Display driver has stopped responding XFX Radeon HD6870

[bakana42]

Hey, I recently built a new computer, and it's been working wonderfully for about a month. I'm fairly well versed with this, but far from an expert. The specs are:

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68

PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3

Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3

OS: Windows 7 64-bit

I just bought a GPU for it, as the integrated Intel graphics weren't cutting it. The new card is:

GPU: XFX Radeon HD 6870 Dual-Fan

After installing the card, and downloading the latest drivers from AMD, I've been having tremendous trouble. Literally every few seconds, or almost any time I click the start menu or open or close a window, it freezes, the screen goes black, then pops back with a "display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error in the lower right-hand corner.

Things I have tried:
-re-seating the card, and checking the PSU connections (both fans are working fine)

-Uninstalling and driver-sweeping both the AMD and the integrated Intel graphics drivers, then clean installing the latest drivers from the AMD site

-Uninstalling and driver-sweeping both the AMD and the integrated Intel graphics drivers, then clean installing the latest drivers from the XFX site

-Running Windows update until there was nothing left to update, and retrying the two above things

-Tried the registry fix listed on the MS support site (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2665946/en-us)

-Uninstalling and driver-sweeping both the AMD and the integrated Intel graphics drivers, then clean installing the drivers that came on the CD

Looking at the other threads, it seems like this is a pretty common problem, and there's no one single solution for it - but do you have any suggestions for what I could try next?

 

[suat]

Did you try increasing idle clock speeds to 400/900 MHz for a test drive? For this, please see my post in: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/348924-15-display-driver-stopped-responding-radeon-hd6870

 

[bakana42]

Did you try increasing idle clock speeds to 400/900 MHz for a test drive? For this, please see my post in: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/348924-15-display-driver-stopped-responding-radeon-hd6870

Thanks for the quick reply! I've just tried that. It definitely decreased the number of times I get that error (it no longer happens every single time I open the start menu, open a new browser window, or click any button in any program! PROGRESS!!!).

It still happens fairly regularly, though. I'd say roughly every few minutes or so during regular use. I tried playing a 3D accelerated game, however, and it held up fine and never crashed during my play time. So the "idle" speeds do seem to be the issue.

Is there further tweaking I could do to alleviate the problem further, or is it possible there's another variable at play that causing THIS round of failures?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[suat]

Yes. There is further tweaking, so to speak. In Device Manager, there may be ghost devices present. You should remove them. For this,please refer to: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315539/en-us

Further, you must remove the ATI driver completely in Control Panel\Uninstall programs. Then remove the gfx card in Device Manager, ticking the checkbox Uninstall driver for this device. After restarting your computer you should reinstall the CCC and increase idle clock speeds again.

Hope this helps.

 

[geekapproved]

This is a common error with both nvidia and amd cards. It's been noted since 2006, there still is no clear reason or fix for it. I have had it myself and been able to get rid of it 3 times by re-loading windows.

Different things work for different people. You can google "display driver has stopped responding and has recovered" and you'll find hundreds of forums about this issue.

 

[areamike]

Since I have the same card and have been having the same issue as you and since it "seems' to be resolved for me, I would like to add....

I notice your MOBO has onboard Realtek sound. Make sure you have the latest Realtek drivers for it.

One thing I noticed when my video would bomb, the sound would loop for a second. It was subtle and you could only hear it with headphones on. I'm not saying that updating my sound drivers in the end fixed it for me, but it sure is coincidence.

If you update the sound drivers correctly, the installer will uninstall the old for you, reboot your PC and then it will continue on with the new install.

 

[bakana42]

Yes. There is further tweaking, so to speak. In Device Manager, there may be ghost devices present. You should remove them. For this,please refer to: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315539/en-us

Further, you must remove the ATI driver completely in Control Panel\Uninstall programs. Then remove the gfx card in Device Manager, ticking the checkbox Uninstall driver for this device. After restarting your computer you should reinstall the CCC and increase idle clock speeds again.

Hope this helps.

Hi. This helps, too, (as did the areamike who suggested updating the sound driver), though some issues persist.

I notice, though, that there is a ghost video device (with a yellow question mark) in device manager. After I delete/uninstall it, I notice a drop in frequency of the crashes. However, the next time I reboot, the device is back in device manager.

My Intel processor has integrated graphics, and my suspicion is that, since I obviously can't remove that graphics hardware physically, that it is being detected, and since I've uninstalled the drivers for it, it's showing up as a random "video device" in the device manager, and possibly causing trouble. I'm not sure if installing the drivers for the integrated Intel graphics would make things more stable, or confuse things further...

 

[suat]

The device with a yellow exclamation mark is not a ghost device. It is a device with no driver installed. If it is an onboard video chip like the one you said, you may try disabling it in BIOS. If this is not possible, try disabling it in Device Manager.

Ghost devices are only those devices in grayed-out silhouettes. There may be many of them under Universal serial bus controller branch. They are not so important because any USB flash disk you use leaves a mark of itself in Device Manager. Ghost mice, sound chips, etc. might create problems.

Hope this helps.

 

[bakana42]

Best answer selected by bakana42.