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WoW TBC on Mac Pro - Artefacts & Crashes

Thanks much, I'll try to give them a call this week.

That large gray pad it sits on is a concern for me because it seems to be insulating material...I'd be happier if it was aluminum so it could transmit the heat better but then you'd have the worry of shorting out the card (although there are little black pads on the back of the card). The best solution would just have been to give it more of a gap for air.

Edit: Called them up and after a couple of tests, they want me to take it into an apple store *sigh*
 
damado said:
Thanks much, I'll try to give them a call this week.

That large gray pad it sits on is a concern for me because it seems to be insulating material...I'd be happier if it was aluminum so it could transmit the heat better but then you'd have the worry of shorting out the card (although there are little black pads on the back of the card). The best solution would just have been to give it more of a gap for air.

Edit: Called them up and after a couple of tests, they want me to take it into an apple store *sigh*
Click to expand...

BTW has anyone tried putting some thermocouples under the card and see the temps at load and idle? I might order a thermocouple set to try that.

Oops...meant to edit and hit quote instead heh
 
miniConvert said:
Well, I haven't, but if somebody has the equipment to hand it would be interesting to know the results.
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I might order some this week. It's not too expensive and I'm really curious. I talked to the apple guy today and he said the heat is all generated on top and the heatsink should take care of it. But I've touched the backside of other cards before in PCs and some spots can almost burn you. This is probably not the cause as I'm sure the apple engineers are smarter than that, but it's just curiosity heh.

Update on apple replacing my card.....WoW forums have a thread going about this problem and Tigerclaw has posted an email to send your apple case number to. Apparently they did something because apple called me today and told me they are sending me a new card. The curious thing is that he told me I had to call him back and let him know how this new card does because they need to hear back from the test group to know whether this is the solution. It can then be given to everyone else. He said he wasn't an engineer and didn't know the details though.
 
Good, it's about time something kicked into action. The more information you can 'uncover' the better, I'd love to know the cause, or causes, of this flaw in an otherwise truly awesome machine. I've got to hand it to the Mac Pro, bar the ATI card it's just a dream machine. It's a good job they made it nice and heavy, or I think I'd spend most of my time carrying it around ;)
 
damado said:
The curious thing is that he told me I had to call him back and let him know how this new card does because they need to hear back from the test group to know whether this is the solution. It can then be given to everyone else. He said he wasn't an engineer and didn't know the details though.
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I can hear it from here, you're sitting there fantasizing that you're gonna crack open the box and get one of the new ati dx10 cards, aren't ya? :p

I know I would be......... :D
 
mjgunn said:
I can hear it from here, you're sitting there fantasizing that you're gonna crack open the box and get one of the new ati dx10 cards, aren't ya? :p

I know I would be......... :D
Click to expand...

Haha, nah was expecting the same but with some kind of modified chip somewhere....or a new heatsink (although the accelero didn't keep it from dying either).

I just got it and it looks exactly the same. Some of the numbers are different on the back though. I put it on the slot above the bottom. Of course it's only at 8x, but I'll see how it runs there. Are these cards already reaching the 16x limit or is 8x usually enough?

EDIT:
I ran Eve for a bit and then touched the backside of the card and it was burning hot. I couldn't hold my finger there. That's the side that's usually down against that plastic with no air circulating. Just wanted to mention that in case it matters.

This new card gets up to 84 degress under load. The old one only went up to 75. We'll see how things go.
 
OK well I got to this thread late but I am having the same issues when running RTCW and when running Half Life 2. I took my computer to apple and they replaced the logic board but it still has the same issues. I am going to try the X2 cooling swap as it seems to happen after the card has been running at maxed out settings for about 20mins and at a very high fps.
 
I had been following this thread even though I hadn't been having any issues with my system (had it since September, been playing WoW since around October). About a week ago I started getting graphical errors like this, is this what you all have been talking about?

gglitchty7.jpg
 
Yes, that's a good example of one of the errors.

It's especially fun when other players acquire massive objects protruding out of their heads.

An easy fix is to get smcFanControl, ramp up your fan speeds (I ramp up the IO fan particularly to around 1800rpm), and then play. Eventually I had some distortions even doing this, so I got Apple to send me a replacement card. Since then I haven't had any issues (though I still turn the fans up, just to be safe, as I doubt the problem has actually been fixed and I don't want to damage my X1900XT).

The other option would appear to be reducing your detail/resolution/fancy features :( Aftermarket coolers may help, though it's likely you'll still need to use smcFanControl.
 
I recommend calling apple about the problem getting a case number then emailing it to the wow mac team (info listed in this thread).

Not sure what they do but an apple person will call you 1-2 days later and tell you that they will mail you a new vid card. Easy as that.
 
damado said:
I recommend calling apple about the problem getting a case number then emailing it to the wow mac team (info listed in this thread).

Not sure what they do but an apple person will call you 1-2 days later and tell you that they will mail you a new vid card. Easy as that.
Click to expand...

I can't post in that thread but it would be really interesting for me to know if anyone who has had their X1900 replaced since April has also encountered the X1900 + bootcamp problem. Anyone here in that situation?
 
My problem has gotten worse.

My distortions have not only come back, but now after about 3 hours of WoW, the distortion gets so bad, it just goes black and the system locks up.

ATI is sending me a "Ver.2" 1900XT, however when I called in on the 3rd I was told that it would ship that day. Now I'm being told that it "should" ship in 10 business days.

Damn I wish nvidia would build a Mac Pro version of the 8xxx series.
 
Transeau said:
My distortions have not only come back, but now after about 3 hours of WoW, the distortion gets so bad, it just goes black and the system locks up.
Click to expand...
That's what eventually happened to me - which would seem to indicate that repeated overheating, as we believe it to be, does actually cause damage to the card.

I'm glad your replacement is on the way. Interesting that ATI are sending it you... did you buy the ATI X1900XT as an aftermarket part? Applecare issued my replacement.
 
Well, Blizzard solved any graphic problems I might have had on my Mac. After getting an update this morning, my WoW won't even load. I get the Can't Read Interface.mpq file problem. I guess I'll have to stick to playing WoW on my Windoze machine. :(
 
More delays for me. Apple is now telling me that the replacement X1900 has gone from "In stock and will be delivered in 2~3 days" to "backordered and will be shipped in 15~30 days"

Apple seems to be pretty bad with Mac Pro repairs. When my 1394 died it took 27 days to get it repaired. That's pretty sad times for the top of the Pro line.
 
Transeau said:
More delays for me. Apple is now telling me that the replacement X1900 has gone from "In stock and will be delivered in 2~3 days" to "backordered and will be shipped in 15~30 days"

Apple seems to be pretty bad with Mac Pro repairs. When my 1394 died it took 27 days to get it repaired. That's pretty sad times for the top of the Pro line.
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Instead of me getting a new X1900... I got the powersupply to a 17" iMac G5.... Yay me.... Per Apple, 8-10 business days for the CORRECT part to ship :/
 
CyberPrey said:
Instead of me getting a new X1900... I got the powersupply to a 17" iMac G5.... Yay me.... Per Apple, 8-10 business days for the CORRECT part to ship :/
Click to expand...

Real nice.

I ended up writing yet ANOTHER letter to Allen Rhodes (Apple Executive Relations). He's fixed my problems each time I wasn't happy with the service that I was getting. I explained (yet again) that I'm a Dell Certified Service Tech, as well as a contracted IT manager. My big problem with Apple's support is the delay in parts shipments. When one of my Dell's fail, I have a replacement part the next business day, two days at latest.

Amazingly, my X1900 shipped out just 4 hours later. I'll have it Monday. :)

I REALLY hope that my letters are at least making some waves in Mr. Jobs' office. I Love my Apples (All 6 of them), but I really want them to have better customer service than Dell. Hell, I figure that if they can ship a Mac Pro with an X1900 "Within 24 Hours" then they should be able to ship the X1900 alone in less time than that.
 
Transeau said:
Real nice.

I ended up writing yet ANOTHER letter to Allen Rhodes (Apple Executive Relations). He's fixed my problems each time I wasn't happy with the service that I was getting. I explained (yet again) that I'm a Dell Certified Service Tech, as well as a contracted IT manager. My big problem with Apple's support is the delay in parts shipments. When one of my Dell's fail, I have a replacement part the next business day, two days at latest.

Amazingly, my X1900 shipped out just 4 hours later. I'll have it Monday. :)

I REALLY hope that my letters are at least making some waves in Mr. Jobs' office. I Love my Apples (All 6 of them), but I really want them to have better customer service than Dell. Hell, I figure that if they can ship a Mac Pro with an X1900 "Within 24 Hours" then they should be able to ship the X1900 alone in less time than that.
Click to expand...


Any chance you can "speed" up the process for anyone else?

I love my Mac Pro.. and I have a mini i use to goof around with along with an Imac for my son... but their customer service just flat out stinks :(

My Dell XPS M170 is 20 months old... I had the LCD go bad on it... Dell paid to ship it TO them over night, and shipped it back 2 days later over night... They didn't even hassle me :( why can't apple be this easy???
 
Does anyone know if there is a utility to directly control the X1900's fan speed in OS X? Under Windows in bootcamp I can use ATITool to ramp up the fan and it is much more efficient at keep the card cool than just ramping up the case fans with SMC. I can keep the card under 70 celsius easily this way, whereas it usually hovers around 80-83 celsius.


I've got a call in to Apple and an email sent to Blizzard to get my card replaced at any rate, but if anyone knows of such a utility that would be great.
 
ctishue said:
Does anyone know if there is a utility to directly control the X1900's fan speed in OS X? Under Windows in bootcamp I can use ATITool to ramp up the fan and it is much more efficient at keep the card cool than just ramping up the case fans with SMC. I can keep the card under 70 celsius easily this way, whereas it usually hovers around 80-83 celsius.
Click to expand...

This would be fantastic.. I would love to see this as well..
 
My new card is in. I'm going to max out my settings and see how hot I can get it tonight.

Update: Played about 3 hours - no crashed, no artifacts, no distortions, nothing!
 
So far so good on my card playing WoW and Eve online almost a month now.

Then again the last one lasted 4 months before burning out so we'll see =)

Temps are about 80-83...sometimes 85 before the fan goes on super speed. I have it on the slot above the bottom one though since the back gets so hot. I'm hoping this way it will last longer.

Never called the apple guy back since I lost his number tho =/
 
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