4870x2 + full cover : squares artifact.

[TheMash]

Hello everybody
After rebuilding my watercooling rig I bought a second hand fullcover waterblock for this monster

The block its made by Ybris Cooling (italian), its full cover, copper + plexy, CNC machined.
The block its the following :



Before mounting it on X2 the board was fine, both 2D and 3D.
Well, I decided to mount the full cover on the card.
I always discharged any eletrocstatic charges wearing non-syntetic clothes, touching the case with both hands.
Then I usually start to work on electronic, using the classic white latex gloves.
The block comes with no washers at all, and to avoid any problem, I didnt tight so much the screw.

After mounting it I turned on the system, with no liquid cooling at all, just to test the board was fine (it lasted about 1 minute, the board was still cool after that time).
And the problems began from here.

Artifacts since POST:








So, I told to myself: maybe its bad contact in some areas.
Disassembled to check the contact:





Some power chips were not correctly cooled, like some memory modules, so I tought that was the problem.
I tightned slowly a bit more some screws in corrispondecy of that chips, with maximum care and not so much.
But I noticed the card was bending in visible way near the PCI-Express connector, in the first GPU (looking card from top, the GPU on the left) with two memory modules near.
Still same artifacts. Fear is inside my head.

So I came back to stock cooler,to check if the board its okay.
With stock cooler SAME arfifacts pattern.

I can go in Windows, and this is the situation:



I get some random BSOD, and as soon as I go in 3D the pc lockups and reboot or show BSOD.
Bringing back to my old X1900XT show no issues at all, so the problem its the X2.
What's happened to my X2?

[Kozato]

Try putting back the stock heatsink and see if the card still works. In the meantime, go to your nearest hardware store and grab some washers.

[TheMash]

Try putting back the stock heatsink and see if the card still works. In the meantime, go to your nearest hardware store and grab some washers.

Hi kozato,
as I wrote, the problem is still present with stock cooler.

[BrokenArrow]

What thermal paste are you using? If it is conductive, then maybe some squeezed out on the electronics on the board near the pad locations.

[absoluteczech]

sounds weird, but try using a different cable or using the 2nd dvi port

[TheMash]

What thermal paste are you using? If it is conductive, then maybe some squeezed out on the electronics on the board near the pad locations.

Im using Artic Ceramique, it "should" not be conductive...

[absoluteczech]

correct AC does not contain any metal or other electrically conductive materials

[TheMash]

correct AC does not contain any metal or other electrically conductive materials

I think I have to RMA my graphic card

[Boulard83]

I have a doubt on the block. The card is reference ? and the block is for reference ?

[wez]

This is why you should do a test fit of any water block or cooler before you turn on your PC

[terrornoize]

Mash, mi è successa la stessa roba con la 4870x2, sono partite le ram... rimetti il dissi originale e vai di rma.
Comunque se il full cover non appoggia bene occhio che è un attimo bruciarne un'altra.

[TheMash]

I have a doubt on the block. The card is reference ? and the block is for reference ?

Yeah, both reference, Ybris produced it only for reference board.

This is why you should do a test fit of any water block or cooler before you turn on your PC

Actually, we doesnt know if the block killed the board when I turned on the pc or during assembly.
Infact it was a test to check the board was working properly after mounting the waterblock.
How should I had to test the fit of the waterblock?

Mash, mi è successa la stessa roba con la 4870x2, sono partite le ram... rimetti il dissi originale e vai di rma.
Comunque se il full cover non appoggia bene occhio che è un attimo bruciarne un'altra.

Ciao terror!
Che fortuna leggere un italiano qui su XS.
Il fullcover a scanso di equivoci lo metto in pensione...
Il problema è se adesso mi cambieranno la scheda con un'altra 4870x2 visto che è fuori produzione...
La X2 per me ha un valore affettivo particolare, non mi interesserebbe la single GPU, la 5970 è fuori budget per me.

Question:
If I RMA my board, will they return another 4870x2 or a similar product (example: 5870), because the X2 its EOL (discontinued)?
The board its a Sapphire....

[Conumdrum]

Mash, you shouldn't RMA your card. You broke it. Honesty and Karma.

But I understand if budget and needs overcome doing the right thing sometimes.

[TheMash]

Mash, you shouldn't RMA your card. You broke it. Honesty and Karma.

But I understand if budget and needs overcome doing the right thing sometimes.

You are tremendously right Conumdrum, but I'm not so rich to afford another expense like this... Italy its not the best place to live actually... we're going down like Greece, Portugal...
However, I think that waterblock had some problem (I bought it second hand), because I taken 45 minutes and all the calm of this word to mount it on the board.
I tightned the screw gently and not hard, the contact was good, apart 2 ram modules that was half covere from the block.
I/it thrashed 200€ in a whisper...everybody rma'ed the board in similar cases, shouldn't I do it?

[Kozato]

Your card is definitely dead since the artifacts are also present with stock cooler.

Try to rma the card first.

[overclocking101]

sapphire will rma the card with a proper card im sure probably another 4870X2 even though they are EOL because they tend to keep added stock, though you probably will not get a new card probably one they simply repaired somehow. but either way it will be a working card. hell I dropped a screw on my 4890 and killed it right, I told sapphire U.S. rma and they said it was no matter they would rma my 4890 anyways.