Ordered a Sapphire X850XT AGP but received X850 PRO!?!?

[dolf]

My x800 pro vivo 16 pipe card goes up to like 69 degrees Celcius under load and down to 32 degrees idle. I have stock single slot cooling and i am thinking of getting the arctic silencer 4 for it so i can actually OC and /play at stock speeds for more than an hour w/o artifacting in bf2.

Instead of ati silencer 4 rev.2 take ati silencer 5 rev.2 (probably at the same price)

 

[dolf]

true, we've drifted off topic somewhat.

I'm still waiting for an RMA # from Sapphire/Althon tech, but they will replace it as some others have noted as well.

Yet, I think I may just keep mine. It's a 2slot card, 1.6ns memory, runs pretty cool at load (~63c) with a mild 563/617 OC with the stock cooling fan at about 40% (any louder and I can't take it). With the Arctic Silencer running full tilt, it'll likely do better.

I feel like i've gotten a decent card here for my $139usd, and don't really want to take the chance of getting a "real" replacement x850XT that doesn't spec as well. WHich, I believe, is a distinct possibility.

Mainly, the card stays cool. Cool card = better chance at longevity. I've had ATI cards for a while now, and my 9800xt was absurd - even with an Arctic Silencer on it I could barely keep it under 85c load. And that was the one I got after RMA the first which got just as hot.

You have real X850XT PE and it would be bad move to return it . I wouldn't do it.

 

[Robkins]

Update:

Dear Robert,

Your RMA NO. is RXXXX. Please notice if your shipping address is incorrect, thanks.
Please just return the card only, do not send any accessories (cable, adpter, original box....etc. )
And include $15.00 check or money order made payable to Althon Micro Inc.
Please write down RMA number outside of the box, otherwise will be refused.
** The merchandises have to be returned within 14 days after RMA# issued. **

Turnaround time is 2-4 weeks.

This email was sent to me from "RMA@althonmicro" instead of "tech@althonmicro" so they must not have understood that I'm not eligible to pay their $15 fee. I sent them an email just to make sure - I will probably ship the product out tomorrow.

 

[dtimm612]

Do you think they're going to just flash the card to x850xt spec? Probaly not, but you never know. Humm... if so I hope they also swap out single fans for double slot fans for those it concerns. How long does that initial reply take anyway? Maybe I wasn't nice enough in the e-mail ;-)

 

[Robkins]

The first reply took around 3-4 days If I remember right, and after that I always had a reply the next day. No, I don't think they will just flash it.. I mean I can't say for sure, but it just doesn't seem very business-like. One thing that you can rest assured of is that you will get a dual slot fan, no XTs are made without them. Just mention the fan in one of your next responses. Once you get past the first couple of messages you can start inquiring more freely.

 

[alanafowlersr]

All Dune With Ati Back 2 Nvidia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rma my second card back to new egg because it shit out after a week and a have.Thay gave me no problem and paid for me to send it back.This was my second card it was a dual slot card not like the first one but it still was a x850pro. Well in flashed it 2 a x850xt with xt settings it ran good for 10 days then the mem went i think because from boot up on. The picture was all screwed up so i flased it back and sent it back. All dune with ATI back two NVIDIA.Newegg is overnighting me my new card for free. I bought a 7800gs with all the newest fixings good luck guys.You have 2 love newegg.

 

[pt]

I rma my second card back to new egg because it shit out after a week and a have.Thay gave me no problem and paid for me to send it back.This was my second card it was a dual slot card not like the first one but it still was a x850pro. Well in flashed it 2 a x850xt with xt settings it ran good for 10 days then the mem went i think because from boot up on. The picture was all screwed up so i flased it back and sent it back. All dune with ATI back two NVIDIA.Newegg is overnighting me my new card for free. I bought a 7800gs with all the newest fixings good luck guys.You have 2 love newegg.

?

for what ive understood, you flashed your x850pro to xt, it f^cks up on you, and you did an ilegal RMA
correct?

 

[paul06660]

No problems so far

Hey guys, I too was one of the angry ones who recieved a single slot x850pro with a x850xt badge and stickers on it. I flashed my bios and have had NO Problems running at 520/540 as I do have the 1.6 memory chips, and with factory cooling I can get to 545 on the core.

Before I used the autoflash CD I ran the boot floppy ATIflash and it told me that the extra 4 pipes were open.

My card does run warm at 35-43 idle and 65-75 under full load. but that will be history once I get my Silencer. I can tell a big differience between the 12 pipes and the 16 as a friend of mine has an ATI x850pro that was locked and could not be modified. We both play Need 4 Speed Carbon at 1024x768 on totally maxed out detail and My Sapphire X850XT is clearly better at framerates and visual detail as the cars are shinier and the eye candy is explosive.
I am not going to return mine to Sapphire unless I have a problem, as my card is probally a true x850xt that came with an x850pro bios.

My 3dmark03 is 10668
My specs are:
P4 3.0 E HT socket 478
Epox 4pda5+ 865 PE Motherboard 800 Mhz Bus
1 gig of Ram in Dual Channel config 2.5-7-3-3
Raptor 74 gig with a Silicon Image 3114 onboard SATA controller
420 watt power supply with 13amps on the +12v

I have a 550 watt Scythe Power supply on the way, mabie that will get my 3dmark up to the 11,000 range as I know that 13 amps on the +12v is not much.

Any input or advice?
thanks, paul06660

 

[alanafowlersr]

Yes

Well if thats what you want 2 call it. They sold me a card under false pretenses that is illegal so now where even.

 

[pt]

Well if thats what you want 2 call it. They sold me a card under false pretenses that is illegal so now where even.

you should explained yourself that you boughted a xt and they sent you a pro

 

[TUngsten]

that's what this whole thread is about, pt....

 

[Robkins]

I would have also flashed the card, but there is no telling how flashing the BIOS would affect the 3D card's lifespan. I also can do other things in the meanwhile, so it's not a death or life issue for me.

 

[pt]

that's what this whole thread is about, pt....

i only read his post
sry, my bad

 

[dtimm612]

Well I got my RMA number today and will be shipping it out in the next few days. Thanks for all the help guys, good to see this tread didn't get shut down like the "offical" forum did at Sapphiretech.com. Also, the e-mails never said anything about a $15 restock/shipping fee so maybe they caught on from Robert on that one (I also mentioned it pre-haste in an e-mail to them). I too shall keep you updated.
Dylan

 

[TUngsten]

Yeah, pretty annoying that the Sapphire boards are not run by Sapphire techs/employees....

I got my RMA info today too, but i'll keep mine. With the AC5.2 fan on it, it's quiet as can be running 570/619

 

[Grings]

hey, ive got a honda civic 1.6 here, i think ill put a type r badge on it and sell it to one of you guys

 

[Robkins]

They received my package, so now I guess all what I have to do is wait... 2-4 weeks.. with any luck that should be right about christmas.

 

[ATIonion]

hey, ive got a honda civic 1.6 here, i think ill put a type r badge on it and sell it to one of you guys

Then were would you live???

 

[dtimm612]

Robert, did you get an e-mail from them saying so, or do you know by a tracking number or something similar? I went pretty cheap on the shipping... no insurance or tracking number, (yeah, I’m cheap). Also, my guess would be closer to the 2 weeks rather than 4, because that's probably what they say to all RMA's, but since ours is just a swap with no work being done or fixed it shouldn't take too long (I hope).
Cheers

 

[Robkins]

Yes, I had a tracking number from UPS. Package was sent out last monday and arrived friday. How much was your shipping? I hope you're right about that 2 weeks

 

[McDee]

Damn, and I thought I was behind the times with my system. I've had an ati x850xt for a little over a year now running at 560/600 stable with the stock cooler and now I'm going to voltmod it to see if I can squeeze every last drop out before I upgrade again.

 

[dtimm612]

I was running a ATi Radeon 9600 SE before this card for more than three years. Even the PRO x850 was a HUGE difference from that slug card. Must be nice to have the money to upgrade every year. Yeah, we're way behind the times
Oh yeah Rob, my shipping was $6.40 something. Not too bad, that's including the price of the box I shipped it in (which was 2.50 or so). I shipped priority which is 2-3 days I think.
Cheers

 

[McDee]

Riiight, Actually I just make calculated upgrades when it's needed, and right now getting an x8xx card sounds like a strange plan. If I had to buy now I'd still wait for cheap DX10 cards to come out. Here's a gander at my upgrade path:

CPU
OLD K62 450 @500MHz
Next Duron 800@1000MHz
Next XP 1700@1.6GHz
Next XP 2500 preweek52 Barton @2.5Ghz
Current A64 +3000 E6 Venice @2.7Ghz
Next? Core 2 Duo?

MB
OLD Asus P5A-B
Next Asus A7V133
Next Asus A7X 8X
Current MSI K8N Neo2 Plat.
Next? 680i something or other

RAM
OLD 128MB Infineon PC100
Next 256MB Infineon PC133
Next 512MB shika PC2700 (samsung chips)
Current 1gb Corsair pc3200
Soon 2GB ? DDR2? DDR3?

Sound
OLD Soundblaster 16
Next SB Live 5.1
Next ac97 onboard
Current MSI onboard
Soon Xifi card

Video
OLD Voodoo3 3000 (16MB)
Next Radeon 64DDR vivo (r100 core, 64MB)
Current X850XTPE 256MB (I loves it)
Next 8800 series maybe?

HDD
OLD 10G 5400 IDE
Next 20G 5400 IDE
Next 40G 7200 IDE
Current 80G 7200 IDE 2MB cache
Soon something big with min of 8MB cache

Monitor
OLD viewsonic 15'' CRT
Current Samsung 700NF CRT
Soon 2000 lumens HD projector
Eventually: a decent 19'' + flatscreen with -8MS refreshrate.

Case
OLD no name ATX mid size tower
Current 486server case with a turbo button! remember the 33Mhz, 66Mhz switch?

PSU
OLD Stock 250w
Next Generic 300w
Next Topower 370w 16a@12v rail
Current Antec 420w 20a@12v
Next something big, like 750w or so.

OS
OLD Win95
Next win98
Next win98se +Mandrake, Redhat, and other noob linux releases. Still running today.
Next winME (was actually the best win9x version I had)
Next Win2k
Current WinXP pro SP2
Next? Vista?

 

[pt]

keep in AMD
a x2 4200 pheraps? or a opty?

 

[Robkins]

Alright guys that's good that you can upgrade as often as you like, but the fact remains that this is one of the better cards for AGP (not best anymore because x1950pro AGP is out).

Also please try to keep this thread somewhat clean, I bet half of the people that post here don't even know what this thread is for. I would'nt be surprised if someone else has this problem and comes looking; in that case he or she should be able to find the important stuff easily.