ATI HD4800 Review Thread

[informal]

This thread has now taken a hilarious turn. There is a REASON BIOS flashing isn't covered by the warranty and we are seeing exactly why.

Show me where large batches of non flashed, non-overclocked cards are dying (taking into account that people who experience a problem are more likely to whine than those who don't) and maybe we will have something.

Until then it is just a matter of people wading into BIOS flashing without thinking of the ramifications.

I agree.To add to your post,i think most of people forget this is XS,so users are often taking their cards to the limits(BIOS flashing,volt modding etc.) so it's not uncommon we will see more problems at this forum than at any other out there.Most users are not OCing their systems,and with the latest "fix" for fan speed that Mascaras posted recently,Radeons are now idling 25 degrees lower than ususally(with 65% fan duty cycle).

[perkam]

I agree.To add to your post,i think most of people forget this is XS,so users are often taking their cards to the limits(BIOS flashing,volt modding etc.) so it's not uncommon we will see more problems at this forum than at any other out there.Most users are not OCing their systems,and with the latest "fix" for fan speed that Mascaras posted recently,Radeons are now idling 25 degrees lower than ususally(with 65% fan duty cycle).

Informal, it's actually healthy to criticize ATI now and then. Supporting them 100% of the time doesn't help your credibility

This is a QC (quality control) issue for the very reason that it is not an issue at Nvidia. GTX 280s were clocking to 700Mhz on air on stock cooling with sufficient fan speeds from day One. The dead cards are a small percentage and thus a small cause for concern, but the lack of availability plus the issues with the cards that AMD has yet to officially address on its own or any AIB for that matter, collectively means they are not giving a frack about the enthusiast users right now.

That may change in the future, but this is a serious issue. Thankfully, W1zzard has helped us isolate the problem and avoid it until a permanent fix arrives.

Perkam

[SKYMTL]

That may change in the future, but this is a serious issue. Thankfully, W1zzard has helped us isolate the problem and avoid it until a permanent fix arrives.

Perkam

I still can't see how this is a "serious issue" when the majority of people reporting problems are people ones who flashed their BIOSes.

BIOS flashing is not an exact science and it is funny that you bring up the GTX 280 cards since no one was flashing the BIOS on those cards to get to that 700Mhz clock speed. I fail to see how parallels can be drawn between the two in the first place based on the methods people have used for overclocking in each instance.

On way or another, people have to realize that a "serious problem" to the overclocking community means squat in the marketplace as a whole. I have said it once and I will say it again: there is a reason overclocking and BIOS flashing isn't covered by the warranty.

[perkam]

I still can't see how this is a "serious issue" when the majority of people reporting problems are people ones who flashed their BIOSes.

BIOS flashing is not an exact science and it is funny that you bring up the GTX 280 cards since no one was flashing the BIOS on those cards to get to that 700Mhz clock speed. I fail to see how parallels can be drawn between the two in the first place based on the methods people have used for overclocking in each instance.

On way or another, people have to realize that a "serious problem" to the overclocking community means squat in the marketplace as a whole. I have said it once and I will say it again: there is a reason overclocking and BIOS flashing isn't covered by the warranty.

How dare you criticize another Canuck, eh ?!! Thou hast broken thy code !!

Et tu SKYMTL , then fall Perkam



Some users are finding problems from CCC Ocing and from using them in Xfire at stock. Check the video card section

Perkam

[SKYMTL]

Some users are finding problems from CCC Ocing and from using them in Xfire at stock. Check the video card section

Perkam

I am just playing Devil's Advocate here.

Another aspect to remember is that everyone out there is basically using beta (or what ATI calls "hotfix") drivers which can cause any number of things to go bump in the night. I have even had some issues with the CCC of the Series_5 betas failing to recognize the hardware after uninstalling the 8.6 drivers from my HD3870.

Personally, I think there is alot more going on here than buggy cards that go butt-up when having their BIOS flashed. Alot of it has to do with underlying driver issues IMO. This is why I never (EVER) use an overclock on a day-to-day basis with a hotfix driver from ATI. Not to mention that there is a REASON the CCC Overdrive only goes to a certain speed.

One way or another, if there are widespread reports of non-overclocked cards biting the dust I will be the first to jump on the lynching bandwagon. Until then though, I have my pitchfork, tourches and white bedcovering safely tucked away.