Radeon 5850 Hangs

[gordonfreeman]

Hi all, I'm having issues with my radeon 5850 hanging in some games. What happens is the screen will go black for about 30 seconds - 1min and then sometimes grey (I can still hear the game) and then after another 30 seconds or so the display returns and the game continues as normal. It never crashes to desktop but its very annoying.

Games this has happened in is Mafia 2, COD MW2, SC2, Battfield Bad Company2, Dirt 2 (Damn thats a lot of sequels) and UT 3. It does not happen with Civilization V?!

I have ran temp checks and the hottest the GPU gets is 72C, its average is 58C and when idle its usually around 32C. VDDC is around 32C. So temps seem fine to me.

My Specs: Q6700, 4G Ram, 1.5TB Hard Drive, XFX Radeon 5850, Antec 900 Case, 650W power supply (quite new). Overclocking makes no difference the same problem occours when I have overclocked the GPU and CPU and when they are at default levels.

I run all games on 1680x1050 max settings but you should know that even if I put the resolution down and change all the settings to low the same thing happens. Even if the game is paused and I am on the menu screen the same problem occours, sometimes its frequent, other times it only happens every half hour or so. So its not a matter of changing video settings.

I have read of this problem before and research has reveled that others have had similar problems and say its simply an ATI issue with some games? I'm on the verge of selling and then buying an Nvidia card!

Can anyone help please?! Thanks.

 

[hell_storm2004]

Looks like GPU intensive games are causing the problem. Civilization is not that demanding.

Which drivers are you on? Mention the brand of the PSU that is sometimes more important than the wattage rating.

 

[gordonfreeman]

Yeah but as stated it has nothing to do with the graphics because even if you change the video settings of the games the same thing happens. The same thing happens even if the game is paused! And you can just tell by how smooth the game runs that its not a graphic settings issue. Its an XFX card.

 

[gordonfreeman]

Oh and I cant remember the brand of the PSU but I know it was well recomended and researched and not cheap.

 

[gordonfreeman]

I'm on the latest ATI drivers but have tried the last 8 or so releases to sadly no avail I have also tried the XFX specific drivers but same thing happens.

 

[skolpo]

Seems like you've done quite the troubleshooting already. Try an RMA perhaps?

 

[gordonfreeman]

Yeah I have tried a lot of things, can't remember when I got the card but yeah RMA may be the option. I just hope its not a compatability thing, with the Asus P5KC motherboard and intel processor. Ah well seems like I will never know.

 

[deweycd]

You should have an issue with compatibility. I would try reinstalling the OS to see if there is an issue there.

 

[gordonfreeman]

You should have an issue with compatibility. I would try reinstalling the OS to see if there is an issue there.

I have tried reinsitalling the operating system, I'm on windows 7; I've even tried using XP. You intrigue me sir when you say "you SHOULD" have a compatability problem? What do you think the compatability problem is? Thanks for your help!

 

[skolpo]

I think he meant shouldn't since I don't see any reason why you should. And you're running the card on the blue PCIe slot right?

 

[gordonfreeman]

Yeah I think he meant shouldnt too thought he was going to provide some definitive answer! Yup its in the PCI express 16x slot! I'm experienced in system building so I'm quite sure everything is as it should be, i've checked the system a few times to try and spot any oddities.

 

[gordonfreeman]

Well looks like im getting an Nvidia 470 or 480. Really i would like an i5 processor but that would involve buying a new motherboard and probably new ram as well. I wish I was a rich boy.