Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9600 256 MB - will freeze playing Morrowind

I just bought this card. Works fine, except it will freeze up during loading
(when loading new areas) when I run Morrowind. Battlefield 1942 runs fine,
as does other games.

I tried my brothers PowerColor Radeon 9600 128 MB. Same thing.

Both cards seemed a bit hot (they only have cooling fins) when Morrowind
froze up.

I reinstalled my old 8500LE, game runs fine.

I have tried both the latest and the second latest drivers, and latest patch
for the game.

Could the problem be bad cooling (someone told me it could)?

Here's my specs:

Asus socket A Motherborad, VIA chipset.
AMD Duron 1.4 ghz
512 mb ram
Creative SB Live! 5.1 (tried both the second newest and the newest driver)
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 256 mb (tried both the bundled and the newest
driver)
Tribunal patch installed

DH

Hi
You could try one of those PCI slot fans (about £7). That would cool the
card by extracting air away from the card and out the back of the case. If
that still doesn't work, it may not be cooling. Also, have you tried the
9600s in systems which you know have reasonable cooling? Another thing you
could try is adding extra cooling to the card itself, or just cooling the
case. I can't be sure what would do the most good without seeing your case
and setup.
Hope this helps
PC

-
ElJerid stood up at show-n-tell, in
, and said:

"Cool Hand" wrote in message
...
I just bought this card. Works fine, except it will freeze up during
loading (when loading new areas) when I run Morrowind. Battlefield
1942 runs fine, as does other games.

I tried my brothers PowerColor Radeon 9600 128 MB. Same thing.

Both cards seemed a bit hot (they only have cooling fins) when
Morrowind froze up.

I reinstalled my old 8500LE, game runs fine.

I have tried both the latest and the second latest drivers, and
latest patch for the game.

Could the problem be bad cooling (someone told me it could)?

Here's my specs:

Asus socket A Motherborad, VIA chipset.
AMD Duron 1.4 ghz
512 mb ram
Creative SB Live! 5.1 (tried both the second newest and the newest
driver) Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 256 mb (tried both the bundled and
the newest driver)
Tribunal patch installed

DH


Compared to the 8500, the 9600 has only 4 pipelines instead of 8, and
compensates this preformance drawback by increasing the clock to 400
MHz versus 275 MHz, which means of course more heat

I don't see how this applies to an 8500LE. Care to enlighten me? The 9600
is a completely different architecture. You can simplify it, by saying
'only 4 vs. 8 pipes'. But, that doesnt cut it, with me. I would like some
elaboration on just how this 9600 is nothing more than an 8500LE with 4 less
pipes.

I, really, want to hear this....

From what you've just said, I'd go out and buy an 8500LE and expect it to
run DX9 ****, like silk. Let's not get into a debate about the fact that
Morrowind is not a DX9 game.

You made a very bold statement, here. I want some literature.


On most 9600
based cards, there is only a passive cooler, while all 9600 Pro cards
have active coolers. This probably allows you to deduct that ATI
encountered some problems with passive cooling. Try to find a fan
that could be adapted to the 9600 radiator, or mount a case fan that
blows as near as possible to the card's chip.
And last: don't overclock the 9600 standard card, although Sapphire
gives some guarantees about this.

--
Strontium

"It's no surprise, to me. I am my own worst enemy. `Cause every
now, and then, I kick the livin' **** `outta me." - Lit

Strontium wrote:
Compared to the 8500, the 9600 has only 4 pipelines instead of 8, and
compensates this preformance drawback by increasing the clock to 400
MHz versus 275 MHz, which means of course more heat

I don't see how this applies to an 8500LE. Care to enlighten me?
The 9600 is a completely different architecture. You can simplify
it, by saying 'only 4 vs. 8 pipes'. But, that doesnt cut it, with
me. I would like some elaboration on just how this 9600 is nothing
more than an 8500LE with 4 less pipes.

I, really, want to hear this....

From what you've just said, I'd go out and buy an 8500LE and expect
it to run DX9 ****, like silk. Let's not get into a debate about
the fact that Morrowind is not a DX9 game.

Did he say that? i dont read it... The only thing he says, is that the 8500
has 8 pipelines, and the 9600 only 4. This isnt quite correct; the 8500 has
4 pipes, with 2 texture units per pipe, while the 9600 has 4 pipes with one
texture unit.

But... the 8500 is of a far older architexture, something he doesnt deny...

*MAYBE* he was thinking of the 9500, in which case he's absolutely correct
in ALL statements :-)

Greets
Thomas.