ATI HD4870X2 performance problem PLease help

[Malachitsai]

I just got my Sapphire ATI HD4870X2 , I first installed on a fresh copy of Vista 32 bit , but apparently I got hit by the black screen after green loading bar problem. I installed 8.10 catalyst and tested 3D mark 05, and I got lower mark than my previous 8800GTX , I ran a total of 9000 something points where my GTX would get 10,000. so I uninstall and reinstalled my driver again , and some how it fixed it , I am getting 12500 points and running Crysis at 2560x1600 all very high with average of 30 fps.

I had to reinstall my Vista again due to that black screen problem , now everything is all going fine with no problem booting up . BUT !! I couldnt achieve my previous performance , I keep getting the same old 3dmark 06 result and now crysis runs at 10fps instead of 30 with the same setting. I tried reinstalling the 8.10 driver , and even download it again and tried it , still wont work , I think its a driver issue , any one know how to reinstall it properly ? mabye use a driver cleaner , but which one ... please help me

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Driver cleaner shouldn't be required for a fresh install of Vista, but make sure you have SP1 and everything up to date too.

Also what's your CPU and other components?
If the CPU is weak then the extra load of the X2 will simply cause lower performance because it's CPU bottlenecked and then ontop of it adding an X2 management load ontop of that.

 

[Malachitsai]

okay this is what I found out , I get better performance if I turn off the computer and boot it again by pressing the power button , if I restart , the performance is often crap , .........this is weird.....

my spec are

E6300 @ 2.66ghz
ASUS P5B Delux Wi/Fi
Enermax Liberty 620W
Balastix Tracer 1066

 

[Malachitsai]

ok this is weird , now I am getting that black screen problem when I restart com , only boot properly when I power down and power on......sigh

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Weird, may be something flakey with the PSU supplying adequate power (my first guess), try to isolate the other components on different rails to ensure cleaner distribution of power.

Or something flakey with the the chipset or memory that a new card stressed out. You could try memtest and see if that causes a failure, but it looks like it's going to be a little bit of an effort to trouble shoot unless someone has a similar experience. Not a typical issue, could be a pain in the butt to trouble shoot.

 

[Malachitsai]

maybe its the PSU , I have experience the the screen flicker and doesnt display properly when it change from one test to another on 3dmark06 , and sometime my razer lachesis illumination flickers instead of proper glowing , so I had to pull it out and insert it back in. so Enermax Liberty 620W is not enough ?

 

[Malachitsai]

ok now I am gonna try plug the 8 pin , on two different rails to see if it helps , will let you guys know

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The Enermax in spec may be enough (don't know what it's rated for 12A), but maybe it's just an unlucky PSU if it's the cause. Hey I'm sure 1 in every however-many PC Power & Cooling PSU are FUH-Qed too, just the un-luck of the draw.

Anywhoo good luck, wish I could be of more help.

 

[Malachitsai]

ok the latest experiment I tried is , I got my friend's enermax 8pin cable , cause his one is slightly later so it include the 8 pin , and I plugged into the red socket for 3d card instead of the previous setup using the black coloured one , I defintely got more performance out of 3dmark06 , I got 12609 . And I tried restarting and it booted the first time , but failed the second boot , so I am guessing , in the future if I want to restart , powering down and powering up would be my options.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Yeah, although that's far from a satisfying solution I bet.

Anywhoo, heading home, good luck with the continued troubleshooting.