ATI RADEON X1900 XT GRAPHICS CARDS, MACS, APPLE

[Anonymous]

Yesterday Apple replaced the following:

Both of the above graphics cards in my MAC PRO (I have a card for each monitor), and

the same graphics card and cover in my MACBOOK PRO.

These were replaced because of a known problem in the card when running high end graphics programs such as ArchiCAD.

Had I not had the Extended Care, would have cost me close to $2,200; but as I do have the Extended Care, cost 0.

If anyone else has had the experience of what looks like an attempt at modern art take over their screen while in the 3d window, and has the above card, this is the problem. there was a problem in the manufacture of "certain" ATI cards and Apple has chosen to replace them. On my computer, that is 2.5 years old, they have has replaced 5 graphics cards.

[Thomas Holm]

Interestiing. You must be a good negotiator! I guess this is the same issue as in this thread, see the attached image (Maybe a moderator should join the threads?)
I've had the issue on my MacBookPro 2,2 (late 2006, ATI Radeon X1600) and on my MacPro 3,1 (Dual Quad-core 2008, ATI Radeon HD2600). But not yet on 10.5.7.
What specific machine models do you refer to? Did you run into the issue with 10.5.7?

[Anonymous]

my big mac pro is:

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: Mac Pro
Model Identifier: MacPro1,1
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Total Number Of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz

It has two graphics cards that run one monitor each. they are
ATI Radeon X1900 XT:

Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1900
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB

My MacBook Pro 17" has

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro 17"
Model Identifier: MacPro1,2
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz

It's graphics card is:


Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB

I am using the latest update for ArchiCAD 12 on both computers. These problems started in 11 and continued to 12 and I hope after all the Apple replacements that they are past.

[Thomas Holm]

Seems we're talking about the same thing. My MBP, although a bit newer than yours, has the same X1600 card as your, and a lot of iMacs (named in the other thread) and MacPros also have these problematic cards. It seems to affect a lot of ATI cards of several models, not just a few samples. But the issues started with Leopard (OSX 10.5), and did not happen with Tiger, so it might just as well be a software/driver issue, that hasn't been fixed until now.

If our problems continue, it would be good to know what info you have about the "known problem". Is that your designation, or is it Apple's, and did you get any documentation from them confirming this?

If somebody else has this problem under 10.5.7, please post!

[Anonymous]

I received a letter form Sean Fennelly about this:

"Hello Beverly,
Im sorry to day it’s a issue with the hardware, its not a Mac issue, but a ATI issue on cards made for Mac, This happens in any intensive program. The only fix we know of at his time is to replace the cards with other cards then ATI cards.
Regards,
Sean Fennelly
Helpdesk Agent
Graphisoft North America
support@graphisoft.com"

So I went online and found this "http://www.aticlassaction.com/index.html", then called Apple support (I am now on a first name basis) and told them since there was a known issue with this card dating back to 2006, and that they sold me these computers (with these cards in them) after that, and that I am covered by the Apple Care Protection Plan; I felt they are responsible for the problems I have had since I purchased the computer and upgraded to Leopard. the upshot is that they agreed and I have what I could almost call new computers.

bk

[Thomas Holm]

You must have found the soft spot in Apple Support. Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

Look at Macworld, June 2009 issue, page 46, left side.

[Thomas Holm]

Archimamamia wrote:
Look at Macworld, June 2009 issue, page 46, left side.

Sorry, don't have that. Could you brief us?

[Dwight]

Many magazines are available online for free, now.

To download the MacWorld June 2009, go here.


MacWorld June 2009 Free Download


It comes as a RAR so you need

UnRarX

Free UnRarX download

[Thomas Holm]

Is that a Pirate Bay for magazines?

And thanks. I have the Unarchiver, works just as well. And opens lots of formats. And starts when I need it without my asking!