BEWARE: Radeon 9700 pro w/ cheap Power Supply

I

Iconz

Gawd
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
636
Just to spare anyone the anguish that I've gone through in the last 24 hours...when people say to get a good power supply, listen to them.

I installed my 9700 pro as suggested in the manual by connecting it through the power connector on the hard drive. When running some applications in 3D and installing some drivers, the card seems that it drew enough power away from the hard drive to cause it to stall and in turn freeze the computer. I put it on a free power connector and no longer have the problem. But this was not before many program files, including rundll32.exe were corrupted.

I'll be doing my second fresh install of windows today (in the last 24 hours).

BTW I have read in other forums that it is often normal to have device manager list two radeons due to the dual ramdacs, and that it has no effect on the system. This is true, yes?
 
I think that two of them are listed because one is used for terminal services (at least for XP) I say this because Powerstrip actually detects a new video device when I remote desktop to my box (it never did this with my Ti4200)
 
Originally posted by Iconz1
Just to spare anyone the anguish that I've gone through in the last 24 hours...when people say to get a good power supply, listen to them.

I installed my 9700 pro as suggested in the manual by connecting it through the power connector on the hard drive. When running some applications in 3D and installing some drivers, the card seems that it drew enough power away from the hard drive to cause it to stall and in turn freeze the computer. I put it on a free power connector and no longer have the problem. But this was not before many program files, including rundll32.exe were corrupted.

I'll be doing my second fresh install of windows today (in the last 24 hours).

BTW I have read in other forums that it is often normal to have device manager list two radeons due to the dual ramdacs, and that it has no effect on the system. This is true, yes?
Click to expand...

I had the same thing happened to me except it killed 3 WD 80gb drives. It took me forever to figure out what was causing it. That's what I get for reading the fucking manual.:rolleyes:
 
Probably not in 3D mode **sigh** but BB has the Antec Sonata for 119-40 rebate = $79 and comes w/ truepower 380W

-EDIT- My PS now is a 350W generic. ATi recommends at least 300W for 9700 pro, but if yours is generic too, probably not enough.
 
You have got to be kidding me! im getting my 9700Pro today! I remember reading the requirements for that card 300watt powersupply.
 
Originally posted by Mikey20
You have got to be kidding me! im getting my 9700Pro today! I remember reading the requirements for that card 300watt powersupply.
Click to expand...

Don't stress it just yet, the card worked fine for me until it was under a heavy load, then it took too much away from my HD and stalled it. Try it without connecting it to the harddrive power (ignore the instructions) and see if you have any problems.
 
I bought an AIW 9700 Pro for my HTPC and it drew so much current at power up that it caused the 230W PSU in it to shut down. :( It worked fine in my desktop (PE400SC in my sig) with only a 250W PSU.

The HTPC worked fine with other video cards that used an external power connector. I had a 5200 Ultra, 5600 Ultra and I finally went back to a 5700 Ultra after the AIW 9700 Pro wouldn't work.
 
The 9700p manual stated to use the power connector that was inline after a hard drive???

If so, that serves no purpose, other than to possibly cause problems. I would use a dedicated straight line to the vid card, regardless, and if it was necessary to share a line, the last thing I would share would be the hard drive with the OS on it.
 
Yeh i don't know why ati would recommend such a thing...maybe because not many people have a free unused power cable that isn't already used by anything....i dunno. But i have a deticated unused line..i will connect it there and NOT sharing with anything much less my harddrive! :eek:
 
a 300W should be find if you have quality one. and a system with a basic load in it.

1 or 2 harddrives, 1 or 2 cdrom,
soundcard and nice

don't see what the problem should be.

Father is running on on a overclocked 1.6A to 2.4, 4 hadrives, 3 cdroms, audigy, 2 NICs, and a 350W Enermax and it keeps up just fine.

and my 9700pro is on the same line that i have power splitted off going to my two SATA 160gig harddrives, no problems. Eboth our powersupplies are Enermax
 
I decided to forget the new case w/ PS and get and Enlight 420W from newegg for $42 for my 9700 pro. I needed something better anyway, and this one had 32 good reviews, said rails were good, and had 33A on +12V vs. so many w/ only 18A.

You can see it here

I've already been charged, so please don't tell me its a total POS:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Mikey20
its a total pos.....im joking :D i like enlights
Click to expand...

Yesterday you said you were going format your drive when installing the 9700 pro, good idea...I don't even want to tell you what happened when I installed mine before reformatting.

(Among other things, playing Halo looked like Lego Land w/ all blocks and no textures!)
 
hmm interesting.. i had my 9700pro on TTGI 350 PSU never had this experience.. but in few weeks, ill be getting a 9800XT, would my TTGI 350PSU work? i had the 600watts robantron, but it blew up last 2 weeks ago. :( anyone know if my 350PSU would work on my 9800XT?
 
Just so everyone doesn't freak out, I ran the system in my signature (though with Radeon 9700 rather than 9800 Pro) on a 300W "Sun Cheer" power supply just fine, even for video games and benchmarks.

That's Athlon 64 3000+ with fan
Radeon 9700 with fan
Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP has fan on chipset, fan on DPS.
4 80mm case fans
3 7200 rpm hard drives
1 5400 rpm hard drive
1 DVD drive
1 CDRW drive

No problems whatsoever. Since then, have gotten Antec SL400 (400W), and I'm not concerned at all :)
 
let me get this straight you are running 4 harddrives and a 9700 not 9700pro i don't think the 9700 np needs to be connected to powersupply...
 
Originally posted by Mikey20
let me get this straight you are running 4 harddrives and a 9700 not 9700pro i don't think the 9700 np needs to be connected to powersupply...
Click to expand...
im prety sure it does, the only radeon above 9500 that didn't require the power connector is the 9600 series.
 
Originally posted by Iconz1
I have read in other forums that it is often normal to have device manager list two radeons due to the dual ramdacs, and that it has no effect on the system. This is true, yes?
Click to expand...

Just a little bump/reminder about two Radeons in device manager, I'm not the only one that this happens to, right?
 
Originally posted by Iconz1
Just a little bump/reminder about two Radeons in device manager, I'm not the only one that this happens to, right?
Click to expand...

It's normal to have 2 Radeons in Device Manager. Have a good weekend.:D
 
Meh... I just got an AIW 9800 Pro and I'm having all sorts of "fun" with it too... 512MB RAM + 256MB AGP aperature + Win98SE = Win98SE completely filling it's pants. Dropped the aperature down to 128MB and it works, but flakey... I get visual corruption in 2D, some apps (non-games) take an enternity to open and become visible, etc.

I'll probably transplant my hardware to a full tower case and install an extra PSU or 2 (I've got a pair of Micro ATX PSUs that'd fit in quite nicely... dedicate one to the AIW and a fan or 2 and use the other for drives). I'll be switching the OS to XP Pro as well, so I'll add in more memory and probably more harddrives as well.
 
I am running a True Silent 420W PSU and I get some corruption sometimes, mainly when I am watching TV with my AiW 9800 Pro.


I heard that this PSU gets hot but never anything about it sucking too much voltage away from the hard drive....
 
Originally posted by Cardboard Hammer
Meh... I just got an AIW 9800 Pro and I'm having all sorts of "fun" with it too... 512MB RAM + 256MB AGP aperature + Win98SE = Win98SE completely filling it's pants. Dropped the aperature down to 128MB and it works, but flakey... I get visual corruption in 2D, some apps (non-games) take an enternity to open and become visible, etc.

I'll probably transplant my hardware to a full tower case and install an extra PSU or 2 (I've got a pair of Micro ATX PSUs that'd fit in quite nicely... dedicate one to the AIW and a fan or 2 and use the other for drives). I'll be switching the OS to XP Pro as well, so I'll add in more memory and probably more harddrives as well.
Click to expand...

I think WIN98 only supports 384MB Ram, and can be unstable or even slower with more.
 
Originally posted by Cardboard Hammer
Meh... I just got an AIW 9800 Pro and I'm having all sorts of "fun" with it too... 512MB RAM + 256MB AGP aperature + Win98SE = Win98SE completely filling it's pants. Dropped the aperature down to 128MB and it works, but flakey... I get visual corruption in 2D, some apps (non-games) take an enternity to open and become visible, etc.

I'll probably transplant my hardware to a full tower case and install an extra PSU or 2 (I've got a pair of Micro ATX PSUs that'd fit in quite nicely... dedicate one to the AIW and a fan or 2 and use the other for drives). I'll be switching the OS to XP Pro as well, so I'll add in more memory and probably more harddrives as well.
Click to expand...
i'd see if XP fixes the problem before i'd put in more PSUs.
 
Originally posted by Mikey20
let me get this straight you are running 4 harddrives and a 9700 not 9700pro i don't think the 9700 np needs to be connected to powersupply...
Click to expand...
np is the same exact pcb/core, just slower memory. Yes, it needs a connector.
 
Originally posted by WuzFast
I think WIN98 only supports 384MB Ram, and can be unstable or even slower with more.
Click to expand...

I was running the same computer with an 8500 with no more issues than is normal for Win98SE... of course, I hadn't tried setting the aperature size to 256MB back then either, but I only cranked it up to that as part of random handwaving trying to get the AIW 9800 Pro to play nice in my system... I've got a CD burner and the AIW on one line (of 3) from the PSU with nothing else... when installing the software from the CD, the sound of the drive sounded odd... seemed to be more "spurty" than just yanking everything off... but oh well... the weekend is upon us, so I'll swap in an XP Pro install on it and see whether it's magic or equally tragic...
 
Yeah, 4 hard drives, 2 optical drives, 4 case fans, 1 cpu fan, 2 fans on the motherboard, and a Radeon 9700 which uses the floppy drive type connector. It was a brand new, unused, but generic 300W ATX 12 P4 power supply which I used because I didn't want to wait through the weekend for the Monday delivery of my Antec 400W PSU to start using my computer. I was able to run 3DMark2000/2001SE/03, Aquamark3, Need For Speed: Underground, Call of Duty, Halo, all with no problems... at stock speeds. I didn't play around with any overclocking. I think I wrote down the 3.3V/5V/12V breakdown somewhere, but I don't remember where, or I'd lay it out here for you so you could compare. On the Antec SL400, 3.3+5V = 240W. Specifically, 3.3V < 53A, 5V < 48A, 12V < 23A.
 
Just as a follow up, I got my Enlight 420W PS from newegg, and it makes all the difference in the world. As far as quality feel, it weighs about 3 times as much as my generic 300W that I had, and is 3 times as quiet. All sorts of performance problems have dissappeared now, such as static noise through the speakers, better boot times, and just overall better performance. I can't believe I waited so long to spend $42.
 
Friend of mine has a shuttle SN45G which has a 200W power supply 1 DVD-RW & 1 HDD his 9700pro works fine in that
 
I would say do the math on the P/S your thinking about buying
and make sure your not getting short-changed.
Math forumula...
A * V = W (amps X voltage = Watts) .

Most reputable companies that build P/S tend to underrate them.
I have a Sparkle 300w P/S with a rating of 220w on the +3.3 & +5
volt rails. Needless to say that its a conservative rating.
Here are the specs on mine.
+3.3v = 28.0a
+5v = 30.0a
+12v = 15a

the math plays out as such:
3.3 x 28.0 = 92.4 watts
5 X 30.0 = 150 watts
12 x 15 = 180 watts

Total watts = 422.4 watts

Total for + 3.3 & +5v = 242.4 watts

So you see most tend to be a bit conservitive.
This doesn't mean to max it out.....just that it can take a bit more
thrown at it than most.
So be carefull and do the math and you should be ok.
peace
 
Originally posted by rob6852
I would say do the math on the P/S your thinking about buying
and make sure your not getting short-changed.
Math forumula...
A * V = W (amps X voltage = Watts) .

Most reputable companies that build P/S tend to underrate them.
I have a Sparkle 300w P/S with a rating of 220w on the +3.3 & +5
volt rails. Needless to say that its a conservative rating.
Here are the specs on mine.
+3.3v = 28.0a
+5v = 30.0a
+12v = 15a

the math plays out as such:
3.3 x 28.0 = 92.4 watts
5 X 30.0 = 150 watts
12 x 15 = 180 watts

Total watts = 422.4 watts

Total for + 3.3 & +5v = 242.4 watts

So you see most tend to be a bit conservitive.
This doesn't mean to max it out.....just that it can take a bit more
thrown at it than most.
So be carefull and do the math and you should be ok.
peace
Click to expand...
it is more limited than that, your powersupply will not be able to run all three voltages at their max current rating.

There are multiple limitations you are dealing with, you don't really have 422Watts of power.

you are looking at each voltage individually when really they are combined, the powersupple can source that much current into any one rail if thats all your using as a max.

but above that, you also have the 220W rating of the 3.3 and 5V and the 300W rating of the overall.

so if you are pulling the full 150W acheiveable on the 5V then you should only be able to pull 150W on the 12V rail at the same time, not its full 180W. It might be able to source more, but depending on quality will most likely suffer consequeces of increased heat, shorter life span, or stability problems
 
Originally posted by Cardboard Hammer
Meh... I just got an AIW 9800 Pro and I'm having all sorts of "fun" with it too... 512MB RAM + 256MB AGP aperature + Win98SE = Win98SE completely filling it's pants. Dropped the aperature down to 128MB and it works, but flakey... I get visual corruption in 2D, some apps (non-games) take an enternity to open and become visible, etc.

I'll probably transplant my hardware to a full tower case and install an extra PSU or 2 (I've got a pair of Micro ATX PSUs that'd fit in quite nicely... dedicate one to the AIW and a fan or 2 and use the other for drives). I'll be switching the OS to XP Pro as well, so I'll add in more memory and probably more harddrives as well.
Click to expand...

I'll agree that Win98SE is essentially a free OS at this point- so some value there.

Other than that- XP-Pro solves so many problems- it's worth the cash if you ask me. Especially if you are willing to buy good and proper hardware- i.e. a AIW 9800Pro-256MB and 512MB Ram./
 
All the lines are connected to the same voltage regulators inside the PSU.

you will get some isolation due to the small resistance of the wire, thats it.

so Just using a different line when it is dicey anyways may just delay that from happening for a bit longer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top