# HELP can anyone tell me whats wrong with my card. (picture included)



## indolicious (Apr 4, 2005)

My specs:
ATI connect3d x800 pro
1,5 gig of internal memory
3,2 gig of mhz (pentium 4)
Zalmann PSU 400 watt (ZM400B-APS)
asus motherboard p4c800-e deluxe (chipset= 875P MCH) agp 8x
DVD writer
CD writer
3 hard disks (2x 80 GB and 1x 160 GB)
usb devices
Catalyst drivers 5.3





When i play world of warcraft no problems but since short the games i play shows artifacting, black  dots in my screen when i play a small period of time. Afther that shord period of time they appear and building up to get worser and worser in quantinty of black dots and artifacts.
The funny part is that when i quit the game and restart it the problem is showing directly when i play the game but when i start a few movies in windows or browse the internet for a few minutes its like a reboot of the card and i can play for a shord period of time again without problems.

Ohw no problems with WoW no matter how long i play World of Warcraft.


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## FatMaserati (Apr 4, 2005)

Have you overclocked your X800 Pro? If so, to what values?


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## Nullman (Apr 4, 2005)

Also, what temperature is your card running it, both idle and under load?


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## indolicious (Apr 4, 2005)

thnx for replying, I think i have done nothing that overclock my card. It is al on standart values. Now in windows i have a temperture of 41/42 degrees when idle.
I have done a test with scan for artifacts, and when it's over like 2/3 minutes of scanning and hit the 69> degrees the problems begins for me. I have also tried to use the fixed percentage in fan control to 100% but when i hit the scan for artifacts button it still climbs in temperture with no reachable stable point.

I think myself that the problem is when it hit the 70 degrees it gives me problems.  
 But i'm no expert.


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## Nullman (Apr 4, 2005)

Well my X850XT can reach temperatures of 90+ under extreme load, but ATI reckon that this posses no problem for this particular card.  I'm not sure what temperatures the X800Pro should be reaching, but if it's anything like mine, I would say you could rule out overheating, but maybe someone who owns a X800Pro could better advise on whether or not these temps are acceptable.

Maybe try installing an earlier version of the Catalyst drivers, or try uninstalling the Catalyst drivers and install the Omega drivers, just to rule out any drivers issues.  It just seems strange that it runs WoW fine, which would lead me to believe that its a software issue, but I could be wrong of course


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## FatMaserati (Apr 4, 2005)

Those temperatures are normal with stock cooling.

Man, you have me stumped. I'm not familiar with the Connect3D range of cards. Someone else might know a little more specific information about them.

Who knows... It may be a faulty card.

Have you tried playing games or whatever WITHOUT ATITool running? Do the artifacts still show up?


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## indolicious (Apr 4, 2005)

yep, after the problems with the games, i begin to search the internet for tools that confirmed the errors and atitool was the one that popped up.
I was wondering, do i maybe need more power. Because the case i use have also a standart of 8 case fans that also uses power from my PSU.

In the mean while i am trying to trouble shoot blindly by dusting my case for maybe its a dust problem and try to apply thermal paste between the card and fan.


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## FatMaserati (Apr 4, 2005)

8 case fans!? Crazy. Mmm... Maybe you do need more power. I don't actually exactly know the symptoms of a graphics card starved of power so I can't say for sure. Someone must do...


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## indolicious (Apr 4, 2005)

I dusted and used some little thermal paste i had left and guess what it was a temperture problem. I guess i need a better VGA cooler. I'm now checking for a Artic Silencer. Do you guys know which one is better the silencer 4 or 5?


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## Diggs (Apr 4, 2005)

Looks very much like your video card memory is corrupt.. Had this problem on an earlier card after pushing it a little bit too hard, lucky for me it was still under warranty and exchanged with out any problems...

How old's the card? 
Have you ever overclocked it?
Is the memory and card too hot to touch when the problems arise?

Your power supply is ample for your setup. A new cooler may help but it should be working fine at stock speeds for what your doing. If it's under warranty, send it back and tell them exactly how it happens, so they can replicate the problem.

Diggs


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## FatMaserati (Apr 5, 2005)

Artic Silencer 4. The 5 doesn't fit an X800Pro, as I think they are for X850s.

However, I ran my card with stock cooling for ages, and it didn't have the problems you describe. I think there is something wrong with the card. The temperatures you mentioned were fine and wouldn't have affected the card performance.


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## indolicious (Apr 7, 2005)

Thnx for the tips you guys, i solved the problem. It was a thermal problem, because new thermal paste fixed the standart fan on the card.

I compared the artic silencers and the 5 wins from the 4 for the ati pro card. the cool elements on the block are bigger so the fan has a bigger surface to cool (thats better). Its now mounted on the card and atitool gives me tempertures of 31 degrees when i clocked the card with 80 more on core speed with the hairy cube from atitool rotating. Not mentioned the memory from the card those are even cooler   

In short "i like it a lot and it workes perfectly"


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## ASM1 (Apr 12, 2005)

indolicious  

glad you got it sorted 

I had similar problems to you just after I installed my Rev 4 Cooler on my X800XT PE - all was initially fine, but after a few weeks it started to Idle at 41/42*C and temps would rise as you describe... so I reinstalled the Cooler (with new AS5) and all has been fine  - I probably put a little too much AS5 on it first time round, or the AS5 went "off"  

Funnily enough, Mines a Connect 3D as well - However, as I have said, no problems with it since *touches wood*

cheers

Andrew


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