ATI 3870 issue, maybe

This is what I have been thru so far:

I have recently partially upgraded my media center system. I replaced the motherboard and upgraded to a pci express video card.

Originally I reused my old PD Presler 3.2 Presler and installed a new micro atx Gigabyte motherboard and a PNY 9600GT video card.

I was concerned after running benchmarks with futuremark06 and scored 3700. I OC the cpu to 3.5 and my score went to 4500. Im sure that the scores were held back by the cpu but I couldnt help but feel bad for not paying another 20.00 and getting EVGA.

I took the card back and was going to switch to the EVGA version but had read that the ATI 3870 was a bit faster and decided to go with that card instead.

I also decided to get an E2180 cpu and was going to OC. I was only able to get it to OC to 2.4 and when I tried to benchmark with 3dmark06 it would hang and I would have to end the program. The pc worked fine but 3dmark06 will not load no matter what I do.

I put the old Presler cpu back in to eleviate any doubt I had about having a cpu issue and the program still will not load. The other obvious issue I am having is when I watched a movie on it tonight it was constantly having distored lines running horizontally across the screen. Nothing major but still shouldnt be doing this.

I feel this card has issues and am thinking about returning it for something else tomorrow morning. I never had this issue with my old X850XT or the 9600GT. This ATI card is a leadtek brand I think. I have never used them before until now.


The complete specs for my media center pc is:

Presler 3.2 / E2160 (have tried both)
Patriot 2g ddr2 memory
Gigabyte 945 GCM-S2C mobo
200G WD HD
Media Center 2005 OS
Ultra 500 watt psu (next item to be upgraded)

I cant receive email notifications for some reason but please post and I will manually check the thread...

Thanks

51 views and still no posts. Im disappointed.

Dont bother do respond now, I have already changed cards and fixed the problem.

Admins, delete this thread please.