Hello,

 

I've been thinking about my ATI X1900 XTX. I'm not too fussed on buying an upgrade just yet, however I'm getting screen flickers which some believe is a sign of overheating. Yesterday my ATI catalyst flashed up a warning that my computer was operating at a high temperature, later it restarted as I played Half Life 2. I've never had overheating problems but after installing a new 750 gb HDD there seems to be a heat issue.

I have been reading that I need a X1900 mastercard and a slave, I would only be able to run at X1900 XT speeds.

My query is, is I was to purchase another X1900 XTX, would it run in crossfire? Also would there be enough room to attach coolers to both of them, obviously it depends on the cooler, I was thinking of the Zalman Thermaltake DuOrb.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Falfa:

 Hello,

 

I've been thinking about my ATI X1900 XTX. I'm not too fussed on buying an upgrade just yet, however I'm getting screen flickers which some believe is a sign of overheating. Yesterday my ATI catalyst flashed up a warning that my computer was operating at a high temperature, later it restarted as I played Half Life 2. I've never had overheating problems but after installing a new 750 gb HDD there seems to be a heat issue.

I have been reading that I need a X1900 mastercard and a slave, I would only be able to run at X1900 XT speeds.

My query is, is I was to purchase another X1900 XTX, would it run in crossfire? Also would there be enough room to attach coolers to both of them, obviously it depends on the cooler, I was thinking of the Zalman Thermaltake DuOrb.

 

Cheers!

you already have a slave card. what you need is a x1900 crossfire edition card if you look here http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonx1900/specs.html and go the bottom you will see you loose about 25mhz on core, and about 100 on memory (you can prob overclock these to xtx speeds though)

as for cooling, you can use zalman cooling and any cooling you have as long as theres room in your case, and your motherboard. make sure you have clearance to install 2 cards since they both take up 2 slots.

also make sure your motherboard supports crossfire. AN SLI BOARD WILL NOT SUPPORT CROSSFIRE.

 

Falfa:

 Hello,

 

I've been thinking about my ATI X1900 XTX. I'm not too fussed on buying an upgrade just yet, however I'm getting screen flickers which some believe is a sign of overheating. Yesterday my ATI catalyst flashed up a warning that my computer was operating at a high temperature, later it restarted as I played Half Life 2. I've never had overheating problems but after installing a new 750 gb HDD there seems to be a heat issue.

I have been reading that I need a X1900 mastercard and a slave, I would only be able to run at X1900 XT speeds.

My query is, is I was to purchase another X1900 XTX, would it run in crossfire? Also would there be enough room to attach coolers to both of them, obviously it depends on the cooler, I was thinking of the Zalman Thermaltake DuOrb.

 

Cheers!

 

 

So you are sure this heat issue started after you installed your new 750gb hard drive? When you installed it, did you change anything else in your system? You didn't happen to disconnect a case fan and forgot to reconnect it?

What pc case are you using? Where did you install the new hard drive? If the OS isn't on the new 750gb, can you uninstall it and see if the temperatures go back to what it was before? This would be a good test to see if the new hard drive really is the culprit.

It would really help me if you can show us a picture of your pc with the 750gb hard drive in place. Would you be able to give us a picture? 

 

 

 Hi,

 

Thanks for replying. I have a Tsunami Dream case, which I am considering replacing as it all seems a bit cramped (I wish Full Towers were easy to come by now-a-days)

I didn't modify anything else in the case, but I suspect that because the 750gb is almost touching the graphics card the change in temp from a 250gb I had before is having an adverse effect on the gfx card. The OS is on the 750gb so I can't really play around with it too much.

 There are three fans on the case and two on the power supply. Bigguns on the front, back and a smaller one on the sid. The PSU has a large on the bottom directly above the heatsink for the processor with a small exhaust on the exterior.

 I take a pic when I get home from work tonight.

 Cheers!!!

 Thanks for the info. I'll be waiting for your picture.

If you suspect that the 750gb hard drive being very close to your graphics card is having an affect, you should try moving it to another hard drive slot in your case. 

 Takes me forever to do anything!

Here is the computer innards. I've put a couple of notes on. Whilst I had to computer open I decided to make a qucik change. There was a 200gb drive they had stopped working some time ago. I had unplugged the SATA cable but left the power cable attached. I've now put in a 250gb I had and have hooked it up in its place.

Might a hard disk, plugged in but not being accessed generate more heat than normal?

 I've orders a new gfx card cooler from Zalman. I figured a little extra cooling wouldn't do any harm.

 Thanks for looking.

 Well if Price is no issue for you I'd suggest going with Lian Li: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/contact_us/index1.php

Ive had my Lian Li PC-V1000 for around 2 years now but they have discontinued it :(. They replaced it with this one:  Lian Li PC-V1010. Best case I've ever bought and I am not considering replacing it anytime soon. They are very pricy though (mine costed me $200 and there is no PSU included) but they are designed with cooling and space in mind.

 

Back to the issue at hand. Before adding another card in your system I would suggest figuring out your cooling issue.That case is WAY to crammed together. 750 GB HDDs do produce a lot of heat and you should not stack them on top of one another unless they are cooled. How are the fans configured in your system? Stock design? I am familiar with the Tsunami cases and they can get quite cramped inside. The wiring job is also a bit messy and there is a lot of dust.

Thanks for the picture. Laggerzero basically pointed out what I was going to say after taking a look at your case innards. 

 

Laggerzero:

 Well if Price is no issue for you I'd suggest going with Lian Li: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/contact_us/index1.php

Ive had my Lian Li PC-V1000 for around 2 years now but they have discontinued it :(. They replaced it with this one:  Lian Li PC-V1010. Best case I've ever bought and I am not considering replacing it anytime soon. They are very pricy though (mine costed me $200 and there is no PSU included) but they are designed with cooling and space in mind.

 

Back to the issue at hand. Before adding another card in your system I would suggest figuring out your cooling issue.That case is WAY to crammed together. 750 GB HDDs do produce a lot of heat and you should not stack them on top of one another unless they are cooled. How are the fans configured in your system? Stock design? I am familiar with the Tsunami cases and they can get quite cramped inside. The wiring job is also a bit messy and there is a lot of dust.

 

Lian Li cases are nice and are of great quality. But if price is an issue, Antec makes some pretty good cases at various price points. 

 Hey,

 

Thats for all the input. I'm case shopping now. Lian Li is pricey, especially where I live, UK (Northern Ireland) so P&P can cost as much as a kidney. There are a couple of alternates that I fancy however, I'm worried about getting too off topic here.

 I like Coolmater Cosmos (Not the Sports model) its a great price and looks the biz. The other being the Antec 900. Using Newegg as a review database I think the Cosmos comes off better with less gripes. I quite fancy it moreso, anyone wanna put me off it?

 

Those are good cases. the Thermaltake Armor is another good one and it is a Full ATX tower and not a mid tower

You could try cleaning your case and moving hard drives around so that your graphics card gets more breathing room/airflow before putting the cash down for a new case.

 

P.S. - I prefer the Cosmos over the Antec 900. 

Hi,

In the end I went for the Antec P182... wow what a case! Some times I wonder if its on when I'm passing the computer room doorway.

The little box under the upper HDD container is a good idea but putting loose screws in it can cause a rattle.