ATI 2600 XT (Spahhire) - AGP

JonnyCam · 2008-03-11, 12:50 AM

So, I have this card, and have had nothing but trouble. When playing back H264 recordings, they play and look beautiful, but.. eventually the TV signal will turn off - pc keeps running, but kind fo frozen.

When I VNC into the PC in this state - it's just a screen full of corruption. Just before the switch offs, there are event viewer entries saying "couldn't load atombios" and other such things. (GXO: Bios Call failed)

Maybe a complete re-install would help?

Would Vista be a better option (as I heard the h264 accel is only available through EVR - which I think is only Vista) - I have an unopened copy on my shelf.

Maybe it's just the crappy support for AGP by ATI - and the HW accel not being correctly set up (or even disabled in the agp card)

Thanks

pBS · 2008-03-11, 10:35 AM

install .net 3 to get EVR renderer on XP... Smile

but it sounds like overheating or overclocking is hosing you..
may try lowering the agp rate to 4x or other cooling adjustments..

you're getting accell if it looks good...so just sounds like overheating cuz it will get much hotter when decoding .264
[and the corruption probably means overheating]

i notice mine's cool to touch till i do HD or better ...then it gets toasty.. Smile

JonnyCam · 2008-03-11, 11:07 AM

Cheers, I'll have a play and see if I can get better airflow in the case.

stustunz · 2008-03-11, 07:37 PM

yeah i got a 2400 man was it hot
i removed it the drivers are shit (maybe they are better now )
i thought the 2600 would hve been ok as far as heat goes
i think they probably really need a fan

dont you hate it when they sell stuff thats not upto it

Deusxmachina · 2008-03-11, 08:22 PM

stustunz Wrote:yeah i got a 2400 man was it hot

Was yours fanless? My HIS 2400 was very cool, particularly compared to my 2900, my 7600gt, my 8500gt, and my friend's 6800gt and 8600gt. But my 2400 had a fan, and I don't think many do.

I'm not sure if OP is getting acceleration. I thought there was something about acceleration being broken on AGP cards. But not sure if that's ATI or Nvidia I'm thinking of.

It might be easier to get acceleration with Vista, but pretty much everything else might become a pain.

stustunz · 2008-03-11, 09:10 PM

yeah fanless
but i was almost burn your hand hot
has big as heat sink on it aswell
whats the point in having a fanless device if you have to have a big as case fan to keep it cool
seriously some of these manufatures need to get it sorted

JonnyCam · 2008-03-12, 01:46 AM

my 2600 has quite a big fan on it (and one of those plastic cover things to funnel the heat / air out the back)

I think it may be heat related, but I'll have to check it out.

I guess I am getting acceleration as I only have a 3ghz CeleronD, and it's hitting about 20% when playing back the 1080 streams. (until it dies)

nbarsley · 2008-03-12, 06:50 PM

pBS Wrote:install .net 3 to get EVR renderer on XP...

I thought that you couldnt use DXVA with EVR on XP only Vista...

I just installed vista last night to test the different between dxva 2.0 and 1.0 for xp.

nbarsley · 2008-03-12, 06:52 PM

JonnyCam Wrote:So, I have this card, and have had nothing but trouble. When playing back H264 recordings, they play and look beautiful, but.. eventually the TV signal will turn off - pc keeps running, but kind fo frozen.

Is your power supply powerful enough? It sounds like it isnt getting enough power...

JonnyCam · 2008-03-12, 07:19 PM

Quote: Is your power supply powerful enough? It sounds like it isnt getting enough power...

Maybe you are right, it's not heat - had it running with the cover off last night, and no change, TV still turned off - however, I was able to see the desktop in VNC, and restart the PC.

Lots of the same errors in eventlog.
my PSU is 400W, maybe I am pushing it.

To test this, am I able to add a second PS and connect one of the HDD molex plugs into the card (as it's currently got a converter from molex to graphics cards for +12V)