# What's wrong with my x1800xl???



## M Diddy (Nov 25, 2005)

Hi guys!  Just found out about this nifty little tool and thought I'd give it a shot.  When I run either the find max core or mem programs, the number start to go down and don't sto until the card crashes.  Why's it doing that?  Also, I have no programs running, but the furry cube stutters like crazy when open.  Is my new card screwed up????  Thanks!


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## slyder314 (Nov 25, 2005)

The artifact scanning don't work on the X1K Series with this Bêta 9.W1ZZARD is going to fix this issue mormally in the next release.Go to the thread call "0.25 beta 9" in the sub-forum ATITOOL Beta Area to see the evolution of this issue qnd new's of upcoming Beta 10..


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## M Diddy (Nov 25, 2005)

I read that whole thread, but the reason I'm asking is I've seen on some of the Overclocking forums I'm on others with x1800's had no problem OCing their card with the tool.  Mine though seems to not want to go...


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## M Diddy (Nov 25, 2005)

One more thing to add.  Just for S and g's, I uninstalled ATItool and used ATI's overdrive utility to OC the card.  If I try to touch the memory speeds at all, even 1 Mhz, I get a blue screen and the card is not responsive.  What would cause something like that???


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## jjcom (Nov 26, 2005)

Whats your system specs? Could be the PSU isn't able to supply enough power


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## M Diddy (Nov 26, 2005)

jjcom said:
			
		

> Whats your system specs? Could be the PSU isn't able to supply enough power



Pentium 820 OC'd to 3.66
2 GB PC5300
Thermaltake TR-2 500W PS
2x160 Sata II WD Caviar Striped
Gigabyte 945P-Pro Mobo
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream ATX

That's all that would matter anyway...  I am able to turn up the PCI-E voltage in BIOS.  Should I give that a shot???


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## jjcom (Nov 26, 2005)

Ahhh, nice rig 

Try reinstalling the drivers, but it may well be the PSU. That isn't a bad PSU, but a Pentium D draws quite a bit of power, esp since it's overclocked. The X1800XL also uses a chunk as well. You might try clocking back the CPU and see if it helps with the X1800XL's memory. If it does, then I would say that points the problem with the PSU most likely.


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## M Diddy (Nov 26, 2005)

I was a little worried about that...  Shit...  Who woulda thought a 500W wouldn't be enough???


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## M Diddy (Nov 26, 2005)

I actually did try the drivers earlier today so that throws that out the window.  I'll give the CPU a shot and see how that goes...


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## jjcom (Nov 26, 2005)

a 520W OCZ would probably do it, but a 600W OCZ might be better so you've got some more headroom to expand on the rig


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## M Diddy (Nov 26, 2005)

You can throw the CPU idea out the window as well.  I turned my CPU and RAM back to stock speeds and still was not able to go past 500 MHZ for the GPU RAM....


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## pieman109 (Nov 27, 2005)

OK, firstly your prob is almost certainly NOT your psu, I'll explain. I've got EXACTLY the same prob as you in as much as, when I overclock the memory, even by 1 mhz, I get a "green" screen and I have to restart. The core clocks fine up to 575mhz and the card runs fine at these settings (memory at stock). When I first got this card, HIS X1800XL, the memory would go to 550mhz no probs. It was when I started messing with the atitool beta overclocking software that I got the same prob as you, unable to overclock the memory, even by 1mhz.
My psu is enermax noisetaker 485w, and I've been running fine with the above settings for weeks now. I personally think the memory problem is bios related as I've tried so many things in an attempt to find the cause, that the bios is the only thing left. I'm looking into getting the correct flashrom (I already got the bios, same as the sapphire versh) and as soon I get the info I need, I'll give it a go.


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## M Diddy (Nov 27, 2005)

Well, i actually found out this bit of info.  I tunred up my RAM voltage to 1.96 and was able to take the RAM up to 555 MHz no problem.  If I went higher I would get the blue screen.  What's a safe voltage to take the RAM up to so I can see how high I can take it?


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## pieman109 (Nov 27, 2005)

M Diddy said:
			
		

> Well, i actually found out this bit of info.  I tunred up my RAM voltage to 1.96 and was able to take the RAM up to 555 MHz no problem.  If I went higher I would get the blue screen.  What's a safe voltage to take the RAM up to so I can see how high I can take it?



Thats interesting. Which bit of software did you use to increase the ram voltage, atitool? In the meantime, I'll try and find out waht the max voltage is. Give me a day or two.


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## M Diddy (Nov 27, 2005)

Yeah, ATI Tool...  I wondering. I purchased my card direct from ATI, not Saphire.  I wonder why some people would have this peroblem while others don't.


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## pieman109 (Nov 28, 2005)

M Diddy said:
			
		

> Yeah, ATI Tool...  I wondering. I purchased my card direct from ATI, not Saphire.  I wonder why some people would have this peroblem while others don't.



If you check in CCC you'll see the version and part number of the bios. In mine its:

version 009.012.001.002

part no: 113-A52002-104

You'll probably find its the same bios version, I reckon all the makers use the same bios, ie: reference from ati, which would suggest its a reference card.


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## M Diddy (Nov 29, 2005)

pieman109 said:
			
		

> If you check in CCC you'll see the version and part number of the bios. In mine its:
> 
> version 009.012.001.002
> 
> ...




Yup.  Same numbers for me...  Since installing my Zalman Cooler, I've been able to get the card to clock to 650 core, 654 RAM.  My high temp only hits 58 C, but for some reason if I take the RAM above 655, it crashes 10 seconds into any 3D app.  I've also found out by doing some reading in the beta 9 thread, that others have the exact same problem.  One guy didn't have any issues running C 5.10, but whe he went to 5.11, he had problems OCing the RAM.  I'm starting to think it's a driver issue....


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## pieman109 (Nov 30, 2005)

M Diddy said:
			
		

> Yup.  Same numbers for me...  Since installing my Zalman Cooler, I've been able to get the card to clock to 650 core, 654 RAM.  My high temp only hits 58 C, but for some reason if I take the RAM above 655, it crashes 10 seconds into any 3D app.  I've also found out by doing some reading in the beta 9 thread, that others have the exact same problem.  One guy didn't have any issues running C 5.10, but whe he went to 5.11, he had problems OCing the RAM.  I'm starting to think it's a driver issue....



I've made a bit of headway here. I re-installed cats 5.11, enabled overdrive in the CCC, but used ati tool 0.25 beta 9 and used that to overclock. I'm currently at 574 core and 549 memory and those values show as the "current settings" in the CCC. If I go over either of those values, I get lockups, etc. I think thats down to the going higher than the max allowable overclock in the CCC (575 core, 550 memory). I'm gonna mess around for a bit and see if I can get the overclocks a bit higher. At least now, me memory seems to overclock a bit, albeit not by much, but its a start. I'll keep here informed.


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## pieman109 (Dec 1, 2005)

M Diddy said:
			
		

> Yup.  Same numbers for me...  Since installing my Zalman Cooler, I've been able to get the card to clock to 650 core, 654 RAM.  My high temp only hits 58 C, but for some reason if I take the RAM above 655, it crashes 10 seconds into any 3D app.  I've also found out by doing some reading in the beta 9 thread, that others have the exact same problem.  One guy didn't have any issues running C 5.10, but whe he went to 5.11, he had problems OCing the RAM.  I'm starting to think it's a driver issue....



Are you sure you've got the memory at 650mhz and not 550mhz?


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## M Diddy (Dec 1, 2005)

pieman109 said:
			
		

> Are you sure you've got the memory at 650mhz and not 550mhz?


 

Come on dude!    Yes I'm sure....  I've added a 120mm fan to the bottom of my Tsunami case blowing up at the vid card for some added cooling.  I helped a good bit lowering my idel temp another 5 degrees.  I'm now running 630 core and 675 RAM and hitting almost 8400 in 3DM05.  With those numbers, though, I should easily be around 9000 me thinks...


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## M Diddy (Dec 1, 2005)

I'll take a screen shot for ya....


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## pieman109 (Dec 1, 2005)

Well, I've had a result here too. I installed cats 5.11 and totally ignore the "overdrive" option. I've got hold of "ati tool 0.25 beta 10", gave the core 1.125v, left the memory at stock, and just overclocked the memory and core to 600mhz each. Only works!!! I've get the following:

"03"  15905, and "05" 8634, idles at 56 degrees c,  load is 67 degrees c. I just gave COD2 and quake 4 a hammering for 30 mins each to check for crashing, but its fine.
Well happy here. Congrats on getting yours going too.


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## M Diddy (Dec 1, 2005)

pieman109 said:
			
		

> Well, I've had a result here too. I installed cats 5.11 and totally ignore the "overdrive" option. I've got hold of "ati tool 0.25 beta 10", gave the core 1.125v, left the memory at stock, and just overclocked the memory and core to 600mhz each. Only works!!! I've get the following:
> 
> "03"  15905, and "05" 8634, idles at 56 degrees c,  load is 67 degrees c. I just gave COD2 and quake 4 a hammering for 30 mins each to check for crashing, but its fine.
> Well happy here. Congrats on getting yours going too.




You Intel or AMD???  I wanna know what's wrong with my card.  You're hitting higher then me in 05 and I have about 75 more MHz RAM and 30 more GPU.  It has to be something in my system holding the card back....  I idle at 46-47 and never pass 63 full load with my clock too....  I'm also running Cat 5.11....


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## M Diddy (Dec 1, 2005)

Also, just curious, how are you running 3DM05???  What tests and what settings???


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## pieman109 (Dec 1, 2005)

M Diddy said:
			
		

> Also, just curious, how are you running 3DM05???  What tests and what settings???



I set up the CCC with everything to "performance" rather than any quality settings enabled. Everyone I know does it that way and means a level playing field as it were. Also, it means you get a bigger score, lol. I've got following:

AMD S/D 3700 @ 2.5 ghz
2g PQI memory @ 200mhz, 2.5-3-3-7-1t stock volts
X1800XL @ 600/600 (you know about that)
485w enermax noisetaker.

Hope this helps.


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## M Diddy (Dec 2, 2005)

How about actually IN 3DM05???  You just use the defualt 3 games and 2 CPU tests???


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## pieman109 (Dec 2, 2005)

I run it all at default, 3 game tests and the two cpu tests. What system you got, and at what settings. I will say theres nowt running in the background on mine and theres not a lot loaded anyway, I reformatted recently.


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## M Diddy (Dec 2, 2005)

Intel 820 OC'd @ 3.66Mhz @ 1.4V
2GB Kingston @  347.5 Mhz at 4-3-3-10 @ +.2 V
Gigabyte 8I945P Pro Mobo
X1800XL with Cat 5.11 running at 630 GPU/675 RAM in ATI Tool
500W Thermaltake TR-2 PS

19 background processes and no other apps loaded.


I know it's not the processor because the test results I get in 3Dm are great!


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## M Diddy (Dec 2, 2005)

I also turned all my setting in CCC to performance and STILL only managed a 8209....


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## M Diddy (Dec 2, 2005)

Don't know if you saw this in the beta forum, but look at what 3DM see my FSB as....







Think that might have something to do with it????


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## pieman109 (Dec 2, 2005)

I wouldn't worry about the score too much, theres always gonna be someone that'll have a higher a score. Plus, A64 processors are renowned for being storming 3dmark performers What do you get in "03"


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