Anyone still using a HD 2900XT or Pro?

[BrooksyX]

I know, terrible, isn't it!

I should clarify, that it's actually an Athlon X2 3800+ to give it its due. Apart from the latest games, it performs really well on my Abit motherboard and runs Vista Ultimate very snappily.

Yeah the X2s are fine for basic stuff. Plenty enough for Vista. Vista is actually pretty snappy on my Dell Mini 9 netbook with the intel atom processor and 2gb of ram.

 

[Rebo&Zooty]

core2quad or phenom2, eather would be a huge boost over the 939 rig u got hehe.

when i get more moneys I plan to get a k10, just a matter of time

 

[AsRock]

I must agree, that despite my little rant in my opening post, I would have been reasonably happy with it, had it not been for the noise issue on the stock cooler. That's what made it a lemon for me. I thought I could tame it with ATI Tool and BIOS flashes, but alas, it wasn't to be.

Also, I couldn't find a decent replacement air cooler for it, either. I don't want to do water and the only air cooled alternative was that Arctic Cooling Accelero kwality special - it was quite expensive, 3 slot (didn't realise before I bought it) and crucially, didn't fit on the card properly - one of the heat pipes snagged, putting a slight bend in the card. This causes it a lot of mechanical stress and eventual failure, which was a dealbreaker for that cooler. I returned two of those damned things for the same problem. Piece of crap. With three fans on it though, it did actually cool the card very well, though.

There's this one shame about the price though
http://www.petrastechshop.com/scmtwvgaco.html

I have the Artic Cooling ( Hard to get hold of ) one and the temps of the GPU and ram are a none issue. As for fitting no issue's at all which i believe was the same with the owner of it before me.

A pic keep in mind room temp was around 83f.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19371&d=1224251707

 

[kenkickr]

I have a 2900GT sitting in it's box at home that might go into a E5200 HTPC build I'm thinking about til I can afford a much better energy efficient card.

 

[qubit]

Design flaw

There's this one shame about the price though
http://www.petrastechshop.com/scmtwvgaco.html

I have the Artic Cooling ( Hard to get hold of ) one and the temps of the GPU and ram are a none issue. As for fitting no issue's at all which i believe was the same with the owner of it before me.

A pic keep in mind room temp was around 83f.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=19371&d=1224251707

That cooler on Petra's sounds like it would have done the trick; not seen it before. Don't like that it has sleeve bearings though, as they don't last nearly as long as ball bearing ones.

Did your Arctic Cooling cooler snag when fitting it? If it's the three fan one, then it's the same model as the one I had. The problem was that the middle heat pipe snagged on the little PWM heatsink that you put on as part of the package. The whole cooler actually didn't sit flush, causing the board to have a small, but sharp kink in it when screwed down. That was on two examples and looks like a design flaw with the cooler to me.

The cooling performance was awesome though, so it was a real shame about this.

 

[AsRock]

That cooler on Petra's sounds like it would have done the trick; not seen it before. Don't like that it has sleeve bearings though, as they don't last nearly as long as ball bearing ones.

Did your Arctic Cooling cooler snag when fitting it? If it's the three fan one, then it's the same model as the one I had. The problem was that the middle heat pipe snagged on the little PWM heatsink that you put on as part of the package. The whole cooler actually didn't sit flush, causing the board to have a small, but sharp kink in it when screwed down. That was on two examples and looks like a design flaw with the cooler to me.

The cooling performance was awesome though, so it was a real shame about this.

Yeah would have to get some other fans for it ..

Yeah the PWM heatsink was close but did not course any issue's for me. Only had 2 tiny problems that was a pain with it was that you had to plug the cooler in before fitting it on the card lol. The other was the fans did not spin if you did not mod the bios to the card.

And yes it is the 3 fan one
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=153

All though you can take of the plastic part and use some zip ties to add your own fans.

 

[qubit]

Yeah would have to get some other fans for it ..

Yeah the PWM heatsink was close but did not course any issue's for me. Only had 2 tiny problems that was a pain with it was that you had to plug the cooler in before fitting it on the card lol. The other was the fans did not spin if you did not mod the bios to the card.

And yes it is the 3 fan one
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=153

All though you can take of the plastic part and use some zip ties to add your own fans.

Yes, that's the cooler I bought, twice. Perhaps the ones I bought came from a bad batch? I remember the issue with the fan connector, too. Not all the fans on my one would spin up immediately, but they did spin up.

 

[Deusxmachina]

People comparing the 2D power draw of the 2900 to other cards, I do wonder what the power draw is if they're actually turned down. The 3870 drops to like 300/300 in 2D, while the 2900 is like 500/600. When I dropped my 2900pro 2D to 250 or 300/300, temps dropped a lot, and I'm guessing so did power draw.

Anyone with a 2900pro/xt needs to read the 2900pro thread(s) if they haven't. ATITool has problems with I'm guessing newer drivers for it, so you can overclock with Rivatuner, but you can underclock and overclock with the ATI GPU program. You need to bios flash if you want to change voltage.

I flashed my bios to like 250/300, and the fan is at 25%. Anything 28% or less is basically inaudible. And since I'm not a sissy like people who require their card in 3D mode to be under 70 degrees, I have the fan set to only go up 28 or 31% when it gets to 85 degrees. Even when overclocked to 800/900 or whatever I have it at, it rarely if ever goes above 38% fan at 86 degrees. 31 is near inaudible, 38% is "hey, I can hear the fan a little bit." Over 50% or so is when it starts getting loud.

I paid $140 new for mine a year ago when the 3870 was $210-ish and the 8800GT was even more. All three got the job done, and now all three are getting outdated. I played Crysis on mine, so what more can I ask of it.

 

[qubit]

@Deusxmachina

The following assumes that you've read my opening post on this thread and my other ones.

Yeah, I also noticed a welcome and significant power drop when reducing the clock speeds in 2D mode with ATI Tool - the current seriously dropped; I can't remember the values now. Especially so when the supply voltage was also reduced to 0.8v approx. The fan would then sit at a truly silent 25%, just as you say.

The problem was that I couldn't tame it sufficiently in 3D mode, even when reducing the supply voltage and risking lockups. For me, the 38% setting is still unacceptably loud (it hit 44% on some games, too), because my PC sits on my desk to my right and with the cover permanently off. Between the serious bugs in ATI Tool and the inability for the cooler to cool the GPU quietly, it was a show stopper for me.

85C was about the hottest I dared let it go, because it would start to artifact and lockup much beyond that and it even started to smell like it was overheating. Running the card like this for extended periods is likely to kill it early.

I recently got a 8800 GTX cheaply and can tell you that it's a much better card in every way. This was a real shame, because the 2900XT was no competition and stopped better cards from being released in 2007. Of course, we all know that the GTX is quite a bit faster when both cards are at stock, but the fan especially is quiet. Even when spun at 100% with Riva Tuner it's not that loud. While playing a game, it only ever gets moderately audible and is no disturbance at all.

I'm curious to know what card you're using now. I have the pick of that 8800 GTX, HD 4870 512MB or a 9800 GX2.

 

[H82LUZ73]

I still use my ASUS 29000XT in a sister computer to the one in my specs.. Wish i could get another one for crossfire action

 

[qubit]

I still use my ASUS 29000XT in a sister computer to the one in my specs.. Wish i could get another one for crossfire action

Does this one from Scan help? (UK site). Bear in mind that you'll be paying full price for it and that would make it terrible value by now, especially considering that a much more powerful GTX 280 can now be had for somewhat less than than the £242 asking price.

 

[gR3iF]

I use a 2900pro 512bit in my current gaming Rig. I get the card and a Ek water cooler for around 70euro. That is compared to anything else nothing. You can play L4d, Farcry 2 and Crysis with this card just fine. My card can do 1100/1000 in my water cooling setup and it runs 250/250 in 2d with 0.5v. I guess this isnt that power hungry isn' t it?

 

[qubit]

Great deal

I use a 2900pro 512bit in my current gaming Rig. I get the card and a Ek water cooler for around 70euro. That is compared to anything else nothing. You can play L4d, Farcry 2 and Crysis with this card just fine. My card can do 1100/1000 in my water cooling setup and it runs 250/250 in 2d with 0.5v. I guess this isnt that power hungry isn' t it?

That great price is critical, isn't it? Well worth it for that.

Do I understand correctly that you overclocked the GPU to 1100MHz? That would be staggering! Some comparative benchies comparing it to stock speeds and one or two other cards would be nice, if possible.

I'm surprised that it'll work at 0.5v in 2D mode; mine only went down to about 0.85v without locking up and with a much reduced clock to go with it.

 

[Deusxmachina]

The problem was that I couldn't tame it sufficiently in 3D mode, even when reducing the supply voltage and risking lockups. For me, the 38% setting is still unacceptably loud (it hit 44% on some games, too),

85C was about the hottest I dared let it go, because it would start to artifact and lockup much beyond that and it even started to smell like it was overheating. Running the card like this for extended periods is likely to kill it early.

If 38% is too loud for you, then I don't know what to say. That's about as quiet as I would expect a video card to be short of being silent. I mean, my 7600Gt was probably more annoying. Perhaps not as loud, (although maybe), but more high-pitched and thus more annoying.

The 2900 is rated to not even downclock itself until like 105 degrees, so if yours is overheating at 85 degrees, something is probably up.

If the 8800GTX is a better card, I would expect it to be. I got my 2900pro for $140 new from Newegg a year ago when the 8800GT was $100 more. Both cards were roughly in the same ballpark then, (minus AA, perhaps), and now both are on their way out now. Once I turned mine down to be quieter in 2D, and turned it up to be better than a 2900xt in 3D, I think it's pretty good.

I considered getting a newer card, but I've already played Crysis, and Crysis Warhead was even easier, so I don't see much point.

 

[JC316]

I have a 2900GT sitting in it's box at home that might go into a E5200 HTPC build I'm thinking about til I can afford a much better energy efficient card.

Wouldn't be interested in a 2600Xt and $20 for it would ya? That way you would get your energy efficient card.

 

[qubit]

If 38% is too loud for you, then I don't know what to say. That's about as quiet as I would expect a video card to be short of being silent.

I can promise you that my card is anything but silent at that setting and the tone of the noise is quite annoying. All my other high performance cards are significantly quieter than this - and much faster, too. Remember how I have the PC physically set up on my table with the side panel off makes it even louder.

The 2900 is rated to not even downclock itself until like 105 degrees, so if yours is overheating at 85 degrees, something is probably up.

Mine was originally sold as a Pro 1GB which I flashed to an XT with modified fan parameters (ie hotter but quieter). I've heard that even though they will clock just fine at XT levels, they are actually lower grade chips than a true XT, but I don't know how true this is though. Perhaps that's why you can push yours harder?

I considered getting a newer card, but I've already played Crysis, and Crysis Warhead was even easier, so I don't see much point.

I don't know what framerates you consider to be good, but I like a solid 85fps wherever possible, as 85Hz is the flicker-free refresh rate I set my CRT monitor to. In modern games like you've mentioned, a faster card is definitely required to achieve this at a reasonable resolution and AA/AF setting. 85Hz with no dropped frames looks liquid smooth and greatly enhances gameplay.

I'm playing the fantastic Fallout 3 at the moment, but unfortunately my aging CPU is a serious bottleneck, often giving me 30-60fps (40-ish is common) and only barely touching 85fps when looking at a wall from two inches away, or some equally useless view. lol

 

[Rebo&Zooty]

also the fact ur using 4 sticks of ram on 939 isnt good, that drops you back to 2t timings(as much as a 10% perf hit vs 1t)

on am2/am2+ (ddr2) 2t has far less effect, My cheapo 4400+ went strait to 3.2gz without any real effort, added 0.035volts and its rock stable (days p95 stable)
you cant complain about that for the price i payed.

you can get a dual core phenom for like 75bucks on newegg(7750be) thats unlocked, a cheap yet decent board for another 75-85bucks, add a $50 2x2gb gskill PI kit( 800mhz 4-4-4-12 1.8v) and your set, I have a 6000+ on the way, Once I got it, I am hoping to manage 3.4-3.6gz(the f3 core is slitely more clockable then the g2 from what i have seen)

should be a nice upgrade *yeah free upgradez rock!!!*

i havent rushed to get a phenom because, I CAN WAIT, none of my games or apps seem to be suffering from use of a k8 insted of other choices

and i do know your pain, i had a 3600+x2 that would only do 2.6gz MAX no matter what you did, its FAR slower then this 4400@3.2, system feels like its brand new insted of a few years old

suprising thing u may beable to sell that 939 stuff for a decent price, i have seen a few ppl get decent $ out of their 939 crap recently

 

[H82LUZ73]

Does this one from Scan help? (UK site). Bear in mind that you'll be paying full price for it and that would make it terrible value by now, especially considering that a much more powerful GTX 280 can now be had for somewhat less than than the £242 asking price.

I would but i live in canada

 

[qubit]

also the fact ur using 4 sticks of ram on 939 isnt good, that drops you back to 2t timings(as much as a 10% perf hit vs 1t)

on am2/am2+ (ddr2) 2t has far less effect, My cheapo 4400+ went strait to 3.2gz without any real effort, added 0.035volts and its rock stable (days p95 stable)
you cant complain about that for the price i payed.

Oh, it gets worse than that - the RAMs are budget ones that don't overclock much (and they're all different brands, too...) so I have to set the memory divider to 333MHz instead of 400MHz !! lol I wonder how much of my overclock I'm wasting due to this...

Sounds like you got a good deal on that am2 system there, btw.

and i do know your pain, i had a 3600+x2 that would only do 2.6gz MAX no matter what you did, its FAR slower then this 4400@3.2, system feels like its brand new insted of a few years old

Yeah, mine won't go past 2.6GHz and I've upped the voltage on the CPU, chipset and hypertransport quite a bit. I could probably get 2.8GHz out of it if I'd fitted fast (and expensive RAM) but it was never worth it.

suprising thing u may beable to sell that 939 stuff for a decent price, i have seen a few ppl get decent $ out of their 939 crap recently

It'll probably go to my family when I replace it, but it's good to know. It's amazing the mugs you find on eBay...

I'm thinking of replacing it with a 45nm Core 2 Quad, DFI motherboard and more budget RAM in a couple of months. That will nail the performance problem. I would have gone Abit by default, but they gave up the motherboard business last month.

 

[Rebo&Zooty]

abit of old and current abit arent even close to the same, i gave up on them b4 they even changed owners, they lost all their good engineers to dfi and biostar.

you can still get these kinda deals on amd stuff, its just knowing whats worth buying, wait and see how the phenom2's look and the prices on the tri and dual cores look if you wana see intel prices drop more, eather way, u would see a huge boost in perf.

oh and the 333 deviders normal with 4 sticks of ram, forgot about that, but u cant run 400 with 4 sticks most of the time, so u loose even more.....sucks but its the price of using more then 4 sides of memory.

 

[AsRock]

No way!!!

I just upgraded from an Athlon X2. No comparison at all to my new q6600.

I know, terrible, isn't it!

I should clarify, that it's actually an Athlon X2 3800+ to give it its due. Apart from the latest games, it performs really well on my Abit motherboard and runs Vista Ultimate very snappily.

Well Stalker is about the only one i have seen to perform better were the stutter was removed by the upgrade. Windows actually loads faster on my ABit than my 2x more exspenive ASUS mobo. But i think it's more of a mobo thing that the CPU.

 

[qubit]

abit of old and current abit arent even close to the same, i gave up on them b4 they even changed owners, they lost all their good engineers to dfi and biostar.

Yeah, that's true. I've bought all these great motherboards from them in the past and loved them all:

AI7: socket 478 AGP uGuru in 2004. I used a Northwood 2.8GHz P4 with HT with it and it's run o/c at 3.5GHz solid as a rock from day one. Gets wobbly at 3.6GHz though, hehe. No voltage increase on the CPU needed, if I remember correctly, but don't quote me on it. I still use it to this day as a spare PC.

AN7: socket 7 AGP uGuru in 2005. Used it with an Athlon XP 1800+ and built a PC around it for my mum. CPU runs at 2.2GHz (3200+). Got it at a bargain price, too.

AV8 3rd Eye: socket 939 AGP uGuru in April 2005. Very good and stable board, despite using a VIA chipset. Gave away to a good friend when I got the next board. Athlon 64 3200+ single core (2GHz) CPU so much faster at gaming than the P4...

AN8 Ultra: socket 939 uGuru in December 2005. I got it when I wanted to upgrade my graphics card and AGP was being phased out. Used with an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ o/c from 2GHz to 2.6GHz. Took a bit of careful tweaking to get it stable at this speed, but solid as a rock since; latest BIOS has a couple of annoying bugs though. I've now had this one for three whole years and it's still a very viable and fast PC for anything except modern games and it's still just about useable there, too. That's value for money for you. I use the 3rd Eye with this one, too.

This one has to be the best of the lot. Well, arguably the AI7 is just as good, but it uses the old AGP bus. As you can see, I really loved the uGuru feature. Man, I'm gonna miss the old Abit and their orange motherboards.

Incidentally, have you seen the premium prices that the latest Abit high end boards are selling at? For a product with no tech support (wanna bet on BIOS updates??) and questionable warranty support it's a total rippoff. The Abit forums aren't even live any more.

The following is a fine example of the new Abit and is likely the sort of reason why they shut down their motherboard business.

My friend has an IP 35 Pro bought early 2008 and it's got a very annoying bug, where the fan doesn't always spin up at power-on and the fan fail alarm goes off. The only way to clear it is to turn it off at the PSU, press the front panel power switch to clear the capacitor charge and try again. What a f* pain. No BIOS updates for this fault, of course and it's a known issue. I would have returned the board for a refund on this one.

I'll be looking carefully at what DFI & Biostar have to offer, with DFI the favourite. Thanks for the tip about the engineers.

 

[xvi]

I just pretend I'm in the past and my Radeon x850 XT (flashed) is still the best card on the market. Works great.