Cannot Diagnose An Error - Experts Please Read!

Hey everyone,

I was having issues with while playing games with my Diamond HD5850. Randomly lines would appear on the screen and a loud buzzing would occur, and I was forced to shut down my computer.

I ran so many tests, SO MANY TESTS, updated drivers, all that jazz.

Finally I sent the card back and got a replacment. Well, that didn't do it, and now I'm losing my god damn mind trying to figure out what the problem is.

For some games, like Source-Engine based (L4D2) or WoW full settings, it never really happens anymore - but it still does rarely.

But for Dead Space 2, it will happen, COMPLETELY RANDOMLY, ALL THE TIME. Or other demanding games. I may have been playing for 2 hours and all of a sudden it happens. There is no pattern.

I pulled my comp apart, cleaned everything with duster etc.

I ran prime95, checked H/W Monitor, all that stuff.

I got nothing.

It makes me think that its not my card, because some games run fine...I guess.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Btw I was going to update stuff for mobo from http://www.biostar-usa.com/app/en- [...] p?S_ID=482 but there are like 39073029 exe's in each folder, and I have no idea which to use as there are no instructions. Sh***y Taiwanese company.


Thanks.


AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE
Biostar TA890FXE Mobo
8GB Corsair 1600MHZ DDR3
Diamond HD 5850
Ultra 750W PSU

Oh I forgot to mention, I think my cooling is not the problem...

Power without a doubt, that buzzing noise is the chokes in either your psu or the card its self. Coil squeal is nothing to fool with unless properly addressed now I want you to do is check for the source of the noise and report back.

PSU or Card

Sounds like there was some confusion as to what the problem is. Artifacts are the card but the buzzing through the headphones is a symptom of another issue that could be related. Do you have a older card to test your machine with? No need to buy a new psu yet.

I have owned a few diamond cards, they have not made a custom card in what a decade now unlike the 90s and early 2000s ware they made both nvidia and ati as well maybe a 3dfx card or two. They are reference so they can't be total junk but I suggest that you bum a card from someone and give it a few trial runs. If it occurs with the known to be working card then it is your system. The buzzing noises are likely a symptom of another problem.

Do you have a old pci audio or sound card around?

bystander, can you give me more on that? is that mean voltage regulator module, on the card? So you're saying its the card itself?

and by under clocking do you mean my RAM? or my card?

I'm referring to the video cards VRM and VRAM.

There are 3 VRM's controlling each VRAM chip, and they get hot, very hot. They aren't monitored by the software so you can't easily see if they are overheating. However, I've found that whenever I have this problem, backing down the cards memory clock has removed the issue for my 5870's.

That doesn't look like a 5850, but I do believe those are the VRM's.

I though the 5870 and 5850's looked more alike. Anyways, they do have those pads that cover the VRM's at the back, and that's all the cooling they get.

Well if it is an overheating vrm phase for the vram remove the cooler and apply an extra but very thin and gooey thermal pads with the existing pads there or thicker pads to replace what is already there for better cooling. Why you would ask, well you want more pressure to be exerted onto the mosfets so that heat can more quickly move between the mosfets in the vrm phase to the mid plate thus lowering temps. Also manually set your fan speed to a higher level or create more aggressive profiles for better cooling.

Also guys,

In catalyst under AMD overdrive, this is my current clocks:

High Performance GPU clock settings: 865MHz (out of 875)

High Performance Memory clock settings: 1095MHz (out of 1225)


Should I just bring down the memory, and to how much? And will it affect graphics and performance?

Wait, this is a 5850 right? Try the reference stock - 725/1000.

Oh guys, one more thing

Sometimes when i have multiple videos open the adobe flash plugin will crash and in the bottom right corner of my screen I will get an error saying:


"Ati graphics display has stopped working and recovered successfully"

I just thought of this last night....could this be the problem? It is happenign while im in a game?? And how would i rememdy this problem? I have last drivers, etc.

Does the error happen in games now? Or just from flash videos?

Just to confirm (sorry if this was already asked): the CPU/RAM/Voltage (everything really) is completely at stock and you have the newest motherboard BIOS, correct? I only ask because my problem (which was somewhat similar) was due I think to my Hypertransport link being too high (or some OC value) and undoing the OC fixed it. I could run Prime/LinX all day long, but it would crash in process intensive games.

Well, Cat 11.5 came out really early, if you feel like another driver install.

Alright guys, I haven't been able to solve the problem still. I need any last suggestions.

For any help, i was playing bad company 2 and it started tripping out and going into the previously in depth described mode, then it came back and i exited and restarted it.

I'm really not sure what to do. Get a new card? A new psu? I don't care at this point because im about to slam my computer into the wall I JUST NEED TO FIX THIS PROBLEMMMM

What unit do you got? If it is low end or basic quality (generic or only 80+) then I suggest that you go ahead and swap it out as an investment. Bronze or Silver those units are made better with better parts. If it is made by seasonic then it can be trusted.

Hi, dont know if this applies to your problem, but i was having a similar problem where all games played fine besides Crysis 2 and Metro 2033 (2x HD4870x2). I went through all the diagnostic checks that you have done and the problem was still there. Someone recommended me to up the nb/cpu voltage and low and behold that cured the problem. Its a long shot but worth a try.

Kind Regards

Anyone else any ideas?