128 DDR ATI Radeon 9800 Problems

Hi,
I'm having some serious problems with my 128 DDR ATI Radeon 9800, which came with my Dell Dimension 8300 PC. The problem is that whenever I play games, the 3D graphics become a spiral of colors and virtually the whole image is corrupt. The thing is, though, when I'm in the main screen for these games to change options, quit the game, start a game, etc., the graphics only have a few corruptions here and there. It's ingame that the image just gets completely messed up. I realize that this seems like a nondescript problem, so I'll try to narrow it down with some details:

Even after I restart, the Windows XP loading screen is not correct...the image has lines through it and colors that flash all over the place. I waited out the problem overnight and started up a game again, and the problem was gone for about 2 minutes...it came back after that. The mouse cursor, icons, and a bunch of things on the desktop have screwed up shadows and edges around them.

I didn't have this problem until I bought GTA: San Andreas for PC. Even then, I had been playing San Andreas for over a week without any problems. Then the graphics just exploded (figuratively) on one of the missions and the spiral of colors happened. After that, every 3D game I play has this problem. Another thing is that the colors aren't just random colors...it's just as if someone scrambled up the original picture.

Again, I hadn't been having problems at all until San Andreas, but I had played Vice City, Max Payne, and other high level graphics games without any problems. My guess is that my ATI card is overheating/overcooling/just frying out or something. Also, downloading the latest drivers hasn't solved my problem (in fact they made me have to do system restore because they crashed my PC)...moreover, there's no reason for me to d/l the latest Catalyst drivers because I've been playing high quality games for a while with my current drivers.

Thanks for your help.

 

I think you may be right your card has just crapped out with the heat of summer,the latest drivers are supposed to help with incompatibility with the latest games,thats there primary function,a feel like a broken record with this help messeage,download and run driver cleaner from the download section,follow the instructions in the readme to the LETTER and then install the latest catalyst drivers from ati.

 

if there are graphic corruptions before u are in windows, ie the bios, then that means that ur g-card has some fried/faulty memory. the only thing u can try is to reseat the heatsink and with some luck it might get better but its doubtful and it probably would be best to RMA it... can u post a screenshot of this scrambled screen?

 

do you want a screen of a game's messed up graphics or the xp loading screen...if it's the second one, then will print screen on the keyboard still work?

also, do you know a good image hosting site?

 

a desktop screenshot and in game screenshot should be ok. to get a screenshot of the bios, or XP loading screen u would have to use a Digital Camera, i think. u can add the image as an attachement here... no need for image hosting site.

 

ok i can't get the digital camera picture of the windows xp screen yet, but even the ingame pic is too big for the image upload (262 KB). i can't believe 262 kb isn't allowed...that's not much at all.

 

Rikky,
I used the driver cleaner and I got the same result...my computer crashes with the new catalyst drivers...only problem is that now that I did driver cleaner I can't get back my old plug-and-play install!! driver cleaner made it so that i can't rely on deleting the graphics card in the device manager and having plug and play detect and install it on the reboot...what do i do now?

 

u can make a screenshot of the screenshot untill u get it down to the correct size.. i use Paint for this sort of thing.. make sure u save it as a jpeg.

 

well right now, i'm more stuck on the problem i wrote about in my last post .

 

sorry for the double post again, but i fixed the immediate problem in starting up my computer with the old drivers by using system restore...now back to the graphics problem...i still can't seem to get the screenshot small enough to attach...how else can i do it?

 

open the file with paint,you dont need the full screen,just a good portion of the screwed up area,cut a section out and paste it in a new file,save the file as jpeg,if its too large,cut a smaller chunk

 

ok here it is: the first one is to show how the 3D graphics are screwed up and the second one is to show how the 2D graphics are still showing up. the pics are from MVP Baseball 2005 by EA SPORTS, but the same thing happens to other games like San Andreas.

what happens when i boot up the computer for the windows xp logo is similar to this 2D picture (you can see the logo for what it is but it has such corruptions).

 

Sorry, but what is an RMA?

 

ok i see...but do you think that a replacement would change things or would that eventually get overheated (if that's the problem) too?

 

if only i could get them out of their holes to help . thanks for your input, though, i'll definitely look into those suggestions as far as the fan and the new card.

 

if i am out of warranty with dell, do i have to buy a new card and an extra fan?

 

u might get lucky and the company that made ur card may take it back. but first check ur system temperatures, cpu, case, graphics core and ambient. u dont want to add another fan if its not necessary, it will only make things noisier. in case u dont have a program to do so i suggest u get speedfan ( almico.com i believe). try running games with the case open, ur problems might go away. this might still be fixable
by the way, how long have u had this dell and how long since uve been getting these problems?

 

ok thanks for the response, i'll have to try that. to answer your questions, i've had this dell for at least 2 if not 3 years. this problem only started happening 3 days ago.

 

oh i forgot one more thing...i downloaded speedfan, but i'm not sure what readings you want me to give you or how to get them. i don't even know how to get the temperature readings, so could you help me out with that a little? thanks.

 

i'm still a little clueless about how to work this temp. check thing etc.

 

bump...i have no choice, i mean come on i have to solve the problem and that's what this forum is for.

 

ok.. so ur not getting any temp readings on speedfan?

 

zelda right click desktop,properties,settings,advanced select your video card then have a look in this menu for the temperature settings

 

i don't see any such tab under the display settings, even in advanced, rikky. and olley, i'm not quite sure how to use speedfan so no i haven't found out the temp. readings there either.

 

mate i have a ATI radeon 9800 same as yours, does your pc crash when your playing a true 3D game? goto START > RUN type in DXDIAG and chck you have at least Direct X 9.0 or better, that game could have installed an earlier version. I had problems with the latest Catalyst drivers i rolled back to the previous version. Initially when i installed my Graphics card, 3D would run for about 30 seconds before freezing. it was down to the AGP Voltage, I had to increase it in bios to 1.6V from the standard 1.5. check in bios to make sure all the advanced functions for AGP are turned on, that graphics card needs them. AGP Fast Writes etc. Turn off Video Ram Caching in bios too and change your AGP Memory hole to at least 64MB or 128MB if you have enough system ram to allow it. hope this helps a bit. if not let me know what happens, its late here 00:22 hours in uk im a bit tired so not able to explain things very well lol, please let me know if your problems persist cheers

 

Use this advanced tab,then the radeon 9800 tab at the top,in the same p-lace as it says geforce 6800gt on mine,then look in the next menus for one named temperature

 

i see what you're saying rikky, but i don't have an option for temperature...that's probably just your geforce. my radeon 9800 doesn't have that.

 

oh i forgot...amdxp i'm not sure what memory hole or "in the bios" means, so i wasn't able to locate and change any of those options. i do know that i am running the latest directx9 with old catalyst drivers. i'm 100% sure that updating catalyst drivers does not solve the problem.

 

to olley: yes, my speedfan does not show temp. readings.

 

AFAIK the Radeon 9800pro does not have temp sensors built in, so you will not be able to see the temps with any software ... if you want to test the temp you must get a physical probe, and stick in the heatsink, not too accurate but I find it's usually 1-4 degrees cooler or so than the actual temp

 

Ok, to get into BIOS (basic input output system) you need to press the DELete Key on your keyboard during boot up, it can happen very quickly on some systems so as soon as you power up, start tapping the key with some speed till you see a (usually) blue screen with lots of options on it. the thing you are looking for is
"AGP aperture size" usually found in Advanced Chipset Options.
Set this to 64MB or 128MB and see how you go.
you should also see the options for
AGP Mode (set to 8X if possible or 4X absolute minimum)
AGP Fast Write set to Enabled,
AGP Master 1 W/S Read - Enabled,
AGP Master 1 W/S Write - Enabled,
AGP Read Synchronisation - Enabled,
press F10 to save and exit BIOS (press Y then Enter at the prompt) your BIOS may not allow you to alter the AGP Voltage but if it does it may be in the Frequency/Voltage Control section of BIOS
If possible, set this to 1.6V, no higher. You arnt attempting to overclock the Graphics, your just supplying the voltage this greedy card needs to run properly try and let me know if you get this far

 

the only option i saw was agp aperture, which was already set to 128 MB...

 

i just opened up my dell pc (i'm running it with case open to see if it's a heating problem). i found a dead cricket in there (no clue how it got in there)...i'm running out of options now because it's no different with the case open so far. i even brought a fan from my bedroom and blew it over the motherboard...no progress, so i'm waiting it out...im feeling more and more like i'm gonna have to buy a new graphics card or PC .

 

That cricket could have bitten off more than it can chew, check your graphics card for damage to any components. capacitors stand out a mile (they look like little tin cans in most cases) if they have fattened up and got signs of leakage under them, then you need a replacement card. you could get a decent friend who knows his worth in electronics to try resolder new ones on but they are fiddly and the heat from the soldering iron could do more damage than good if not used carefully. other components are hard to spot as they dont all fail with obvious signs of damage. usually electrolytic capacitors are to blame for strange events as they are used mainly for smoothing out line voltages and in some cases timing events, and even filtering audio signals. have a good look in your system, check your wiring for signs of "chewing" maybe even part of the crickets body is shorting out something have a very close good look around.

 

the thing is that i don't even know what these things look like when they are not damaged, so it's hard for me to tell if they are...my main problem now is that if i buy a new card, i'm afraid it'll also get screwed up by the rest of the system and the store won't accept it as a return.

 

i have some new input...when i go into display properties, advanced, and troubleshooting, i can eliminate some of my problem by disabling hardware acceleration for directdraw and direct3d acccelerations. this makes movies, icons, and the mouse cursor show up fine, but modern games obviously cannot run without directx9. anyone know what this could mean?

 

i guess the question i should have asked is if there is a specific directx portion of my card that could have been damaged...i'm starting to to think less and less that the problem is overheating because then wouldn't the whole graphics card screw up (leaving me with a completely messed up display instead of just for high-end games).

 

http://images.google.com/images?q=b...&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official_s&sa=N&tab=wi

There are some blown capacitors for ya ...

But it sounds to me like you need a new video card, might borrow one from a friend or if you have an old one lieing around might swap it in to make sure

 

well can i just buy a new graphics card, install it, and then return it if it doesn't work?

 

depends on the store policy ... you'd have to ask them

 

DirectX
A hardware standard that enables programmers to develop for a single set of APIs rather than many different makes and models of hardware. The standard includes Direct3D (for 3D graphics), DirectSound (for multiple audio sources), DirectDraw (for 2D graphics), DirectVideo (for AVI files and other movies), DirectPlay (for multiplayer gaming), and DirectInput ( for joysticks and other game input hardware)
These are the drivers loaded into windows and are used for "translating" game code into something your Graphics card will understand (hence graphics drivers and directx drivers havng to be installed for windows to do the translations)

OpenGL
Open Graphics Library A widely used cross-platform application programming interface (API) for developing interactive 2D and 3D graphics applications. This open standard was initially developed by Silicon Graphics in 1992, and is now managed by an independent consortium, the OpenGL Architecture Review Board. With OpenGL, programmers writing graphics applications don't have to worry about writing for a specific operating system or type of hardware; the applications will run correctly on OpenGL-compatible hardware and software.
These are built into the graphics card and are what recieve the translations from windows to be used to drive the cards functions, many cards have different ways of doing things like transparencies and texture mapping, so these are there to drive the card in a way that it was designed for.

It is unlikely you can damage the graphics cards understanding of directx as its all hardware, the whole card would fail, what you have sounds like the cards memory is being corrupted along the way somewhere, i would suggest you remove the card, and inspect every single metal contact along all the chips to make sure nothing is shorting any pins out what so ever, they are tiny, its a tedious job, but if you can eliminate that factor then the memory itself has become damaged even though the card would check for this and report a fault. check the dxdiag (Run > dxdiag) to see if all the drivers are ok, they probably are so its defo on your card somewhere.
Point of interest - i used to deliberately run a 10p accross my parralel port on my Amstrad cpc464 to get lovely coloured squares all over the place, that bugger just wouldnt die no matter which chips i shorted out lol. bring back 8 bit microcomputers i say, they were rock solid, i still have a Z80A cpu kicking about somewhere.

 

zelda how long have you had your comp and how long is left on your warranty,most dells have parts and labour within one year of purchase,after one year if you return the part they will give you a new part to install yourself

 

amdxp, i might just have to let someone more experienced look at my card for damage because i can't identify damage even from pictures. and rikky, my warranty has expired so i might end up just upgrading my graphics card.

 

i just tried to remove my card and i found that i have no idea how to get it out...theres a big green thing on top of my graphics, sound, and modem cards that keeps all three of those cards locked together. so i'm not quite sure how to get this thing out.

 

i talked to the dell guys about the problem and i am now 100% sure that it is a video memory corruption (i did the dell diagnostic in bootup).

 

looks like i need a new card any suggestions? i am looking for something that will last even with heavy gaming (high quality games), but i'm also looking for a somewhat cheap card.

 

still waiting for suggestions.

 

Where do you live, im in the UK
I would suggest the Nvidia 128MB Sparkle GeForce 6600GT AGP
it costs £127 here if that is too much then the
Nvidia 256MB Sparkle GeForce 6600 AGP @ £90 both are 8x AGP
and both get good reports for multimedia, DVD playback, and a quality gaming experience.
you only get what you pay for and if you go too cheap you will soon find yourself needing a better card. best to pay the price up front and rest knowing it will last for a few years to come

 

i have in the U.S. and i'm looking for a solid, up-to-date 256 MB card for a fair price.

 

Hey Zelda, I also have a Dell 8300 and a ATI 9800 PRO 128MB card and have recently started experiencing the exact problems you are having and it is due to overheating as the cards tend to get very hot after prolongued use (i.e playing games etc), Because of the poor case design and fan placement teh dell's cannot keep the card cool enough when run more high end apps (new games, video editing) and so eventually parts (ususally some of the ic's as the are the most fickle) burn out and start to malfunction. To make things worse, on my dell they had installed the sound card (audigy 2) in the top pci slot right under the ati with about 2mm if that of space between the graphics card heatsink and fan and the soundcard. If i were you i would contact dell and ask them for a free replacement as this was eventually going to happen due to poor case ventilation and so u can argue that inproper / poor installation of our system eventually caused the overheating. This is what i have done here in the uk and im still waiting for a response but know i know this has happened to others with the same pc, it confirms my theories about the casing and heating problems. In either case (get a free replacement or have to buy a new card) i would recommend buying a pci fan (fan that plugs into a pci slot) which costs about £10 so $15 or so. also when choosing a new card make sure the cooling system is good, here is the new card i will be getting => click this top of the page, has a very good cooling system built in.