tester when it comes to GPU?

I don't think any one is "better". It's about stress over time, when it comes to stability testing anyway. Fur is new, and quick compared to like 3dMark, so I find it useful.

And I haven't had any problems. I seem to get lockups on fur when I'm running at 835 core or 840 core but 830 seems to be ok. I just ran the benchmark at default settings and got 3190 score. How long should I run the Fur Renderer for to test for stability?

Fur locks up for me too above 830. That seems to be the limit for my gpu at my stock vgpu which is 1.15. Honestly, I didn't run any other benches at that clock; assuming they would have locked too.

I'm just trying to get it as high as possible on stock voltages while being able to run a benchmark stable and not crash in games

Well sure. Me too. Especially when the only reliable way to raise it right now is to do a hard mod.

By the way, my voltage in ATI tool says 1.10....... is that right?

Hmm most are 1.15 and some 1.2 but your the first to i've seen to report only 1.10. This is under load right? Probably as mine is only 1.0 when in 2d mode. Run Riva Tuner hardware monitoring while running a quick bench such as fur to check it again.

[Truckchase!]

It might be, OCZ Modstream's were never really "high quality."

I haven't found that to be the case in my personal experience.

[Hicksetto]

Good question. Damn. How does it bench compared to your Pro bios?

Nothing! Because this is directly HD 2900PRO BIOS with 1.15v. This is all the same with my BIOS...

[Draxx]

I haven't found that to be the case in my personal experience.

So your saying my Modstream should be ok?

[CrimInalA]

I have mounted te R600 Thermalright passive cooler yesterday .

My thoughts :

the sapphire cooler wasn't cooling the memory at all . only 1 memorychip had a thermal print on it .
the sapphire cooler is HEAVY

Thermalright R600 has nice memory cooling chips
Thermalright R600 is not heavy at all , it is very light actually
Thermalright R600 can not keep my videocard cool , even with a 120mm blowing on it . My temps are higher stock speed (82&#176 , than with the sapphire cooler at 860mhz core . (72&#176
Thermalright R600 heatsink gets extremely hot
The thermal paste provided with the thermalright cooler is really strange (light,running,sticky) when compared to Arctic silver 5 which i'm used to (thick,heavy) .

I will try asap to attach a 92mm to the heatsink , altough in the end this 92+120mm will give me more noise than the standard sapphire cooler i'm afraid

[_g0]

I also had problems above 830 on the stock cooler. Has anyone with modded cooling, whether water, HR-03, or otherwise, gotten a 100% stable card at more than 830 on the core?

Also, has anyone personally confirmed that performance is better with mem clocks < 1000?

Thanks.

[_g0]

Thermalright R600 can not keep my videocard cool , even with a 120mm blowing on it . My temps are higher stock speed (82°) , than with the sapphire cooler at 860mhz core . (72°)

I was about to ask if you are sure you applied it properly, proper level of TIM, etc, but then I saw

Thermalright R600 heatsink gets extremely hot

Which seems to suggest that yes, it is making good contact.
That's a real bummer. Had you changed the fan settings at all? I couldn't get RT to set a custom profile, best I could do is set a static speed, which seems like a really bad idea.

[CrimInalA]

yes at first i also thought a bad mount , but i touched the heatsink but couldnt do that for more than a second . So i assume the mount is OK .

my card runs 860mhz core with default cooler . above that my pc will hang (no artifacts seen ever)

the mem bandwidth of the R600 cards is massive and thus going above 999mhz will not give you any benefit at all . above 999mhz , the mem timings get slower people say .

[nickless]

Then why am I monitoring 1.15v. VGPU with your BIOS?

I don't know yet. Maybe my software is reading wrong or maybe this stock voltage of 1.20v come from hardware settings, not from bios, or maybe my card is pure downclocked 2900 XT with 2900 Pro label and bios
Try to flash your card with XT bios and see what will be GPU voltage.

[Rick Flair]

First off, Hello.

I purchased a Sapphire 2900PRO 1GB and its great, couple of questions.

I'm running under Vista x64, usuing Rivatunner to overclock and monitor temperatures and voltage.

In 2D the card runs 1.00v and in 3D it runs 1.10v, I've seen others who state their cards run 1.15v in 3D, is this because I'm running 2x6pin PCIe plugs and will running 1x8pin and 1x6pin unlock the 1.15v? Or is this just my BIOS, I've tried another BIOS, ATI XT and same thing happens, will a different BIOS from maybe HIS work?

At 1.10v in 3D I'm at 840 core, stable . But if there is more in her I'd like to try.

[WrigleyVillain]

First off, Hello.

I purchased a Sapphire 2900PRO 1GB and its great, couple of questions.

I'm running under Vista x64, usuing Rivatunner to overclock and monitor temperatures and voltage.

In 2D the card runs 1.00v and in 3D it runs 1.10v, I've seen others who state their cards run 1.15v in 3D, is this because I'm running 2x6pin PCIe plugs and will running 1x8pin and 1x6pin unlock the 1.15v? Or is this just my BIOS, I've tried another BIOS, ATI XT and same thing happens, will a different BIOS from maybe HIS work?

At 1.10v in 3D I'm at 840 core, stable . But if there is more in her I'd like to try.

Welcome and sweet nick

Whoa, the bad news is that you're now the second to report only 1.1. The good news is that it's stable at 840 with only 1.1v What did you use to test and for how long?

My 1GB is 1.15 using only 6+6 and unstable above 830. Others have 1.2v and can go higher. Interesting that the BIOS change didn't affect it, though it doesn't always of course. Couldn't hurt to try another. Is there a HIS 1GB?

Most people have 512s here so haven't been as many that have flashed 1GBs so there's less definitive info for us. Good luck and let us know how it unfolds.

[WrigleyVillain]

above 999mhz , the mem timings get slower people say .

I haven't seen any "numbers" but yes this seems to be the case, and stands to reason.

[Rick Flair]

Welcome and sweet nick

Whoa, the bad news is that you're now the second to report only 1.1. The good news is that it's stable at 840 with only 1.1v What did you use to test and for how long?

My 1GB is 1.15 using only 6+6 and unstable above 830. Others have 1.2v and can go higher. Interesting that the BIOS change didn't affect it, though it doesn't always of course. Couldn't hurt to try another. Is there a HIS 1GB?

Most people have 512s here so haven't been as many that have flashed 1GBs so there's less definitive info for us. Good luck and let us know how it unfolds.

I've been playing TF2, Portal, UT3 Demo and running various 3Dmarks.

You wouldn't happen do have a BIOS dump from your card?