Why does my new 4870x2 suck so much?

[Shadowen925]

Hello, I have recently bought a 4870x2 card to go in my system (I'll post specs at bottom) because my 8800GTX died on me.
When my 8800GTX died, I bought this card and put it right into my computer with my current OS (Vista x64). It gave me some driver errors so I found a driver sweeper and cleaned out my old drivers. After doing that I installed the latest drivers from Ati. Those drivers didn't work well.

A few things that happen include:

When playing wow, the screen would freeze with wow up. I would then have to end the wow task. If I were to start any other program up my computer would freeze and then bsod. The bsod seemed in avoidable, because even if i didn't open any other programs it would still bsod after a min or two.

Next, when playing counter strike, after getting flashed and as the effect would wear off, it would flash the last frame before getting flashed as it faded away. It was really annoying.

Also, everything I did had lower frames then my dying 8800.

I then proceeded to reformat my computer. The same things happened.
After getting fed up with this, I found the 8.542RC1 drivers. Those seemed to get rid of my lock ups in wow and my flash problem in CS, but my frames were still Way under par. I was only displaying about 25-30 frames in wow when by my self. Come on ATI Wow is not Graphic intensive at all.
Other games like L4D and DoW 2 seemed to play fine on full settings. though I don't know that the frames I was getting are.

The probles I had with the RC1 drivers were:

random blue screens, atikmdag stop responding and still lower frames

Also, I recently started having a problem with my monitor every time on start up and coming out of sleep mode. The monitor could not seem to locate the signal and I would have to Hold the Source button until it would switch to digital. Sometimes I would have to do that a good couple of times. My second monitor started up just fine.

I just recently installed most recent drivers, 9.2. As of now Its fixed my monitor problem. But I've only restarted the computer once or so.... and I haven't played WoW enough to tell if the lockup's are back. I did however get my stupid low frame rates back and my CS Flash problem..


If you have any advice on what might be wrong or what drivers to try or anything let me know.
I'm also having some sound card difficulty, before and after re-install, along with mouse lag problems.

My Specs
Mobo > Asus Striker Extreme
Ram > Corsair ddr2 800 1G x4
CPU > Core 2 Duo E6850 (Tuniq Tower Cooled)
Sound > X-Fi Fatal1ty
PSU > Thermaltake Tough power 700W
4xHDD (2 10k RaptorX in raid)
Thermaltake Armor case with standard led fans
1x cd/dvd (all that crap writer)

 

[Shadowen925]

Oh, I also Want to make clear, I'm using 2 monitors
one Samsung SyncMaster 226BW and one Samsung SyncMaster 712n
The 22" is 1680X1050 the 17" is 1280X1024.

 

[JDocs]

Sounds alot like you got a dud card.

 

[Shadowen925]

I'm really hoping not... I don't want to be out a card for a few days.

Maybe I'll try RMA to newegg anyway

 

[Annisman]

Some mobos need a bios update for certain cards.... check what version your bios is and see if u can update it.

 

[Shadowen925]

atikmdag is typical of a computer that still has nvidia drivers on it.
Go and uninstall anything from your computer thats nvidia/rivatuner/ntune.
Then remove any files associated with nvidia/rivatuner/ntune.
Then download drivercleaner and clean anything nvidia. Reboot, and reinstall the latest ATI drivers.
This solved this annoying problem for me.

I'd say you have other issues too though. Sounds like mobo problem to me. Did you install your chipset drivers before you isntalled you video drivers? Mouse lag? Sound problems? Monitor sleep mode issues? These cannot be caused by a graphics card.
Try running memtest86. Your framerates should be double what you had with your 8800.

I know my motherboard has nForce Network controllers. I have not installed the drivers for my chipset. When I was installing Vista, it must have slipped my mind or I had figured Vista installed them for me. I have thought of possibly having a bad mobo or needing to flash the chipset since the mouse problem and sound problems since before I purchased my x2. I know the sound mouse aren't related to video problems, just throwing the extra info out.

I'm going to try installing/updating chipset drivers. Then maybe flash my mobo if all else fails.

 

[spiralnexus]

Actually it sounds like you just need a little more power.. 4 raptor and sound. Full RAM slots and A behemoth board/ cpu combo. Add to this the massive power consumption of the Beastie vidcard and you are probably sucking almost every bit of power you have on hand. Bump it up a min of 100 wats and more than likely stability will come back. Also are you plugged into a UPS. If you are try it with just a surge protector. I have had some customers where the computer would not power on their graphics card at all just due to an aging UPS not having enough oomph to kick it on as it is the last thing to power on during POST. Therefore it is the least likely to get enough power.
Hope it helps.

,Spiralnexus

 

[ztransporter]

Hey,

The most important thing you forgot to mention is what make your 4870x2 is ?

I've had major problems with my HIS 4870 x2 and now my new ASUS 4870 x2....

And i had a very simillar problem to yours. Read on

I would advise you to get a GTX 295 if you get a refund.

The driver Packages for ATI are very poor, also there is a Bug that i have found out and most of you guys either know or don't know about it yet

is that these cards sometimes fail to work in dual GPU especially on VISTA OS, so you may think your card is running in dual GPU but it is not.

I only found out that my new ASUS was only running in single GPU a few days ago and was pissed off bigtime its 2 weeks old ..and i was wondering why the heck is my computer messed up considering its brand new.

So anyway the way to test if the Dual GPU enviroment is active is as follows :

1-Right click on your catalyst icon in the tray

2-Select the primary 4870x2 sub menu [ the one that expands]

3-Then you should see a crossfire sub menu

[If the option isn't there then your Dual GPU enviroment is not detected and you are running in single GPU mode]

4- [if you do see the crossFire sub menu make sure you tick the option] and then run any game, you should see an icon on the top right with the CrossFire Logo.

5-If you see the CrossFire submenu and the option is enabled but you are not seeing the CrossFire logo during the game [ then the crossfire is still not working]


*******
Make sure your Motherboard's BIOS is up to date

Now the only driver that i found that works with VISTA 64 Bit is catalyst 8.11 package the driver version 8.542, wait until you hear the sideeffect !! my bluray playback does not work with this driver.....what a killer wither crossfire or Bluray !!

I've raised a call with ASUS and waiting to hear back from them.


Please let me know how this works for you.

 

[Shadowen925]

Spiral, to clarify, I only have 2 raptors. I don't think that would make too much of a difference. I'm not overclocking except for maybe the an auto OC on my sli enabled ram. I also may have a 750W psu. (Yikes I completely forgot) I'm not also using an UPS just a surge protector. Does the x2 take more power than my 8800GTX?

Stranger, I do run WoW in windowed mode but not other games.

Transporter, I have a Sapphire brand card. I've always been an nvidia fan. Currently I'm not at home so I cannot check anything at the moment. I will get back to you when I can.

The monitor issue is a bad monitor, I'm getting that replaced. I have also sent my 8800GTX for RMA and may be replacing my x2 for a GTX 295 similar nvidia card after I get something to use for the time being. 2 GPU's is not a big deal to me, I just want Quality performance.

I'll keep you updated.

 

[Shadowen925]

Just checked, I do not think my x2 is eligible for an RMA.

 

[rawsteel]

WoW is extremely CPU limited game especially in the big cities. I think your CPU is bottlenecking you if your card is ok (which is possible).

Try overclocking your cpu and see if frames jump up. If yes, you need better processor.

 

[Euphoria_MK]

Make sure you use Cat 9.1 or cat 9.2 drivers.
I dont play WoW but I havent had any problems with the 4850 x2 on any of my games.
I would assume that the 4850 x2 and 4870 x2 work on the same principle and they use the same drivers.
First make sure you have uninstaled any third party apps like nvtune, rivatuner, etc... They can and they do cause problems.
Than make sure your power supply can provide enough current for the hd4870 x2. You will have the same problem with the gtx295 if it's a power issue since the gtx295 is a dual GPU card.

Than check the settings in the catalyst drivers and make sure that crossfire is enabled and check the ATI Overdrive settings to make sure that the card is rrunning at the proper clock settings

Cheers

 

[ztransporter]

Just checked, I do not think my x2 is eligible for an RMA.

It will be once you conduct the Dual GPU test and if the Dual GPU is not working then they will have to take it back.


In terms of overclocking your CPU --- Don't even go there the CPU is not the problem plus you could end up frying it if you do not have a professional cooling solution , take a look at my Rig i had the same issue and my CPU is Corei7 overclocked and running @ 3.8 [Watercooled] and still i was having the same issue until i figured out the GPU problem.

The problem with x2 cards is if they are running in a single GPU enviroment they are weaker than a Single Physical 4870..........
So it is either 2 GPUs working or it is just a worthless card.

My advice would be if you do not have any more than 4 GB of ram then use Vista 32 Bit i had no issues with it, only with the 64Bit edition.
I'm stuck with 64bit otherwise my triple channel of ram won't be of any use :S

So good luck

 

[Shadowen925]

WoW is extremely CPU limited game especially in the big cities. I think your CPU is bottlenecking you if your card is ok (which is possible).

Try overclocking your cpu and see if frames jump up. If yes, you need better processor.

A good friend of mine has a brother to my build. He has the same cpu as me. He is running a 4870 (not an x2) and has had no problems with the older drivers he is using. So I really don't think my cpu is an issue. Its a 3.0GHz Core 2 duo. I've had it at 3.3 for a while before I had bought my x2 and didnt notice much fps difference.

I have been really busy and haven't even been able to fix my monitor so I haven't checked any more of your suggestions.

Sorry.

 

[cjl]

The problem with x2 cards is if they are running in a single GPU enviroment they are weaker than a Single Physical 4870..........
So it is either 2 GPUs working or it is just a worthless card.

Not at all. I have a 4870x2, and when Crossfire is broken on it (happened with 9.1 and 8.12 drivers), it performs exactly as expected for a single 4870.

 

[ztransporter]

Not at all. I have a 4870x2, and when Crossfire is broken on it (happened with 9.1 and 8.12 drivers), it performs exactly as expected for a single 4870.

May be, i actually got that piece of info from one of the ATI support reps.

My attitude towards ATI is changing a lot these days.

 

[stst0001]

4870X2 is definitely junk (and most likely the other 4800 cards given the driver debacle).
The drivers are a mess.
CCC is a mess.

BSOD, Freezes and poor performance relative other much less expensive cards.

If you post anything negative on ATI/AMD forum - they delete your posts!
Unbelievable?

Agree with other poster go for a GTX 295.
Sold my on Craigslist and got a GTX 295 and not am happy.
Frankly I should have stayed with my 8800 GTS and saved alot of money.

Cold day in hell before I ever think of buying ATI again.
Understand problems but deleting posts from forum (no foul language) shows me what they are about.

 

[bham4ever]

I have the same issues with the 5850 ATI card in a brand new system with windows 7.

Still no answers and I am using a old driver to get by.

I have heard nothing but complains about the drivers.
And no fixes out that solve all the problems.
I have the new Battlefield Bad Company 2 and have to run it in DX9.

I think if ATI wants to keep a good name for itself it will come out with a brand new set of drivers that work not a band-aid for the old drives that seem to have all kind of bugs in them.

Until then Nvidia will rule the Windows 7 world not that the video card is not well made but the drivers really suck.

 

[sabot00]

4870X2 is definitely junk (and most likely the other 4800 cards given the driver debacle).
The drivers are a mess.
CCC is a mess.

BSOD, Freezes and poor performance relative other much less expensive cards.

If you post anything negative on ATI/AMD forum - they delete your posts!
Unbelievable?

Agree with other poster go for a GTX 295.
Sold my on Craigslist and got a GTX 295 and not am happy.
Frankly I should have stayed with my 8800 GTS and saved alot of money.

Cold day in hell before I ever think of buying ATI again.
Understand problems but deleting posts from forum (no foul language) shows me what they are about.

Your a mess cause I haven't had any problems with drivers, your supposed to use driver cleaner or at least uninstall your current drivers if switching vendors.

I wouldn't get a GTX 295, a 5870 is much cheaper and within 1-10% of the GTX 295, with overclocking it beats the GTX 295, heck, even the 5850 after a good OC can do that.

 

[builderbobftw]

I'm really hoping not... I don't want to be out a card for a few days.

Maybe I'll try RMA to newegg anyway

GOD FORBID YOU HAVE TO GO OUTSIDE OR HANG WITH FREINDS AND NOT GAME FOR LIKE A DAY!!!!!!!

END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!

 

[Shadowen925]

GOD FORBID YOU HAVE TO GO OUTSIDE OR HANG WITH FREINDS AND NOT GAME FOR LIKE A DAY!!!!!!!

END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!

Dead thread, but I just wanted to say. The only reason I didn't want to be without a card is because I was taking 2 online classes and the next nearest computer was at the library about 45 mins from my house.

 

[nforce4max]

Dead thread, but I just wanted to say. The only reason I didn't want to be without a card is because I was taking 2 online classes and the next nearest computer was at the library about 45 mins from my house.

I understand your problem and if you still need help maybe I can throw a few suggestions your way. How did your 8800gtx die on you? Was it the typical artifacting well if so and you still got it in that condition you can try the oven back method. As for the 4870x2 they don't last very long well most of them while a few will last for years and still run. How is it that you are having problems with that GTX295? Check the volts on your rig to see if they are low. Low is 11.5v or less on the 12v rail.

 

[jake4526]

you should of just held out a bit longer and picked up the 5770. i upgraded from a 4870 to the 5770 and there was a big improvement and stability in my system. and with the latest drivers. i play crysis, crysis 2 l4d2, and cod bo with no problems at decent frame rates.






Mobo > Gigabyte ma785gm-ua2h
Ram > crucial Gb ddr2 1066 8GB
CPU > AMD Phenom II X4 940 BE
Sound > X-Fi Fatal1ty
PSU > ultra lsp 650W
video card> Ati radeon hd 5770 xfx black edition 875mhz core clock factory
op system>Win 7 64 bit
case>antec








AMD Phenom II X4

 

[benski]

^I know right, what a moron, that guy should have definately held out for 27 months to get your advice on his video card purchase. WTF where did you even find this thread?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

lmfao ^ good 1