Upgrade my 6790 Radeon POS

maarkr · Dec 15, 2013

ha... i'm sick of this thing getting dual screen freezes, then the "display driver failed but recovered" message... even after running driver removers and reinstalling fresh ones... so I want an Nvidia card, pref under $150... I don't do games, but bought a new HD recorder and like to edit videos, pro audio. Proc is i5-3570, Ttake 750W psu, 8Gbw Win32, 2 mons 1440x900.
I just want something that won't give me trouble editing videos with PowerDirector, or crash on iTunes or running streaming vids. Looking at that money maybe a 1Gb 192bit GDDR5? Do you have to spend $300+ on a card to get decent quality for normal ops?

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 15, 2013

Did I read correctly that you have 8 GB of RAM installed in a 32-bit Windows system?

maarkr · Dec 15, 2013

yeah, when i built it it cost the same so I just put both sticks in. I know it doesn't do anything for it, but I plan to upgrade to 64 bit someday.

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 15, 2013

While 32-bit Windows can address up to 4 GB of RAM, you won't get that all as usable memory space. Memory allocation has to take place for other devices within the same 32-bit address space Windows is using for RAM. Devices such as the BIOS, graphics and audio hardware, and other miscellaneous hardware will intrude here. A properly configured machine might not exhibit the graphics malfunctions you are experiencing. If you had access to 2 GB of RAM to test the computer with, I would certainly try that to see if it affects your graphics issues in a positive manner.

maarkr · Dec 15, 2013

so, changing to a, say HD7750 would not improve my overall video experience?

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 15, 2013

Well, if your graphics drivers are crashing, I wouldn't rule out the RAM being an issue. Drivers can have issues with systems that have larger amounts of RAM than they were designed to operate with. Running 32-bit Windows you are going to have to run the 32-bit drivers for your graphics card, and this could be where your problems are coming from. Without testing it, as I said, I wouldn't rule this out as the cause.

MapRef41N93W · Dec 15, 2013

Forget upgrading your graphics card... you should be prioritizing getting 64 bit windows first. For peet's sake you can buy 64 bit windows 7 home for 80 bucks.

maarkr · Dec 15, 2013

I know i should load the 64 bit version, but i soooooooo many dang pro audio progs, upgrades, VSTs that would need reinstalled and re-licensed that it scares me. the usual install stuff wouldn't be bad, but prob 100+ DAW-related apps and progs, each with a license... and when i do upgrade, I want to put the OS on a 500Gb internal SSD, so I keep waiting for the price to come down on those.

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 15, 2013

I understand the dilemma. I think in the mean-time, dropping 2 GB of RAM in the system might be an easier alternative.

You really do want to make sure that everything you intend to do is going to work with the 64-bit version of Windows, or you could inherit a few headaches that aren't easy to work around.

maarkr · Dec 17, 2013

Interesting... after frickin around with the AMD CCC, I finally noticed the Performance tab and enabled AMD overdrive... I enabled the Graphics Overdrive and boosted the high perf GPU clock settings and memory clock settings to about the middle of the scale. Since I did this two days ago, I have not had ANY video driver crashes and resets! Fingers crossed. Maybe I can keep this card after all.
Funny, if that is the reason for ALL of the posts I've seen about these driver crashes, it's hilarious that nobody has mentioned it in any of the posts I've read about it.

smeezekitty · Dec 17, 2013

You might try patching windows with PAE patch to access more than 4 GB

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 17, 2013

You know, come to think of it, I did at one point have to boost my idle clocks on both the GPU and memory to be stable in 2D mode, not when playing games, but using the regular desktop. I ended up sending that card in for RMA service, and it's been fine since, but boosting your idle clocks may help if you have a particularly finicky card. It's been long enough the situation completely slipped my mind, but now that you mention boosting your clocks, I do recall. I had to run about 300 on the memory and 500 on the GPU to keep the Windows desktop from crashing the graphics driver. Good catch, and I hope it makes things go more smoothly for you.

maarkr · Dec 18, 2013

I haven't removed the 2d stick yet... I'll look into the PAE patch... when I read about it f few months back it sounded "iffy". I prefer a stable, stock system, but if the PAE has been improved and stable, I may give it a shot.

smeezekitty · Dec 19, 2013

Well it is not perfectly stable but it is generally ok. It adds another boot entry so if it does not work all you have to do is select the unpatched kernel on the boot menu

You also need the NX bit enabled in the BIOS or it will BSoD

maarkr · Dec 22, 2013

well, after looking into it, I don't want to mess with it... if it was all that wonderful, then it would be a very popular and common procedure, and I'm not seeing it. Oh, and my mobo needs 2 sticks to work properly, so it's gonna be 2 4Gb sticks until i upgrade to 64 bit... which may be soon.

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 22, 2013

I don't see the point in trying to patch Windows into using a little more RAM. Applications that need those amounts of memory are coded for 64-bit Windows and work very well with that. Hacking together a solution is going to be frustrating at best.

smeezekitty · Dec 22, 2013

It does work though. Pic:
http://postimg.org/image/wkxq8l44d/

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 22, 2013

While I won't disagree that you can get Windows to use a bit more memory, you can't change the fact that the usable memory for your applications is still 2 GB. Yes, you can modify your programs too, but why go to all the work of Mickey-Mousing around the limitations of 32-bit Windows when it's easier to get up to speed on 64-bit Windows, and just not have the limitations?

I would sooner spend the time and effort on a proper, long-term solution, rather than what you might equate to a short-term band aid.

smeezekitty · Dec 22, 2013

Because otherwise I only have 3 GB usable with 1 GB used by the GPU

I often have several programs that use several hundred MB each and it adds up quick. Even if a prog can only use 2 GB its very possible to go over 3-4 GB

Not to mention 64 bit has its own limitations + paepatch is free

bigpinkdragon286 · Dec 22, 2013

True, true, except, when I build my last computer, I had to purchase I license for Windows, whether 32-bit or 64-bit, so I went with 64-bit without a moment's hesitation. Last Version of 32-bit Windows I have purchased on purpose was XP, but as soon as I could run 64-bit XP, I did so. I was happy to suffer the horrible early adopter issues to enjoy faster loading times and utilize better the potential of the early AMD x64 processors.

I really only consider 32-bit an option when memory will likely never exceed 2 GB, but even then, 64-bit Windows is not a big hurdle on new builds.

maarkr · Feb 26, 2014

Well, I don't know how a comment totally unrelated to a graphics card can get selected as 'best solution' by someone that didn't originate the post???? Anyhow, I finally used my upgrade copy of WIn7 and installed as SSD with Win7-64... no graphics issues anymore. It was prob the result of many years of files, drivers and programs in the old system.
THIS IS THE BEST SOLUTION.

smeezekitty · Feb 26, 2014

bigpinkdragon286 · Feb 26, 2014

It was probably the mis-configured system running 8 GB of RAM in a 32-bit installation of Windows causing your graphics driver issues.

Upgrade my 6790 Radeon POS

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