New build, 5850 problem

[fikle]

Hey, so I built a new computer:

CPU: i5-750
Motherboard: ASUS p7p55d deluxe
GPU: ASUS Radeon 5850
PSU: tx 750w
Memory: 2x2gb of Kingston HyperX 1600

So I booted it up for the first time, everything worked and installed windows 7 64bit fine. I installed the video drivers (the latest from the AMD website): 9.12 with the ccc(have also tried the drivers off the cd, and other versions).

Ran a game I had on my older hard drive. Ran fine at max graphics for about 5min, then screen went black and came back at the desktop with a VPU recovery error: The graphics driver has stopped responding and has recovered.

Then we restarted and while starting up the mouse moved very very choppy, and the same error popped up. So we immediately thought, ok the video card may be defective. So we swapped my 5850 for my brother's GTX 285. Now his i7-940, with an asus motherboard runs everything fine now with the 5850, games, 3D Mark Vantage. Everything seems to work with his computer. So then we start playing with mine with the GTX 285 in it. My computer also works fine now... Can play games, run the 3D Mark Vantage, everything. Been on for a day with no errors on either computer.

So does this rule out the video card? I don't know where to go from here.

Sorry for the long explanation.. But any help would be great.

Thanks

 

[rodney_ws]

I have had the ATI driver stop responding once on my 5850... but that was on 9.10 if I remember correctly. At the time I had a memory problem (I wasn't aware of this initially) and although I could game on my computer, I was unable to pass a MemTest86+ test nor could my Firefox browser run for more than a few minutes without crashing. I'm not saying that you have bad memory, but testing that wouldn't be a bad idea... it's free and takes only a few minutes. That wouldn't explain how the GTX 285 runs in your system, but it's still something I'd consider.

It sounds like you've eliminated your PSU as the problem since that GTX 285 consumes more power than the 5850 (and you have a nice PSU). It's safe to say you've eliminated the motherboard, but I would consider a BIOS update for that (if one is available)

Test RAM, update BIOS, and failing all of that I would try an OS reload (it sounded like you had a clean install previously, but that's still what I'd do before starting a painful RMA process)

 

[ordos96]

What OS does your brothers PC have? and is it 64 bit? I have had some issues with win 7 64-bit and the 5770 when trying to run games and then crashes. I have tested an old 8800 that i could get to work, then tested the card in an XP 32-bit PC and the 5770 worked just fine. Also recently when i updated drivers to the latest i have had the same issue come back so i will be reverting to the older drivers here soon.

Though any time i have a problem i can still surf the web and do most things just fine, just no games or 3d aplications.

 

[rodney_ws]

My 5850 is perfectly happy in Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Although, I guess it depends on the game we're talking about. I play TF2, Heroes of M&M 5 (hey, don't knock it until you try it), L4D, Dirt2 (hey, it was free!), and Dragon Age... hell, this last round of drivers from ATI even fixed a problem I was having with The Witcher!

So what games are you playing?

 

[capt_taco]

I'd definitely recommend a BIOS update as well, along with any other motherboard drivers. Windows 7 is new enough that you may still see issues with whatever came with it out of the box.

The RAM is also a good place to look. I bet that Kingston HyperX memory takes 1.65V or 1.7V but the motherboard only provides 1.5V by default. So you may need to adjust that manually.

Also, if it's anything over 1.65V, be careful. I know that Intel has said using any voltage over 1.65 can permanently damage an i7 CPU. I don't know if that also applies to the i5, but I would definitely investigate that before going any further along that road.

 

[fikle]

both computers are using Windows 7 64bit. I'm going to run memtest then i'll try updating the bios.

The game I tried it with was Borderlands just because it was on my hard drive. Also when we tried enabling windows 7 to use all the 3d stuff by refreshing the windows experience index, that also instantly crashed my computer. Although with the GTX 285 in it, it works fine.


http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX26528(ME).aspx


Also i'll look at the voltage for the memory. That is the memory I bought, i think i bought it just so i wouldn't have to deal with the voltages, because in its specs it said 1.5v

 

[capt_taco]

both computers are using Windows 7 64bit. I'm going to run memtest then i'll try updating the bios.

The game I tried it with was Borderlands just because it was on my hard drive. Also when we tried enabling windows 7 to use all the 3d stuff by refreshing the windows experience index, that also instantly crashed my computer. Although with the GTX 285 in it, it works fine.


http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX26528(ME).aspx


Also i'll look at the voltage for the memory. That is the memory I bought, i think i bought it just so i wouldn't have to deal with the voltages, because in its specs it said 1.5v

Hmm ... according to one site, that memory takes 1.5V, and according to another site, that same set of RAM takes 1.65V.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104166

Looking more closely at the site you ordered it from, there's a bit of confusing language:

"Kingston's KHX1600C9D3K2/4GX is a kit of two 256M x 64-bit 2GB (2048MB) DDR3-1600MHz CL9 SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) memory modules, based on sixteen 128M x 8-bit DDR3 FBGA components per module. Each module kit supports Intel® XMP (Extreme Memory Profiles). Total kit capacity is 4GB. Each module kit has been tested to run at DDR3-1600MHz at a low latency timing of 9-9-9-27 at 1.65V. The SPDs are programmed to JEDEC standard latency DDR3-1333MHz timing of 9-9-9 at 1.5V. Each 240-pin DIMM uses gold contact fingers and requires +1.5V."

Not 100% sure, but it sounds like this means your memory takes 1.5V to run at 1333Mhz, but goes to 1.65V if you're using it at 1600Mhz. Your motherboard looks like it can support either 1333 or 1600 by default, and my guess is that it'll try the higher setting automatically. So perhaps it's trying to run the RAM at 1600mhz automatically, but then not figuring out it's supposed to up the voltage. Or maybe it knows it's supposed to, but it just isn't -- autodetect features for RAM voltage sometimes work fine with non-standard voltages and sometimes don't, for no good reason that I know.

At any rate, the simplest way to check for this is to go into the BIOS and see what speed your RAM is trying to run at. If it's 1600, go manually increase the voltage to 1.65. If it's 1333, you've likely ruled this out as a problem. But if you get lucky, this might fix the problem in 5 minutes.

 

[fikle]

I set the ram to 1333 in the bios, it is at 1.5v. I updated the bios and other motherboard drivers. Now I guess i just need to put my video card back in my computer and see how it works.

One question i had was: If the problem was the memory, wouldn't it be acting up with either video card in?

Either way i changed it and I'm switching them back to see what will happen...

 

[bystander]

I had similar issues when I first installed my 5870. Once I OC'ed the core to 900 from 850, and the mem from 1200 to 1250 the problem stopped.

There are some weird problems with the clock speeds with stock settings on the 5870's. If left at stock, the clock speeds don't properly relax when not doing 3d graphics.

I don't know all the ins and outs of this problem, other than to say that once I used ATI Overdrive, my black screens with virtical stripes and artifacts disapeared completely.

 

[capt_taco]

One question i had was: If the problem was the memory, wouldn't it be acting up with either video card in?

Yes, it should. It looks like the problem was I'm an idiot, and I misread your first post to mean that the 5850 and GTX 285 were both only working in his machine. So now thanks to all that effort, you're extra-sure that your RAM is running at a stable setting, but that probably didn't have anything to do with the video problem. sigh. Maybe the BIOS and mobo drivers did, though, so I guess you'll soon find out.

If that's not the case, I'd be more inclined to trust what the other 5xxx owners have to say. The clock speed issue and old driver compatibility both sound promising, and running memtest wouldn't hurt either, although I'd be surprised if that was the cause of everything.

 

[fikle]

So, I started it up.. everything worked fine until i tried to stress the video card by running 3D Mark Vantage. It froze in the middle of the first graphics test and then the screen went black then, back to the desktop, with the error: Display driver has stopped responding and has recovered. The same error as before. So after updating the motherboard, bios, running memtest and checking the voltages on the memory I am back to square one it seems, although i guess we've proved the memory works.

Thanks for the help so far, any other ideas?

 

[bystander]

Thanks for the help so far, any other ideas?

Go to CCC, use ATI Overdrive and change your GPU and or Memory settings to anything other than the stock settings. It worked for me, and is working for some others on the ATI forums.

You might consider a small OC, but the point is just to change it to anything else (as in +1 or -1 don't go crazy on me). There is a problem with the ATI drivers or Bios settings with stock timings.