Sapphire 6850

[ibmaxed]

Yesterday i purchased a Sapphire 6850. i installed it and it ran sweet all day on BF2bc Crysis2 etc.
Today however is a different story, will play game for a bit before things go haywire and i generally have to reboot.
Have reinstalled drivers, used driversweeper to clean files. Reseated the vid card.

My system is an older one but should handle it.

Enermax 620 modular PSU
Asus P5N 32_E sli mb
Core 2 duo 2.6 cpu
2 x 500gig hds
1 320 gig hd
Creative fatality pro sound card
4 gig g-skill ram
Coolermaster stacker 830
Win xp 32 bit
Dual monitors with the main at 1680 x 1050

I had a HIS 5770 in previously and no worries.(except the card started to play up mechanically, hence the upgrade)
I thought it could be a power issue but the one i have should be more than enough.
The thing is it did work , nothing has changed except i turned the comp off last night and back on today.
Rolled drivers back to 11.7, still the same.

Am also getting lines on my browsers dropdown menu now.
Any pointers would be appreciated.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

define " go haywire" so we can better assess your situation

 

[jyjjy]

What kind of temps are you getting from the card?

 

[ibmaxed]

The game will play then the screen will split in 2 or go into vert lines, usually green banded, when it does that i have to reboot.

The temp in CC at the mo is 52, unsure when playing game, will give it a try.

 

[ibmaxed]

I just rebooted and opened CCC in AMD overdrive the vid card setting had set itself to 775 instead of 800 under the gpu clock settings. I was able to play borderlands without anything going wrong. The temp was around 58.

 

[jyjjy]

52c is very high for idle temps, should be in the teens. 58 is about right for under load.

 

[ibmaxed]

Reset the gpu setting to 850 and rebooted. Has been fine now have run everything and it works. Idle is around 47-49 now. Was between 55-63 in crysis 2 at hardcore settings. So i am thinking it was/is the radeon software. Will run it over the weekend and see what happens.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

sounds like it to me; good luck

 

[RetiredChief]

I know you indicated the PSU "Should" be enough. And yes a 620 Watt is enough.
Not sure the "brand" is a reliable one.
But in either case I would recommend that you verify your voltages, primarily the +5V and +12 V Under load.

What I do is download/install (A) HWMonitor, (B) Prime95, and (C) Furmark.
Run HWMonitor note the +5 and the +12 V voltages, then Run Furmark, in a window and note the change in the +5 and +12V should not be more than about 0.3 V for the +12V Min is 11.6V but I use a min of 11.6. The 5 V should not be less than 5.75 V. Also monitor your GPU temps.

Stop furmark and repeat with prime 95. Again Monitor CPU temps and +5/+12 V.
If checking cpu/memory stability, run Prime95 for 4->8 hours, BUT MONITOR cpu temps closely for the first 15 Mins. If OK go watch TV or play with ......., but check temps periodicaly. For voltage check only need to run for 5 min.

 

[jyjjy]

I know you indicated the PSU "Should" be enough. And yes a 620 Watt is enough.
Not sure the "brand" is a reliable one.

Enermax is one of the best brands.

 

[RetiredChief]

Great, but still recommend verifing voltages, My PSUs are all good, but I still verify my voltages on installation and periodically.
added
And yes it's a keeper - Johnny's rating Total Score 8.5

 

[ibmaxed]

Cheers RetiredChief, i used a voltmeter too check the voltages and all is ok. The software (HWMonitor) was quite a bit out in the readings. 12v underload was 11.8 and 5volt load was 5.05. (software read 11.39 and 4.39 under load).
Gpu temp was around 67-70. The system is over 3 years old now (bar graphics card LOL) so its doing ok.

I

 

[ibmaxed]

Best answer selected by ibmaxed.