lawrenceging

Q: ATI Radeon 2600 XT on Mac Pro 2008 has died

Hi All,

 

I have recently been having issues with one of my ATI Radeon 2600 XT Graphics cards - choppy graphics, artefacts appearing on the display and endless crashes of the OS.

 

I have read online about a recall program Apple did run which recalled these exact graphics cards, and after checking the serial number of the card in question, it does indeed match one of the 'bad' batch.

 

The only problem is - the program ended in July 2011

 

What are the chances Apple would be kind enough to still swap my card for a new unaffected one?

 

Thanks

 

Mac Pro (early 2008)

6GB Memory

2 x ATI Radeon 2600XT

2 x 23" Cinema HD Monitors

Posted on Dec 11, 2011 3:25 AM

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Q: ATI Radeon 2600 XT on Mac Pro 2008 has died

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  • by David K. Gross,

    David K. Gross David K. Gross Oct 3, 2012 11:44 PM in response to Jcubarnold
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Oct 3, 2012 11:44 PM in response to Jcubarnold

    well..I don't post my email online.. give me a day or so and I'll stick it up on ebay and send a link.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 4, 2012 8:13 AM in response to David K. Gross
    Level 9 (61,332 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 4, 2012 8:13 AM in response to David K. Gross

    I have had my email enabled in my profile here for several years (click on my name) and I do not get spam attributable to the forums.

     

    Either or both of you can enable your email for a few days until it is picked up by your potential trading partner, then turn it off. Or you can post a "disposable" email such as Hotmail and then just stop reading it when done with it.

     

    Posting your email address openly in a forum posting attracts bugs spambots, so the Hosts will generally remove them.

  • by Jcubarnold,

    Jcubarnold Jcubarnold Oct 4, 2012 10:03 AM in response to David K. Gross
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 4, 2012 10:03 AM in response to David K. Gross

    Look in my profile. Thanks.

  • by air2bones,

    air2bones air2bones Nov 24, 2012 5:18 PM in response to David K. Gross
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 24, 2012 5:18 PM in response to David K. Gross

    Unfortunately the store here in Milwaukee was not as generous. My ATI 2600XT that died last week was one from the list of bad serial numbers, but the guy at the genius bar wants strictly hold to the July 2011 deadline.

  • by David K. Gross,

    David K. Gross David K. Gross Nov 24, 2012 5:24 PM in response to air2bones
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Nov 24, 2012 5:24 PM in response to air2bones

    ok..that blows.  I never got around to putting my card on eBay and still have it if someone wants it. 

  • by air2bones,

    air2bones air2bones Nov 24, 2012 6:59 PM in response to David K. Gross
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 24, 2012 6:59 PM in response to David K. Gross

    David,

     

    of course I am higly interested! Any suggestions how to proceed?

  • by David K. Gross,

    David K. Gross David K. Gross Nov 24, 2012 10:48 PM in response to air2bones
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Nov 24, 2012 10:48 PM in response to air2bones

    well..there's a lot of them on eBay.  Make me an offer, and email me at my address in my profile     I'll send you some pictures.

     

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=ATI+2600XT+apple&_sop=16

  • by air2bones,

    air2bones air2bones Nov 24, 2012 11:49 PM in response to David K. Gross
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 24, 2012 11:49 PM in response to David K. Gross

    your eMail address is not visible for me in your profile, however I see those of others.

    Notr sure what the cause is, sorry.

  • by David K. Gross,

    David K. Gross David K. Gross Nov 25, 2012 12:00 AM in response to air2bones
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Nov 25, 2012 12:00 AM in response to air2bones

    bizzare.. I see it as I'm signed in (not just browsing as a guest).

     

    I'll just stick it up on ebay and post the link.

     

     

  • by David K. Gross,

    David K. Gross David K. Gross Nov 25, 2012 12:20 AM in response to David K. Gross
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Nov 25, 2012 12:20 AM in response to David K. Gross
  • by Manu__,

    Manu__ Manu__ Jan 2, 2014 7:17 AM in response to lawrenceging
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 2, 2014 7:17 AM in response to lawrenceging

    Hello there, and Happy new year to you all.

     

    I am bumping this topic, as it seems my 2600 XT died on me, on the 24th of December no less (I had work to do grrrr).

     

    I was slightly dumbfounded to find out many people with the exact same issue, and also that there was a warranty extension from Apple that ended last year. As my Macpro has always been used in a smoke free and dust free environment, treated carefully and checked for dust twice a year, I went to investigate and hopefully find a culprit, or at least a reason why my GU would fail after what seems like not so many years...

     

    I think I have a pretty good idea now... Check these pictures out.

     

    Macpro, card as fitted from factory:

     

    factoryfitted.jpg

     

     

     

     

    The burn marks:

     

     

    burn.jpg

     

     

    The obvious:

     

     

    obvious.jpg

     

     

    The bottom half of the card does not have a chance in **** (edit: apparently I cannot say 'ell) to cool down or evacuate heat, quite literally. It is obviously going to go pop at some point, and it indeed seems that it is a matter of when rather than if.

     

    As in design flaw. I am currently in touch with Apple about this and they've all been polite so far but my issue has not fully been dealt with. On my end, I can not quite get it around my head that Apple did not issue a full recall instead of doing a limited-time extension. Or even contact customers to tell them to plug their card in slot two instead of leaving it to fry in slot one.

     

    To be continued...

  • by animeotaku0321,

    animeotaku0321 animeotaku0321 Jan 2, 2014 4:21 PM in response to Manu__
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 2, 2014 4:21 PM in response to Manu__

    Manu__

     

    Hey thank you for letting everyone know about moving the card into the second slot so it doesn't fry in slot one!

     

    You wouldn't happen to know of a step-by-step guide on moving the graphics card from slot one to slot two, would you?  I had to have MicroCenter install my new card because the last time I tried to do it myself I broke off the clip holding it in place...  D:

  • by LEKOVISION,

    LEKOVISION LEKOVISION Jan 2, 2014 5:57 PM in response to Manu__
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 2, 2014 5:57 PM in response to Manu__

    Manu,

     

    I'm am quite upset yet also quite relieved in reading your post.    Oddly enough, my early 2008 Mac Pro 3,1's video card (ati radeon 2600) ALSO started doing weird things on Dec. 20th, 2013.

     

    (I'm running 10.6.8)

     

    First, when editing in FCP 7, either playing along a timeline or a MOV quicktime file, the screens would freeze, but the audio from that clip / timeline would play until it finished.   I had absolutely NO control in regaining my desktop, finding my cursor or even performing a 'force quit'.    I had to turn off my powerbar and reboot.   There was times when the right monitor was black, and it eventually faded back up to working again and remained until i rebooted.   Very weird!!

     

    This happened on a frequent basis, but very unpredicitable.

     

    Then my troubles migrated to my right monitor would be flashing black and eventually no longer work.    I'd reboot and it would remain black.

     

    I powered down, swtiched the dvi ports and turned back on and my right monitor was still black.    This was VERY odd.    This lasted only one day, and from then onwards, any other time when i switched the dvi ports, the left one then also was black, and the right one worked ok.

     

    I took my MacPro into an Apple store and they did a full diagnostics on it, and they said that they were 95% sure that it was my Video / Graphics card dying.

     

    I called Apple, and they told me about the recall, which I had no previous knowledge about, and they said that it had ended at the end of 2012.

     

    Which i think is total bull crap!!    I agree with what you said - the should honour this recall for anyone who has this card.

     

    Anyways, the search is on for a newer and hopefully upgraded card.

     

    My question - A friend of mine gave me an ATI Radeon 4870 HD graphics card with one DVI port and one mini display port.     I installed it, and only one of my monitors worked.   It said an error on my working monitor that "it wasn't installed properly, or something was missing".   I don't remember exactly what the message was.

     

    Do i need a driver for this to work?     Will this video card work with my Mac Pro?

     

    Apologies for the long winded post, but i'm very frustrated by all this, and my projects have all been on hold cause of this BS that i'm going through.

     

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

     

    BTW, Happy New Years to everyone!

     

    Regards,

     

    Richard

  • by Johnb-one,

    Johnb-one Johnb-one Jan 2, 2014 6:00 PM in response to LEKOVISION
    Level 4 (1,918 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 2, 2014 6:00 PM in response to LEKOVISION

    Dear LEKOVISION

     

    Yes, this card should work with your Mac Pro, but you will need to update to 10.7 or better

     

    jb

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jan 2, 2014 6:05 PM in response to LEKOVISION
    Level 9 (61,332 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 2, 2014 6:05 PM in response to LEKOVISION

    LEKOVISION-

     

    The Apple-firmware 4870 must be installed in one of the two lowers slots. A PC card will not show a proper picture under Mac OS X. The Mini DisplayPort cable or adapter must be very firmly inserted into the jack, so that essentially ALL of the metal end is inside the jack.

     

    You may need to be running 10.6.5 or later.

     

    You must connect the Aux power cord supplied with the card (or available separately).

     

    There may be some additional anomalies -- this card did not ship until the Mac Pro 4,1 was released.

     

    It may have been removed because it malfunctioned -- it may not be a fully-functional card at all.

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