Are you having troubles with your Sapphire X1950PRO 512MB AGP?

How's your Sapphire X1950PRO 512MB AGP?

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Yeah, I'm not much of an overclocker. Was just mainly wanted a temp read. Tried the automated overclock and I got a wopping 3 mnz on the memory only. I'm looking to get a Zalman cooler for this thing. Thanks again.
 
So, yeah. I finally get to try and use the sapphire x1950 pro 512 agp...

Installed new PSU, Silverstone ST56ZF
Installed the Sapphire card, did all the driver uninstalls along with drivercleaner, and installed the ati drivers 7.1 d/l'd from the web.

Computer resets and everything is working nicely, at least at the desktop for a couple minutes. Bumped up the fan speeds using ATI Tool (wow, sapphire fan at 100% is loud)

Run 3D Mark 06 to see what this baby can do. Less than 2 minutes into the test and all hell breaks loose. Checkerboard artifacts and computer system stops responding and initially causes system reboot.

After reboot it had horizontal artifacts all across the screen, pretty looking rainbow-ish like, yet in a terrifying way. I turn off computer thinking it's a heat issue. Touch the hsf, pretty toasty.

Comeback about 30-45 minutes later. HSF is cool to touch. Turn on computer and viola!


It's still messed up (fooled ya, thought I was gonna say it worked, huh?) Immediately from post up when my monitor jumps out of standby and the system bios tests are running it's just the same horziontal rainbow colored artifacts. We're talking black background with white text, not exactly strenous graphics here. I decided to let it continue and when Windows is loading (now we got my desktop background and some colors.. we're really stressing the card now with these 2D graphics).. bam.. checker board artifacts, system crash and reboot.

I even tried unplugging a HD and what not to make sure it wasn't a power issue, of course I wasn't expecting a difference, and there was none since my PSU is a good one (and new one) with 38A continuous, 45A Max.

Pulled out sapphire, popped in the ol' 6600GT and everything is good again. Took a good look at the sapphire card. Cheap aluminum for the HSF unit.. and like others have said, some of the thermal pads arent even touching the memory chips, etc. I'm wondering if the HSF is even touching the GPU. :confused: I'm pretty sure its a heating issue, the card overheated and fried itself. My system itself idles at 25C-ish and my CPU idles at 36C-ish.. it's not like I have poor ventilation or anything... I noticed at 100% fan speed the sapphire idled at 50C-ish..my CPU doesn't even reach that high under full load.

being an engineer myself, I don't know how ATI can let this design go buy. Poor ethics by their engineers to pass off this card with so many problems. I'm dissappointed even more with Sapphire because they probably knew, yet their engineers and marketers still gave it the go ahead....30% of the polls results are negative, that's really really high and bad. I'm curious as to how many of the people who are having success are using a sapphire vs how many are negative are using a sapphire.

So this is a definite RMA to Newegg. Now I gotta decide, refund, new Sapphire (risky), or different brand. So far my first forray into the ATI realm is not good.
 
Pooty81 said:
being an engineer myself, I don't know how ATI can let this design go buy. Poor ethics by their engineers to pass off this card with so many problems. I'm dissappointed even more with Sapphire because they probably knew, yet their engineers and marketers still gave it the go ahead....30% of the polls results are negative, that's really really high and bad. I'm curious as to how many of the people who are having success are using a sapphire vs how many are negative are using a sapphire.

So this is a definite RMA to Newegg. Now I gotta decide, refund, new Sapphire (risky), or different brand. So far my first forray into the ATI realm is not good.
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First, sorry to hear you got a bad card. I'm the one who mentioned the 2 (only) users over on Sapphire's Forum who said their Heatsink Thermal Pads weren't touching the Mem chips.

Second, ATI bares no responsibility and can not be held accountable for what type of Heatsink Sapphire uses or how Sapphire chooses to attach it, or not attach as in your case.

Third, I have had zero issues with my Sapphire. Inspected the Heatsink and all thermal pads are in contact with mem chips. So I guess the Tech that put mine together wasn't drinking that day.

Fourth, yeah 50c at idle is way to high. My system is just a hair on the warm side and my Sapphire idles at only 42c in my box.
 
I just ordered a new Sapphire 512MB card for my computer (Allstar seems to be the only place right now that has them in stock) and I was really initially excited but after reading some of the problems here I guess I've become a little wary. I'm not nearly as computer savy as most the people who post on here so I'm afraid I might have no clue what to do if my card doesn't work right. I have a P4 @ 3.4, and 2 gigs of corsair valueselect ram. I realized early on when I was thinking about buying this card that my previous PSU was woefully inadequate (only 15V on a single 12V rail), so I put in a higher powered PSU. I put in a no name cheapy brand (I know this is a bad idea and I plan to upgrade to a trusted name brand in the near future) but I wanted something for now so I can at least get the card running. I put in a chiefmax 650w PSU with a reported 34A on the 12V rail. I have 2 hard drives and 2 optical drives. My card should arrive on Tuesday. Any words of advice? Do you think I'm a fool for trying to run my rig with an unknown PSU name of dubious quality? I mean so far it seems to be working without any problems. (of course I don't have the new Sapphire card yet so the real test still lies ahead). Anyway, I appreciate any advice.
 
Im not sure if this was mentioned before or if its just common knowledge but a small aside. Make sure you use two different power connectors for the card. Ive had mine for almost a week now and its rock solid and im loving it. But I ran two different power connectors from my NeoHE 550 to both molex inputs on the card.
 
honestjohn said:
First, sorry to hear you got a bad card. I'm the one who mentioned the 2 (only) users over on Sapphire's Forum who said their Heatsink Thermal Pads weren't touching the Mem chips.

Second, ATI bares no responsibility and can not be held accountable for what type of Heatsink Sapphire uses or how Sapphire chooses to attach it, or not attach as in your case.

Third, I have had zero issues with my Sapphire. Inspected the Heatsink and all thermal pads are in contact with mem chips. So I guess the Tech that put mine together wasn't drinking that day.

Fourth, yeah 50c at idle is way to high. My system is just a hair on the warm side and my Sapphire idles at only 42c in my box.
Click to expand...

You're right.. not to mention lucky.. i'm still debating though on what to do.. i sent an rma request to newegg already.. but I'm unsure if I want a refund to get a different brand, or a replacement. Newegg does carry the PowerColor version.. but I really did want a 512MB version..
 
Pooty81 said:
You're right.. not to mention lucky.. i'm still debating though on what to do.. i sent an rma request to newegg already.. but I'm unsure if I want a refund to get a different brand, or a replacement. Newegg does carry the PowerColor version.. but I really did want a 512MB version..
Click to expand...

You can always just buy the aftermarket cooler and keep your sapphire.
 
Bruxelles said:
Well,....my card i'sn't running with a Enermax Liberty 620.
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I'm running a HIS X1950PRO AGP 512MB on an old(ish) 480W PSU with 19amp output. Voltages are a little unstable so I have reduced the mem & core to stock and not gaming. No major stability problems. Enermax Noisemaker 600W being delivered tomorrow
 
Okay brain trust. I need your help. I've been following this thread very carefully since I ordered a sapphire card and I was trying to anticipate any problems I might have. Well, today I finally got the card and tonight I installed it. Well, lets just say it's been interesting. For starters, I tried to follow the advice posted here by my bretheren who have gone before me. (please note, I do not have a tremendous amount of technical expertise, so if I state something really retarded, please laugh heartily if you will, but then please feel free to help me if you are able)

To begin, I made sure to connect two separate 12V lines coming from my PSU to the molex connectors on the sapphire card, rather than just split one line to the 2 connectors.

Second, I knew that the drivers supplied on the CD were probably crap (as most have suggested here). However, I was reluctant to install the latest drivers from ati because a few people have said that the 7.1 drivers were a little "buggy" (whatever that means). So as a compromise, I installed the Catalyst 6.12 drivers.

So, everything went pretty smoothly. Uninstalled the drivers to my old card, installed the new card, installed the new drivers and viola!! Everything looked perfect. (Here's where you expect the other shoe to drop). I've read how some people installed their card only to have their system start crashing a few short minutes after trying to run some apps. Well, no such horror story for me. Everything was running beautifully. I loaded FEAR and I turned on all the eye candy including soft shadows, and I was averaging nearly 50 FPS at 1600X1200. So yeah this card is officially the sh**

However, after about 45 minutes of playing I started to notice an awful smell. Serious, no joke. I thought, "WTF IS THAT!!!!!" It was coming from my computer and it smelled like well, something burning. Like antifreeze when a car overheats. I opened up the case and at first I thought maybe I was frying my card, but I quickly realized that the awful smell was coming from my PSU.

Now please keep in mind that nothing was going wrong on-screen. Computer was still running, game was still kicking ass. Only problem is there's the smell of bigfoot's dick in the air. So I open up up Catalyst Control Center and notice that the card is running at 69 degrees after about an hour of FEAR goodness. I don't know if that's really really hot or not, but I decide to shut down everything. Mind you, nothing was crashing or anything but the smell was really disconcerting.

Anyway, to make a long story longer, I am really really regretting putting in this cheap ass PSU. (Chiefmax AKA ShitMAX) I thought it could get me by until I got something better but now I think this card is so demanding, you really need a top notch PSU at all times. I have my computer back on and everything seems to be okay but then again I haven't tried playing a game either. Anyway, I have turned up all the internal fans on my Computer to full speed (they were about at 50% before) and that seems to help. However I have a few questions.

1. How the heck do you turn up the fan speed on that Sapphire card itself? (I know this is probably a bone head question). I'm looking all over CCC and I don't see it anywhere. I see on ATI overdrive where you can overclock the card (believe me, I'm not touching that at all right now) but nowhere do I see any section to adjust fan speed.

2. What the heck was that smell coming from the PSU? I have my computer running again right now and everything is smelling okay (as in there's no foul stench) however again I've yet to run a 3D app.

3. I'm going to run out and buy a new PSU ASAP. What do you recommend? Price isn't too much of a concern. I'd probably prefer a single rail solution, (don't ask me why, just seems simpler) but again, I'm open to suggestions.

Anyway, if you've gotten this far, I really appreciate your time and any help you can provide. Thanks
 
I have the Sapphire as well. I use ATI Tray Tools to control the fan speed. There is an option in Hardware > Overclocking Settings > Fan. I have the fan cranked up to 100%. It can be quite loud but I don't really pay attention to it while gaming. I idle at about 43 C. I get around 61 C at full load.

I do have two issues with the card though. (fyi: installed card with a fresh format and cat 6.12)
1) When I restart, my Dell 2005 fpw goes black and reads 2: Cannot Read DVI-D. However, if I turn off my monitor and turn it back on, the monitor gets signal back and I can see my windows splash screen, etc. I googled and found that some people have had a similar problem.

2) When I alt-tab out of WoW, I sometimes get a checkered artifact screen and then goes to my desktop. This occurred 3 times but I am not sure how many times that I have alt-tabbed out. I have yet to have artifacts while playing HL2, BF2142, or WoW.

I love the card. However, I do get a little worried. There are quite a few people who have had problems with it. Though, mine are minor compared to others.
 
Johnny78 said:
3. I'm going to run out and buy a new PSU ASAP. What do you recommend? Price isn't too much of a concern. I'd probably prefer a single rail solution, (don't ask me why, just seems simpler) but again, I'm open to suggestions.

Anyway, if you've gotten this far, I really appreciate your time and any help you can provide. Thanks
Click to expand...

How's it going Johnny, sounds like you dodged a bullet and your PSU was probably ready to go boom with perhaps a few of your components. Let me ask you this, is this first time you've used this power supply or has it already been in your rig for a while? Sometimes power supplies do have that new car smell when you first start using them. From how you described it though, sound like your Supply is done or close to it. Regarding your 69c temp, that is a very normal temp under load. Mine idles at 41c and can go into the low 70s under load.

This Silverstone is an excellent PSU, isn't to bad on the wallet and provides 38a on a single +12v rail.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817163111

This OCZ 700w is also really sweet .....

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...O261-2005&SRCCODE=SHOPPINGDF&CMP=OTC-SHOPPING - Great Price

If you go to the Sapphire Forum the Mods will swear up and down that the Enermax Liberty 620w Dual-Rail with 22a on each +12v rail / 36a combined/sustained/continuous is one of the best, and that's how I ended up with mine. If you do a search and look at the review sites they say this power supply is excellent.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270342 - Free Shipping

Review - Editors Choice
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/cases/Enermax_ELT620AWT_7.html

Review - Editors Choice
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=301&num=3

Review - Editors Choice
http://www.pro-clockers.com/reviews.php?id=30&page=7

However, if you look at NewEgg Users reviews it's crazy, it seems like every other one says my Power Supply blew-up. Now, contrary to those users reviews, the Sapphire Mods say all their friends are using them and not one exploding PSU in the bunch. Also, the Enermax Liberty 620w also appears on ATI's reccommended list and mine is working fine so far as well. However, I did notice while reading the NewEgg Reviews that this Power Supply has a tendancy to trip the UPS if you use one, likely due to the Enermax's own built-in active power protection features. Perhaps this is at the root of the matter regarding the NewEgg user PSU burn-out issues, or it could be as simple as this is a very popular power supply with more units of something sold is going to equal a higher reported failure rate. Also, Users with negative feedback are more likely to post their issues, than User who are not having any probelms at all.

Ok, did some searching around regarding the UPS and or Circuit Breaker tripping and ended up right back here at HardForum. :) Didn't know JohnnyGuru was a regular here. He know's his PSUs and the issue has been discussed here ....

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1041008 ,but mostly here ...... http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1039480
 
blazeops said:
I have the Sapphire as well. I use ATI Tray Tools to control the fan speed. There is an option in Hardware > Overclocking Settings > Fan. I have the fan cranked up to 100%. It can be quite loud but I don't really pay attention to it while gaming. I idle at about 43 C. I get around 61 C at full load.

I do have two issues with the card though. (fyi: installed card with a fresh format and cat 6.12)
1) When I restart, my Dell 2005 fpw goes black and reads 2: Cannot Read DVI-D. However, if I turn off my monitor and turn it back on, the monitor gets signal back and I can see my windows splash screen, etc. I googled and found that some people have had a similar problem.

2) When I alt-tab out of WoW, I sometimes get a checkered artifact screen and then goes to my desktop. This occurred 3 times but I am not sure how many times that I have alt-tabbed out. I have yet to have artifacts while playing HL2, BF2142, or WoW.

I love the card. However, I do get a little worried. There are quite a few people who have had problems with it. Though, mine are minor compared to others.
Click to expand...

How's it going Blazeops. This may sound like a dumb question, but did you try the other DVI connector on the Sapphire? No problems with my card either by the way.
 
Not a dumb question at all. I did try the other connector as well and received the same result.

So this morning I decided to see what would happen if I didn't turn the monitor off and on if there was no signal. First try, I received no signal and touched nothing. Then bam signal comes back and I get a picture. It seems that my card doesn't like my intel splash screen at start up. So anyone have any suggestions? Rig Specs are in my sig. I tried reseating the card as well.
 
blazeops said:
Not a dumb question at all. I did try the other connector as well and received the same result.

So this morning I decided to see what would happen if I didn't turn the monitor off and on if there was no signal. First try, I received no signal and touched nothing. Then bam signal comes back and I get a picture. It seems that my card doesn't like my intel splash screen at start up. So anyone have any suggestions? Rig Specs are in my sig. I tried reseating the card as well.
Click to expand...

Do you have anything in the BIOS regarding AGP/PCI First. You definitely sound thorough, so I'm sure you probably already checked this. By the way, my Dell 2001FP is finicky regarding powering on sequence as well. If I totally power off the the LCD and PC, it never picks up the DVI on boot and I always have to hit the input button on the LCD bezel to switch to DVI. These Dells have great pictures, but from what I've read the firmware could use some work.
 
Okay let's see here. I downloaded ATI tools and I found where you can adjust the fan speed. Do you keep the fan at 100% all the time? Thanks a ton honestjohn for the PSU recommendations. To answer your question, I had installed the PSU about 3 days ago, so yeah it is really new. Up until last night, I had not played a single game or anything so I don't know if that means it wasn't "broken in" or not. All I know is that after playing FEAR for about an hour it felt really hot to the touch and it emitted the aforementioned burning smell. As far as the temps go for the card, I guess 69 wasn't too bad for being under full load but I'll still increase the fan speed just to be on the safe side.

After letting the computer cool down for about an hour, I turned it back on last night and I increased the fan speeds on all the internal fans to 100%. I didn't realize what a huge difference it would make. The air circulation seemed so much better. After surfing the web for about an hour, the PSU stayed cool and seemed okay. However I didn't play any games. Anyway, at this point, I don't want to risk anything and I think I'm just going to order the Enermax PSU you recommended. The Sapphire card seems to be working perfectly (none of the glitchy screen problems some users are describing) and I don't want to risk destoying it or any of the other internals. I ownded a 1650 PRO before this card and I notice a definite improvement. Anyway, thanks again for the help.
 
Johnny78 said:
about an hour it felt really hot to the touch and it emitted the aforementioned burning smell. As far as the temps go for the card, I guess 69 wasn't too bad for being under full load but I'll still increase the fan speed just to be on the safe side.

After letting the computer cool down for about an hour, I turned it back on last night.
Click to expand...

No prob glad I could help. You actually turned it back on? You're a braver man than I. Did some reading about that Chiefmax and getting a new PSU sounds like a real good idea and I would resist tempting fate again if I were you.
 
Wind said:
...The only problem I have is that for some reason if I reboot from windows, the Dell bios screen doesn't even load and the system hangs. I must turn off the machine everytime I want to reboot. I'm not too sure how I can rectify that or what exactly is going on.....
Click to expand...

Strangely enough the machine is now rebooting perfectly now. I haven't messed with anything other than installing cat 7.1, which I cannot understand could have any impact on rebooting. Anyhow my problems are gone now that the evil spirits apparently have moved on...sorry to see so many others having problems, great product when its working =/
 
it's my first post... :p

....and i have no problems whatsoever with this card. it hasn't missed a beat since i installed it 2 weeks ago. :)
 
My sapphire rma arrived back today. Its installed and running. So far I've benched with with 03 and 05 and everything seems OK.

My PSU is an Antec NeoHE 550 with 54amps (3x18). I have (1) line running to the video card alone, (1) line running to my HDs sound card and front fan, and (1) line running to my video card, dvd drives, and rear fan.

Is this "correct" given my PSU? Do you guys think thats enough amps or should I be considering a new PSU??

All input welcome as I am anxious to avoid any problems. Thanks
 
got my new card today also.. after doing new ram, new power supply.. I think I may have figured out what the problem is/was. Dont want to say this too loud so my computer cant hear what Im saying.... but I think it was the official ati drivers.

Got the new card and powersupply today... put them in.. man I love modular power supplies! so nice. Charged it up and everything working pretty good. Then same problem as before. Darn intermitted flashing on the screen.To say the least I wasnt amused. So, I said well.. try everything.... so totally uninstalled the CCC and newest drivers and put in the new Omegas.

Past two hours or there about.. no flashing. Picture looks better than ever. So, after I do my nightly forum romp Ill go do some Oblivian and see what is what.

Now the question... .could it have been the drivers the entire time and the last card was really alright? Cause I didnt try the Omega drivers last time. To be honest never heard of them till I read a post here. Ill be bummed if that could be the case. But, if these work out. Ill finally be a happy camper and will kick back and enjoy this Sapphire card.
 
Your Lord Vampireness: A lot of the problems with the X1950s have been software based and the CCC7.1 has been problematic. The new Omegas were only released last week and there was much rejoicing around all corners of the globe. I still can't get over the textures, colors, shading, 3D and well, the general eye candy. Before this I was using the 9800Pro and before that the Voodoo3000!!!
 
wulf52 said:
My PSU is an Antec NeoHE 550 with 54amps (3x18). I have (1) line running to the video card alone, (1) line running to my HDs sound card and front fan, and (1) line running to my video card, dvd drives, and rear fan.

Is this "correct" given my PSU? Do you guys think thats enough amps or should I be considering a new PSU??
Click to expand...

I think it should be just fine. So you've got one rail supplying the GFX, one to the mobo and the last to everything else.

Just making sure - It's recommended that you should only have two devices max connected to each cable.
 
wulf52 said:
My sapphire rma arrived back today. Its installed and running. So far I've benched with with 03 and 05 and everything seems OK.

My PSU is an Antec NeoHE 550 with 54amps (3x18). I have (1) line running to the video card alone, (1) line running to my HDs sound card and front fan, and (1) line running to my video card, dvd drives, and rear fan.

Is this "correct" given my PSU? Do you guys think thats enough amps or should I be considering a new PSU??

All input welcome as I am anxious to avoid any problems. Thanks
Click to expand...

No worries mate. According to ATI's Site, your Power Supply is capable of running two X1950 Pros. It's Crossfire Approved.
 
cozumel said:
Your Lord Vampireness: A lot of the problems with the X1950s have been software based and the CCC7.1 has been problematic. The new Omegas were only released last week and there was much rejoicing around all corners of the globe. I still can't get over the textures, colors, shading, 3D and well, the general eye candy. Before this I was using the 9800Pro and before that the Voodoo3000!!!
Click to expand...


Gotta totally agree with ya.. just did a looks like 3hr session of Oblivian not ONE flicker not one lightning bolt at all! Wow... all I can claim is that this is my very first Radeon card. so so like I didnt know about Omega drivers but you can bet I do now!!

Well in the wilds of missouri there is even more rejoicing! cause I dont have to rma this second card!!

Totally agree about the textures, colors I have a pic of whats the girls name.. ruby?? well.. all I can say is OMG!! Oblivian was a joy to play.. croozin from 30to60 fps sure beats my old 15to25 thats for sure.

ahhh at last ..
 
Hi all,

Been following these x1950pro threads for the past two months. I received my sapphire card from Newegg about two weeks ago, and my problems went from minor to major.

First problems were warm reboots... I would have to turn the machine off and back on to get the video recognized. I would get artifacts in 3dmark... card temp was 65C or so under load. I installed ATITool to adjust the fan speed higher and this seemed to help.

Now I'm having the same problem as EternityZX9. I did a soft reboot the other day and the video didn't come back on. I turned the machine off and back on. The fan stays at 100% and windows actually boots, but the video never initializes. The first time this happened I left the computer off for a few hours and when I turned it back on all was fine. Happened again last night and I haven't been able to get the video working again. :mad:

I went from a Seasonic S12-380 to a Corsair HX520 shortly after installing the card... I think even the 380W PS was enough; I didn't have any problems in games. Everyone is blaming power supplies, but I think it's the card with the problem.

I guess it's time for me to RMA the card... Has anyone had these types of problems with the Diamond card? I'm leary to get another Sapphire, although I did purchase when the price was $238, and I think if I exchange for the same card Newegg will still honor that price.

Paul
 
well mine had the warm reboot issue and artifacts in 3d, i replaced the stock cooler with a accelerox2 and some bga ramsinks on the VRMs. worked great no problems for a week then BAM today i try to boot up and it has artifacts all over the boot screen/windows load screen. i didnt evne let it get into windows. pulled it out and its going back for RMA to newegg. ide love to get another sapphire as they have 512mb but idont have time to keep sending cards back to them. im gona look around and order a x1950pro powercolor 256mb card i guess.

on a agp system is there much diff from 256 to 512mb of ram?
 
oMek said:
well mine had the warm reboot issue and artifacts in 3d, i replaced the stock cooler with a accelerox2 and some bga ramsinks on the VRMs. worked great no problems for a week then BAM today i try to boot up and it has artifacts all over the boot screen/windows load screen. i didnt evne let it get into windows. pulled it out and its going back for RMA to newegg. ide love to get another sapphire as they have 512mb but idont have time to keep sending cards back to them. im gona look around and order a x1950pro powercolor 256mb card i guess.

on a agp system is there much diff from 256 to 512mb of ram?
Click to expand...

256mb vs. 512mb Comparison. Great article posted by Wizzard0003 in another thread ...

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=33
 
Well my sapphire's been running 2 days now. First one croaked in 24hrs. Overall seems to "feel" more stable. No boot problems or artifacting so far (fingers are way crossed)

For neoHE 550 users. I spotted a tip in the users manual that suggested using a dedicated vga line in the number one or two position (pcie of course) all others in the positions to the right. May or may not have made a difference.

Also read on the sapphire forum that you can determine your net amps by dividing total power by twelve (in my case 550/12 or 45 amps not the 18x3 as reported in the spec sheet).

HonestJohn can you keep use updated on your HIS experiences ?
 
wulf52 said:
Well my sapphire's been running 2 days now. First one croaked in 24hrs. Overall seems to "feel" more stable. No boot problems or artifacting so far (fingers are way crossed)

For neoHE 550 users. I spotted a tip in the users manual that suggested using a dedicated vga line in the number one or two position (pcie of course) all others in the positions to the right. May or may not have made a difference.

Also read on the sapphire forum that you can determine your net amps by dividing total power by twelve (in my case 550/12 or 45 amps not the 18x3 as reported in the spec sheet).

HonestJohn can you keep use updated on your HIS experiences ?
Click to expand...

Sure, no problem wulf52. Also, I've been looking around for a for an equation to use but I don't think that's right. If you take my Dual-Rail 620w /12 = 51.6a which is totally wrong. My Enermax has 22a on each +12v rail and 36a on combined rails continuous/sustained. Also if that equation gives you "peak" amps and not continuous/sustained amps. The recommended 30a spec for the x1950 pro calls for "continuous/sustained" power and not "peak".
 
Somehow I thought that formula was too simple!

Let me know if you track one down.

Thanks
 
Converting Watts to Amps

If you have at least least two of the following three: amps, volts and watts then the missing one can be calculated. Since watts are amps multiplied by volts, there is a simple relationship between them.

The conversion of Watts to Amps is governed by the equation Amps = Watts/Volts

For example 12 watts/12 volts = 1 amp
Converting Amps to Watts

The conversion of Amps to Watts is governed by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts

For example 1 amp * 110 volts = 110 watts

Converting Watts to Volts

The conversion of Watts to Volts is governed by the equation Volts = Watts/Amps

For example 100 watts/10 amps = 10 volts

Converting Volts to Watts

The conversion of Volts to Watts is governed by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts

For example 1.5 amps * 12 volts = 18 watts
Converting Volts to Amps at fixed wattage

The conversion of Volts to Amps is governed by the equations Amps = Watts/Volts

For example 120 watts/110 volts = 1.09 amps

Converting Amps to Volts at fixed wattage

The conversion of Amps to Volts is governed by the equation Volts = Watts/Amps

For Example, 48 watts / 12 Amps = 4 Volts

Explanation

Amps are how many electrons flow past a certain point per second. Volts is a measure of how much force that each electron is under. Think of water in a hose. A gallon a minute (think amps) just dribbles out if it is under low pressure (think voltage). But if you restrict the end of the hose, letting the pressure build up, the water can have more power (like watts), even though it is still only one gallon a minute. In fact the power can grow enormous as the pressure builds, to the point that a water knife can cut a sheet of glass. In the same manner as the voltage is increased a small amount of current can turn into a lot of watts.
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Phantoms said:
Converting Watts to Amps
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Thanks for the equations. Now I really feel stupid. Can you do us a favor and plug wulf52's power supply into one of those equations, then I might be able to understand it. He has a neoHE 550 with three 18a / +12v rails. What is his combined amperage on the +12v rails, sustained/continuous, not peak amps. Thanks.
 
honestjohn said:
Can you do us a favor and plug wulf52's power supply into one of those equations, then I might be able to understand it. He has a neoHE 550 with three 18a / +12v rails. What is his combined amperage on the +12v rails, sustained/continuous, not peak amps.
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Well, according to Antec's specs, there's 504W available power to the +12V lines. That should mean 504W / 12V = 42A. But without knowing how they get their numbers, who knows? The only real way to find out is with a multimeter in hand...

Paul
 
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