Sapphire HD3850 AGP Problems

[maxeh.UK]

Hi all,

Ive had this graphics card for 1-2 years now, and it was working fine - i could finally play titles like COD4 MW1 and MW2 on my pc when previously I couldnt. However, within the last 6 months or so (and i havent done anything about it) after about 5-8 mins of gameplay my computer will give me a black screen and restart automatically, or sometimes the ATI catalyst control centre enables VPU recover to get me back to the desktop.

I opened my rig up after it overheated once, and it was really hot - the fan on the GPU seems to be spinning though. It was probably the hottest thing in the case, the heatsink on my Q6700 CPU was virtually cold. I cleansed the card of any dust, but didnt attempt to check any thermal paste there may be between the fan and the card.

What I dont understand is why it started up all of a sudden? Is it a case of:

A) Format and fresh install of everything, and using the latest drivers - i havent updated them for a while, but didnt think they would make a difference?
B) Having a look at the thermal paste on the GPU?
C) Suspecting the PSU, even though it was fine previously.. its a Levicom 450W PSU, bought years and years ago, and the minimum recommended spec is 450W i believe

HELP!

[maxeh.UK]

Update:

After a restart from MW2 locking up, i went straight onto catalyst control centre, and the temperature only reads 55ish, im not sure if it reduces rapidly from the point of locking up, but that seems acceptable.

Ive changed the thermal paste, but its still locking up. Please, any ideas??

[alucasa]

It looks like a typical sign of something dying.
It could be any components at this point without further testing.

A rough guess would be the video card giving up.

I'd try a fresh reinstall, and then individually stress test CPU, RAM, and finally the video card.

If all three components pass stress test, your PSU will likely be the issue.

[afw]

may be its the PSU ... normally the efficiency of PSUs decrease on the long run ...

or it could be you VGA card ... to make sure its not your VGA card ... run it on another PC and check (hope you could find a PC with AGP ) ... so you can ensure whether the VGA is or is not the culprit here ...

[razaron]

you should check the VGA temps using furmark (its free).

[maxeh.UK]

Many thanks for the replies. Incidentally I do have another PC with AGP, Id have to find a game for it to run though to see if the GPU plays up.

I tried using ATI Tools to monitor the temperature, but that doesnt seem to work. Ill have a stab at Furmark, and get back to you.

[maxeh.UK]

Update.. it started off at a plain 54C, and then after about 2 minutes of furmark, the temperature was 93C, at which point i turned the program off.. I guess this is the cause then, the GPU overheating?

What baffles is me is the heatsink fan spins fine, and I even renewed the thermal compound today (and the previous stuff looked fine), and still it overheats. Any thoughts?

[afw]

heatsink may not be properly seated i guess ... or fan running slowly or at constant lower speed ...
... hmm ...

EDIT: also try a new driver ...

[maxeh.UK]

Thanks for the ideas. Im not sure how the heatsink could unseat itself.. due to the design theres not much room for play in terms of moving it around, and all the screws are done up tight enough for the surfaces to contact. Im not sure how id check the fan, though.

Its got the newest drivers available. Ive fired off an email to sapphire, lets see what they have to say about it.

[Jstn7477]

I'd try replacing the thermal paste on the graphics card. I think my Sapphire 3850 AGP only gets up to maybe 85c in Furmark. Don't quite remember, though.

[DTV DRAGON]

hey if you need a new fan and shroud etc. for that card I have one sitting in my basement, I used to have the same card a couple years ago in my old p4 setup but i switched fans for a zalman, so if you want the stock parts just pay shipping and i will gladly send them out!

[maxeh.UK]

Ive tried replacing the thermal paste with arctic 5, and gave it a couple of runs - still same results unfortunately.

How much would I need to give you for shipping, DTV Dragon? I might take you up on that, im stuck on what else to do.

[DTV DRAGON]

Originally Posted by maxeh.UK

Ive tried replacing the thermal paste with arctic 5, and gave it a couple of runs - still same results unfortunately.

How much would I need to give you for shipping, DTV Dragon? I might take you up on that, im stuck on what else to do.

geez its very light so i cant see it costing that much, if your interested in can check it out for you and give ya a cost

[afw]

Originally Posted by DTV DRAGON

hey if you need a new fan and shroud etc. for that card I have one sitting in my basement, I used to have the same card a couple years ago in my old p4 setup but i switched fans for a zalman, so if you want the stock parts just pay shipping and i will gladly send them out!

One of the reasons why TPU rockzz ... ... great members ... willing to help each other and expecting nothing in return ... ...

[DTV DRAGON]

forgot please pm me your shipping info... I forgot to ask

[lemonadesoda]

Max,

Have you been running your 3850AGP at stock or OC? If OC, did you have stock cooling, or did you upgrade the cooling?

Sometimes a card running OC without additional-extra cooling will mean an accelerated half-life of the device. These solid-state components, voltage regulators, capacitors, diodes, can all have their lives shortened when run beyond their spec.

That's why when you OC you must-must additional-extra the cooling.

Try using one of the BIOS editors and see if you can set new clocks for the 3850 AGP card and set them 10% LOWER than stock. I know that doesnt sound too exciting... but better to have a card operating slightly slower than NOT AT ALL.

PS. I always run my cards and CPUs at stock unless I have additional-extra 3rd party cooling. And then, with improved coolers, I find my max speeds and DIAL BACK a really healthy 10-20% to get well into the operating envelope.

If you run your system at the edge... you will likely run into the problems you are facing after 6-12 months.

Anyhow, good luck. Hope you can salvage the situation.

[lemonadesoda]

Ah, wait. Are you on the ASROCK 865PE? If so, it is your AGP port failing. The only solution is to replace the mainboard. I had a similar problem with mine. HOURS of trying to solve it. It wasnt the GPU at all, but something to do with the stability of the AGP/northbridge. Perhaps you didnt cool your northbridge enough, or there was too much power draw over the AGP... and your mainboard is now giving up.

DONT WORRY, you card should still be good. You could try getting another ASROCK 865PE, or, do what I did, which is to get a Rev 2 775i65G. This board only has two DDR slots unfortunately, but it is MUCH MORE STABLE.

[lemonadesoda]

Get a replacement mainboard for 30 quid

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=a...*,+conroe865*)
http://shop.ebay.de/i.html?_nkw=asro...*,+conroe865*)

This guy lives in Frankfurt, Germany, and has two for sale:
http://shop.ebay.de/mimitattoo76/m.h...&_trksid=p4340
Try contacting him and see if he will ship to the UK. If not, I can forward it to you...

Alternatively, time to upgrade to 5770 and a new mainboard, rather more than 30 quid.

[OneMoar]

I had a 3850 once RAN HOT as hell and died after about a year odds are your card is dead the 3850 had a known history of being hot running and short lived I doubt its the motherboard or psu

[maxeh.UK]

Everybody - thank you very, very much for your input.

Update - I got in touch with Sapphire, and they said they'd be happy to replace it under it's 2 year warranty (FYI: amazon werent very helpful, and tried fobbing me off to the manufacturer..) so thats been sent off, and once proven faulty Ill get a new one back in the post. Hopefully.

Thanks DTV Dragon for the offer, but im pinning my hopes on getting a replacement, so lets see how that turns out first.

Lemonadesoda - ive been running the 775i65g with no stability problems so far (big thanks again to you for that), I thought of keeping the Conroe as a backup because of the stability problems you mentioned before. And I dont make a habit of overclocking stuff so the 3850AGP shouldnt be too stressed.

With regards to RJC's comments maybe it is a short lived card.. if the replacment card I get gives me another year of operation I guess I should be happy, and by then itll be time to move on!