New video card!
 

Sadly, the title belies the truth. I've been happily running my super-awesome half-won rig for about 18 months now. Sexy black-and-red colour scheme and an HD4870. Not the best card on the planet any longer, but still competent enough for my needs.

Until Thursday.

I'd gone out, as I often do, for ThuNBaR, and got home at around 1 in the morning, again as I often do. My desktop, oddly, was off. Strange, because I don't turn it off, but it happens now and again that a power surge will trip it, and it won't power back on after a mains loss. "OK," think I, "no problem," as I go for the power button.

And then it happened.

My video card exploded.

Fire, smoke, boom. Well, more of a pop, really, but it computer terms, it might as well have been an explosion.

Not sure if there was any collateral damage to the rest of my machine or not. The standby LED on my motherboard remained on; a hopeful sign. I just hope that it was, in fact, my video card failing and not (as I recently suggested in another thread) my power supply. That would really ruin my day...

Anyway, here's a pic of the unfortunate card:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_xfFg2HdLdh0/TJ...0/DSCN4437.JPG

Should have an HD5870 here by Thursday. Not sure what I'll do for cooling just yet.

Re: New video card!
 

As a 4870 owner, I am neither surprised nor dismayed to see a dead one. There seem to be all manner of problems with them, and mine is no exception. Now it seems that yours can join the club.

Still, both cards were a pretty serious investment, so I'll feel for your wallet instead.

Re: New video card!
 

My venerable 8800GT has cranked out its last pixels in the past week, although its death was more slow and peaceful than yours. Unfortunately, pretty much any new card these days is double-slot, which my motherboard definitely won't accommodate.

Re: New video card!
 

I always suspect a bad PSU and/or one that doesn't have very good protection features built in when I hear stories like that. Where I live we don't seem to have very stable current in the wall sockets. I've seriously considered getting a line conditioner.

Re: New video card!
 

My 4870 crapped out on me a few months ago. Worked fine one day, shutdown, turned it on the next morning and nothing. Just black screen and my mobo showing a video error code on the LED display. I got it replaced and still have the new one in a old computer as i'm rocking it with a GTX 470 now.

Have fun with that 5870 though!

Re: New video card!
 

5870 shouldn't need any additional cooling if its reference design.

Looks like one of the VRM's overheated or something. You'll have fun with a 5870 though

Re: New video card!
 

The 5870 won't need additional cooling, no. But I now have a somewhat pointless water loop in my desktop, and that just seems like such a bloody waste...

With respect to this card, it was one of the first 4870s to hit the market. You can see that giant Vitec inductor in the picture I posted. Those were replaced very quickly in the second revision, as they would regularly hit 100ºC and stay there. Keeping them cool was a massive issue. In this case, I suspect that it wasn't a PSU issue. The MOSFET that blew is one of the ones that, along with the inductor, controlled core voltage. As I'd mentioned in another thread, the card was consistently lighting up the D601 LED: critical core power fault. I'll be checking the PSU as best I can, to be sure, but I think this was just a card whose time had (violently) come.

Sad to see it pass, annoyed to have to replace it now that I'm back in school, but what the hell, right?

Re: New video card!
 

I would never buy a GPU that reaches anywhere near those temps. In fact I don't even like the 85c-95c range I'm hearing regarding Fermis.

My idea of a comfortable GPU range is more like 65c-75c, 80c tops, and only if playing a high resource game for extended length.

Re: New video card!
 

Not the GPU. This was all in the voltage circuitry, which runs hot to begin with. Granted, this was on the extreme side, but is hardly in the realm of inconceivable. The core itself idled at around 35ºC and loaded to about 48ºC.

I did a little more investigating today, and it turns out that the MOSFET that blew wasn't exactly well-contacted by the waterblock I had on. I'm wondering now if it just got too hot, too often and finally just gave in. The proverbial ticking time bomb.

Re: New video card!
 

Well in my haste I used the term "GPU", but I really meant the card in general. It isn't very hard to get such info right after or even before their debut. Anyways, I'm sure you'll like the 5870 better, but I myself am waiting for the 475.

Re: New video card!
 

Those old 4870s were known for that. VRM overheating is a big cause of dead for them. My Sapphire 4870 is one of the newer versions and has a HUGE (non-reference) heatsink over the VRMs. When mine died is wasn't anything as spectacular though, just a black screen.

Re: New video card!
 

That card damage is just... spiffy.

Can you still sell the block, or did that take some damage too?

Congrats on the 5870. It might not be necessary, but it's a very nice card.

Re: New video card!
 

Oh, the block is fine. I'm not sure there's anyone out there in need of a 4870 block, but I'd love to convert it into some cash for a 5870 block!

@Omen~ With adequate cooling, the Vitec wasn't problematic. But early on there were a bunch of guys over on OC Forums and XS that tried using core-only waterblocks on this card and had major stability issues unless they also stuck a fan right over the Vitec inductor. Even so, that was changed by ATI in the first revision to the card.

@Doctor~ Just out of curiosity, did your card have the buzzing cap issue? That seemed to plague the first revision 4870s, also...

Re: New video card!
 

I don't call HAVING to use WC on a video card practical, esp when ATI touts themselves as being the ones offering bang for the buck performance. Nividia are actually the ones offering good bang for buck now, and they also have superior drivers, control panels, and support.

Re: New video card!
 

I never said that you had to use water on one. I said that a core-only block, without supplemental airflow over the voltage circuitry, caused problems. The reference coolers worked just fine. A core-only block with supplemental air worked just fine. A full-cover block worked just fine.

Re: New video card!
 

Out with a bang I guess! Good look with the new card!

I wish my gts250 exploded, it might justify me getting a new pc with a 470. :D

Re: New video card!
 

Don't tell me that. I recommended my Dad purchase a 4870 for his rig. Last year I think,... Hopefully the ASUS Dark Knight was a revision 2 4870.

Well, its not like he is pushing the card, playing games like "Farmville", and "Solitaire" at 1280x1024 res, with a single monitor. He is looking to develop an e-bay store, and use his computer to store music.

His computer, is a Core i7 920, 6GB DDR3, ASUS Radeon HD 4870 1GB, Some SATA RAID array, and a 750watt Corsair PSU. I think he is running an ASUS P6T series motherboard.

Re: New video card!
 

OVERKILL

I use a e5200, 3gb DDR2 and a gts250, and I find it enough to comfortably game on daily, maxing most games with +20fps and +40fps.

Re: New video card!
 

There is no such thing as an overkill computer given they are as cheap as chips now days.

Re: New video card!
 

Which actual card did you get C#?
Please dont be a non-reference XFX 5870. Those things are built to die.

Re: New video card!
 

For most games, that sucks butt, unless you're talking about something like Crysis or RAGE. Plus, a few weeks ago, I swear I saw a GTS 250 at Microcenter for $150 new. No thanks.

Re: New video card!
 

Micro Center here has a GTX 460 2GB (Palit brand) for $239, originally $299. That's usually what the 1GB models cost...I think I may spring for one of those.

Re: New video card!
 

HD-587X-ZNFC. As best I can tell, it's a reference card. Clocks are all reference, and I can't tell that the heatsink is any different. At the price point, I'd be shocked...

The same thought did cross my mind, however. As long as the block fits, I'll live.

Re: New video card!
 

ZNFC= non-reference PCB/ heatsink. Best way to tell if a card is reference or not is to see if it has a blower fan in the back. if it does, its reference, if not its a non-reference all around.

no block is going to fit on it, and its one of those "built to die" cards. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news. Pretty much the only reference cards you can buy in stores are the 2gb cards and thats about it.

Re: New video card!
 

Not to change the subject, or anything, but...

Kow, I was looking at your sig and noticed that it looked odd.

You've got five different processors listed, six (7) different GPUs, and four motherboards. The correlation between these is not clear.

Assuming these are in order of upgrades, you start with a RaptorX, then go on to list two 500gb HDDs, which is to be expected. Then you with two non-specific Seagates. You do not mention whether or not the seagates are Solid State Drives, or Barracudas, or just 7200 RPM Sata 3gb/s.

Worse you list the non-descript 80gb Seagate before the 20gb, but after the 500gb drives. Which further confuses me.

What is that 20gb Seagate!? Some pathetic 5400RPM IDE ATA-66 Drive?

Re: New video card!
 

No i never had that issue with mine. Mines not a reference model though, its a Sapphire Vapor-X version.

That's actually a really good deal. I'd go for it.

Re: New video card!
 

Thanks for the heads-up. An EK block it is, then.

Re: New video card!
 

HDD's are in whatever order since they're all running at the same time on my benching station. All seagate drives are cudas 7200rpm, 20gb drive is IDE though for doing 3D benchmarks since IDE isn't on the pcie bus.

As far as there being a correlation, I own a ton of hardware. What more should I say? :p

Re: New video card!
 

For most games actually, it's even more, but I can't say how much on which game exactly, but ME2 runs +40fps on 1080p and 2xAA (forced in Nvidia CP).

And I got mine over a year ago on Amazon.co.uk (!) for 96€, and it's a Zotac with a double slot cooler, runs 70 celcius max on any game. But that might be because I got a TRUE with two fans right above it. :p

Re: New video card!
 

Well, I guess it depends on what resolution you want to run at, and how much Anti-Aliasing you need.

I'm enjoying resolutions higher than I've ever had (Usually 1440x900), and even some occasional Anti-Aliasing, with my GT 240. Which makes my games very enjoyable. As my monitor is only capable of 1440x900 native, it is more than enough.

Well, I was wondering, were you just listing random hardware, or are most of those pieces in use in current systems?

Re: New video card!
 

Mmk, I was under the impression that you were using a res like 1440x900 or 1680x1050. For 1080p that's pretty good, and it probably helps that you have it overclocked :P

Re: New video card!
 

I had my 4870 overclocked and it was starting to have trouble with new games at 1920x1080. I always like to use at least 2-4x AA and 16x AF though. ME2 is not really a good example though, i was getting 60fps with 4x AA with my 4870 but with things like Metro 2033 and Borderlands it was struggling without AA.

Re: New video card!
 

Well, can you give me a game that is a good example? Maybe I have it so I can check. :)

Re: New video card!
 

Annnnd, now I have a Sapphire HD5870 Eyefinity6 on the way. Frack.

Re: New video card!
 

Mmmm... 2gb radeon 5870

Re: New video card!
 

Wait...how did your XFX ZNFC change to a Sapphire Eyefinity6?

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,70...l/Test/?page=2

Even at 1680x1050, the 4870 isn't really playable at max settings with 16x AF.

Re: New video card!
 

That maybe more CPU limited...
Cause I promise, and can screenshot when I get home, I'm cranking out Metro 2033 on highest on a stock 4870.

Granted not the best frame-rates, but it is still quite playable at 35 average, max of 40, dips in hell foggy/smoky areas of around 30.

Re: New video card!
 

How could that be more CPU-limited? I'm fairly sure that top bar on that graph there is a 5870 1GB, which, as it happens, roughly doubles the frame rate. Unless the 5870 has an extra CPU hidden in that Batmobile cooler it has?

Re: New video card!
 

I was referring to the game being more CPU bound then anything.
Because otherwise if those benchmarks where true my 4870 would be a dead crawl, but it's not.

So maybe the engine is more CPU bound than GPU.

There's nothing else that would explain why my system can run the game basically flawless, and other 4870 system's can't.

Re: New video card!
 

It didn't. I bought a second card after it was pointed out to me that the XFX wouldn't fit under the waterblock that I wanted. Newegg dropped the Sapphire's price to $399 with a rebate--only $25 more than the XFX--so I dropped the hammer on it.

I plan to just sell the XFX as BNIB for a small loss, and then call it good.

Re: New video card!
 

Nice. That's not bad for a 2GB card.