Driver software indicates a previous year's card model?
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
I just noticed today that both dxdiag and the ATI Catalyst Control Center report that I have an ATI Radeon HD 3850 / 256 MB. Which I got an odd feeling about. I went into my old emails to check receipts, and instead, it was a VisionTek HD 4850 / 512 MB that I mail-ordered from newegg.
Then I tried to do some physical confirmation. There's a green sticker with the words "ATI RADEON HD 4850 512M" printed on it. There are a total of 6 numbers, on either side of the card. I wrote them down and basically Googled each one. Two of the numbers seem to be HD 4850 serial# and part#; one I couldn't find anything about; and yet mysteriously three numbers showed search results that have to do with HD 3850. Is this normal? I'm so confused by this.
At this point, either a) the driver software is wrong (which could be bad for running programs, right?), or b) the card is not what it claims to be (which would be very, very bad).
As for the first case, I tried a couple of remedies:
-Reseated the card
-Uninstalled all ATI software several times (using the Uninstaller, and manually, and one of those free driver sweeper programs)
-Reinstalled the ATI software (from each source: ATI's website, VisionTek's website, and the original CD)
Maybe there is a lower-level thing to try? I have very little experience there, so I'm not sure where to start.
The last thing that I will attempt is do a full system re-install. Meanwhile, what gives!? I will probably call up VisionTek on Monday, to see what they have to say about this.
Details-------
Specs:
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R P45,
Intel C2D E7200 2.53G 775 45n,
VisionTek 900241 HD4850 512M,
2 GB memory,
running Windows XP Professional SP3
Catalyst Control Center shows:
ATI Radeon HD 3850
Device ID 9505
Vendor 1002
Subsystem ID 2542
Subsystem Vendor ID 1002
Memory 256 MB / DDR 3
Core Clock MHz 669 MHz
Memory Clock 829 MHz
Then I tried to do some physical confirmation. There's a green sticker with the words "ATI RADEON HD 4850 512M" printed on it. There are a total of 6 numbers, on either side of the card. I wrote them down and basically Googled each one. Two of the numbers seem to be HD 4850 serial# and part#; one I couldn't find anything about; and yet mysteriously three numbers showed search results that have to do with HD 3850. Is this normal? I'm so confused by this.
At this point, either a) the driver software is wrong (which could be bad for running programs, right?), or b) the card is not what it claims to be (which would be very, very bad).
As for the first case, I tried a couple of remedies:
-Reseated the card
-Uninstalled all ATI software several times (using the Uninstaller, and manually, and one of those free driver sweeper programs)
-Reinstalled the ATI software (from each source: ATI's website, VisionTek's website, and the original CD)
Maybe there is a lower-level thing to try? I have very little experience there, so I'm not sure where to start.
The last thing that I will attempt is do a full system re-install. Meanwhile, what gives!? I will probably call up VisionTek on Monday, to see what they have to say about this.
Details-------
Specs:
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R P45,
Intel C2D E7200 2.53G 775 45n,
VisionTek 900241 HD4850 512M,
2 GB memory,
running Windows XP Professional SP3
Catalyst Control Center shows:
ATI Radeon HD 3850
Device ID 9505
Vendor 1002
Subsystem ID 2542
Subsystem Vendor ID 1002
Memory 256 MB / DDR 3
Core Clock MHz 669 MHz
Memory Clock 829 MHz
More about : driver software previous year card model
When you reinstalled the ATI drivers you should only get the newest Catalyst/ATI drivers, don't worry about the original CD or VisionTeks.
That is an odd problem and it wouldn't be the first time I've heard of "scams" like this (I don't think its a scam if they gave you the wrong card as much as a mistake).
To be honest I'll VisionTek and ask them for confirmations.
I have a way to check though, run a program that will check your clock speeds.
EDIT - Nvm you did. See if those clock speeds are consistent with the card you were supposed to buy.
That is an odd problem and it wouldn't be the first time I've heard of "scams" like this (I don't think its a scam if they gave you the wrong card as much as a mistake).
To be honest I'll VisionTek and ask them for confirmations.
I have a way to check though, run a program that will check your clock speeds.
EDIT - Nvm you did. See if those clock speeds are consistent with the card you were supposed to buy.
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