ATI Radeon Newbie Question

Talon · Apr 1, 2003, 04:18 PM

Ok, I used to have an ATI Radeon 7500 32mb, and have since upgraded to ATI Radeon 8500LE 128MB, and since then I have been having problems. The darn thing just locks up in graphic intense games.

Anyway, my question is, I found this site and the omega drivers today, and I was thinking of giving them a try, but I was curious as to the best way to install these new drivers.

Should I

Use the driver removal tool I found on this site to remove all previous files from ATI, including the Control Panel, and then install the omega drivers, or
Uninstall the Control Panel first, then use the driver removal tool to remove the old ATI drivers, and then install the omega drivers, or
Uninstall the Control Panel, and just run the Omega drivers over the old ATI drivers.

Oh, and does it matter what version of DirectX you are running?

Thanks for helping a newbie!

Talon · Apr 1, 2003, 04:25 PM

Sorry, forgot to put my system in my sig.

hellgate · Apr 2, 2003, 05:47 AM

Read this

DRIVER INSTALLATION GUIDE FOR n00bs

You can uninstall all of previous driver set use Driver cleaner on Driverheaven.

And I use DX9.0a

Welcome to Driverheaven.

Talon · Apr 2, 2003, 06:54 AM

Thanks for the info! I removed the control panel, installed the omega drivers over the old cat's, and also upgraded directx to 9.0a. Didn't fix the problem, so I think it is a physical problem with the card itself. I've tried just about everything imaginable!

Talon
(thanks for the welcome)

shuki · Apr 2, 2003, 07:32 AM

when you upgraded, did you do a clean OS install?? the GPU is a critical component and plugs in everywhere. Add/remove programs and even deviced from device mgr. just doesn't do it usually. I always do a clean OS install when installing new GPU.... definitely worth it

Talon · Apr 2, 2003, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by shuki
when you upgraded, did you do a clean OS install?? the GPU is a critical component and plugs in everywhere. Add/remove programs and even deviced from device mgr. just doesn't do it usually. I always do a clean OS install when installing new GPU.... definitely worth it

Here is exactly what happened:

I bought a OEM ATI Radeon 8500le video card to off ebay (but from a store, not an individual) to replace my older 7500. Mind you , I had no problems playing any games, they just lacked in performance and quality due to the low amount of ram (32mb). BUT THEY PLAYED AT LEAST!

I got the card, removed the drivers from OS, installed the new Catalysts (3.1 at the time) and had no problems playing Jedi Knight, Jedi Outcast. However, when I loaded up Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, the game locked every time within 5 minutes of play, sometimes sooner. I figured I just needed to do a clean install so I waited a few days until I finished JKJO (hey, I have my priorities!) and then backed up my system, and did a completely clean reinstall of everything. I loaded NOTHING except all the needed drivers and DirectX 8.1 and then the PGA game. Still had the same problem, so I upgraded DirectX to 9.0, but again, to no avail. So, after a few days of support work with EA Sports, they were completely baffled, as was I, and we just decided the game did not like the card for whatever reason, and gave up.

Next day, I went to the store and bought Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, on a friends recommendation, and loaded it up. 3 minutes in to the intro of the game, it locked just like TWPGA, and that is when I realized the problem had to be with the card itself. I have adequate cooling in case, with two intakes, two exhausts, and one 80mm intake over the vid card area on the side panel, so I seriously doubt it is an overheating problem.

Now, I have contacted the company I bought the card from, and after several email exchanges, their "tech" has decided that the problem is more likely with my AMD XP since they "are not very good for graphic intensive games" according to him, and he wants me to try it on a Pentium system before they will take it back. So, I guess I will have to jump through the hoops to get it replaced.

Hope that clears it up, and also gives you all enough information to offer more suggestions for things I might have missed.

Thanks for reading this far.

Talon

***Veridian3*** · Apr 2, 2003, 10:06 AM

That tech support guy is speaking out of his a$$, the athlon XP is clock for clock as good if not better at 3d games than the p4.

Just call/e-mail back and lie saying you've tried a freinds p4 system and it does the same so it must be the card.

Stu

Talon · Apr 2, 2003, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Veridian3
That tech support guy is speaking out of his a$$, the athlon XP is clock for clock as good if not better at 3d games than the p4.

Just call/e-mail back and lie saying you've tried a freinds p4 system and it does the same so it must be the card.

Stu

yeah, that is pretty much what I was thinking of doing. I am going to give it a day to make it "more believable", and then demand a replacement. Thanks for all of your help everyone, I'll keep you posted.

Talon · Apr 3, 2003, 10:22 AM

Ok, here is something interesting I found while troubleshooting. Take a look at the picture below. For some reason, my pc has decided that every PCI slot, the AGP slot, and even the USB connections should all share the same IRQ. I have tried to change them, but have been unsuccessful. Is it possible that this could be attributing to the problem?

http://www.ninjamicros.com/vbulletin...702#post197702

shuki · Apr 3, 2003, 11:18 AM

Talon thats normal for winXP to show the IRQ like that. No problem there. I'd say follow Veridians advice and do whatever it takes to get the company to give you an RMA replacement card!!! Man, sorry you're having troubles... definitely suXors when things don't go "right"....

Talon · Apr 3, 2003, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shuki
Talon thats normal for winXP to show the IRQ like that. No problem there. I'd say follow Veridians advice and do whatever it takes to get the company to give you an RMA replacement card!!! Man, sorry you're having troubles... definitely suXors when things don't go "right"....

Thanks for the thoughts Shuki

. I'm on Windows 2000,btw, but I do agree that I am forcing the issue with this company to give me a replacement. I informed them that I tested it on two other systems and that it had the same problem, and their response was that they would "talk it over with the account manager and get back to me". So, while I am waiting for them to email me again, I just figured I would keep playing around. On the bright side, I downloaded my MB manual, and I believe I found where I can manually change the IRQ for each individual PCI slot, so for giggles I will play with that tonight to see what happens.

Talon.

shuki · Apr 3, 2003, 12:23 PM

In winXP I have every single pci device and the AGP GPU "sharing" IRQ 9.... and since you've done a clean OS install and have adequate cooling, the problem MUST lie with the card itself

Have you tried using that drivercleaner and then trying some older drivers? DH here has a WHOLE LOT of previous driver releses! I would spend my time trying that rather than IRQ stuff...

Talon · Apr 3, 2003, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shuki
In winXP I have every single pci device and the AGP GPU "sharing" IRQ 9.... and since you've done a clean OS install and have adequate cooling, the problem MUST lie with the card itself Have you tried using that drivercleaner and then trying some older drivers? DH here has a WHOLE LOT of previous driver releses! I would spend my time trying that rather than IRQ stuff...

No, I haven't really tried any of the older drivers. I have used CAT3.1, 3.2, and OMEGA's version of 3.2, and also updated my VIA drivers to the new HYPERION 446's. Updated the bios, etc. I will keep working on this until they decide to give me a new card I guess.

shuki · Apr 3, 2003, 12:59 PM

I'm not sure how big of a difference it would make (if any) but I would NOT use those hyperion drivers on a 266 based mobo. My personal preference for my kx7-333 was the official 1.38 release. If you need them I'd be glad to email them to ya to try. Though I have no idea if they will even go on over the latest hyperion... :clueless: heh

DallasStar · Apr 3, 2003, 02:03 PM

I don't recommend this, but just so you know your options..... here's my story: When I bought my Radeon 8500 OEM, it was also locking up with graphic intensive applications. I decided to raise the vmem and vcore of the graphics card and voila, problem solved

(not to mention I also got an extra 25mhz gpu and 25mhz [50mhz ddr] increase in memory speeds

) .

Talon · Apr 3, 2003, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DallasStar
I don't recommend this, but just so you know your options..... here's my story: When I bought my Radeon 8500 OEM, it was also locking up with graphic intensive applications. I decided to raise the vmem and vcore of the graphics card and voila, problem solved (not to mention I also got an extra 25mhz gpu and 25mhz [50mhz ddr] increase in memory speeds ) .

Ok, not to sound like a complete newbie, but what is the best way to raise the vmem and vcore of the graphics card?

@Shuki- Can I ask why you don't recommend using the Hyperion on the 266 boards? Just curious, and yes, I would greatly appreciate if you sent me the latest "official" VIA drivers. Are they going to be compatible with my EPOX board ya think?

You can email me here

Talon

shuki · Apr 3, 2003, 02:47 PM

on its way

And those 1.38's I use for VIA are far from the latest! they are just the most stable ones I ever had. I tried up to about v 1.43 or something and kept coming back to the trusty 1.38's.

I believe those vcore and vmem are physical mods to the card itself. Though you can certainly look in your BIOS for AGP volts! maybe a tad more juice would solve the problem...

Talon · Apr 3, 2003, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by shuki
on its way And those 1.38's I use for VIA are far from the latest! they are just the most stable ones I ever had. I tried up to about v 1.43 or something and kept coming back to the trusty 1.38's.

I believe those vcore and vmem are physical mods to the card itself. Though you can certainly look in your BIOS for AGP volts! maybe a tad more juice would solve the problem...

Ok, thanks for that, and I will have more free time tonight it appears so I will be able to play around for quite abit. As usual, I'll keep you posted.

Talon · Apr 4, 2003, 09:48 AM

It looks like DallasStar may have been onto something with the overclocking thing. I ran PowerStrip to check my settings, and it was running at 250/200 by default. After playing around abit, I was able to get Tiger Woods PGA to play without crashing at 265/230 (still using PowerStrip), but Splinter Cell still would not get too far without freezing. I will play around abit more tonight, and I will be online all day checking into how to overclock the ATI cards, but I am still going to try and get them to give me a new card. (of course, they have stopped answering my emails).

Talon

Chaos · Apr 4, 2003, 12:02 PM

Just curious if you have the APIC feature active on your PC. It give you access to more IRQ's if your motherboard is designed to use this setting. Here is a shot of how my irq's are shared in XP Pro.

Talon · Apr 4, 2003, 12:17 PM

Is that set in the BIOS or in Windows itself. I'm pretty sure I have it activated, if it's what I think it is, in the bios.

Chaos · Apr 4, 2003, 12:46 PM

it is set in your BIOS

Talon · Apr 4, 2003, 01:45 PM

Then yes, it is enabled.

*CATALYST maker* · Apr 5, 2003, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Talon

Now, I have contacted the company I bought the card from, and after several email exchanges, their "tech" has decided that the problem is more likely with my AMD XP since they "are not very good for graphic intensive games" according to him, and he wants me to try it on a Pentium system before they will take it back. So, I guess I will have to jump through the hoops to get it replaced.

Hope that clears it up, and also gives you all enough information to offer more suggestions for things I might have missed.

Talon

Talon just read your horror story man, that sucks! What is the company you bought it from? You should let other people know about this unacceptable behaviour.
Furthermore please contact ATI Tech support and give it a shot. Tell them your story and ask for an RMA. Let me know how it goes.
One way or another I will help you get a replacement if your card is truly defective

Talon · Apr 5, 2003, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CATALYST maker
Talon just read your horror story man, that sucks! What is the company you bought it from? You should let other people know about this unacceptable behaviour.
Furthermore please contact ATI Tech support and give it a shot. Tell them your story and ask for an RMA. Let me know how it goes.
One way or another I will help you get a replacement if your card is truly defective

Thanks very much for that CATAYLST, I really appreciate it. The company is www.myaopen.com. I think I have them by the b*lls now though. I just double checked the auction that I won the card from, and it specifically says "DESIGNED AND BUILT BY ATI". The came with SAPPHIRE driver cd, and says "POWERED BY ATI" on the fan, so it is not the item I bid on. I sent them an email yesterday, but unfortunately they don't answer anything on the weekends.

Again, thanks for the support CAT, and everyone else. I have to say I am very glad I found this forum, and I have been coming here just about every day since I have just looking over alot of the threads!

I'll keep you all posted on their reply.

Talon

Talon · Apr 8, 2003, 02:29 PM

Just as an update, I was issued an RMA number today, and they plan on refunding me for the card, saying it is just "incompatible" with my system. Whatever makes them feel better, as long as I get my money back. (minus the shipping I'm sure). I'll keep you posted.

Talon

*CATALYST maker* · Apr 8, 2003, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Talon
Just as an update, I was issued an RMA number today, and they plan on refunding me for the card, saying it is just "incompatible" with my system. Whatever makes them feel better, as long as I get my money back. (minus the shipping I'm sure). I'll keep you posted.

Talon

Definately let me know how it goes! I dont want to lose you as an ATI customer because of one bad retailer man.

***Zardon*** · Apr 8, 2003, 03:36 PM

I have to agree that the company you got this from are not only talking out of their asses regarding XP processors but the tech support guy needs a good training course.

My advice to you Talon is to get your money back, go into a good local dealer and purchase a made by ATI card with a good return policy. Dont give up on ATI. their cards rock.

When you get it home. install the latest 4.46 hyperion drivers (I know what shuki said, but I find they have some pretty tight bug and performance fixes.) Check your bios aperture size is set at 128 meg. Clean your registry out with regcleaner or manually if you prefer. Go to ATIs site get the offical cat 3.2 set and install. I am not sure if you are overclocking, but make sure you are running everything default initially so you can make sure all possible problems are minimised.

Talon · Apr 8, 2003, 03:51 PM

Thanks for all of the tips Zardon! No problems with the Hyperions yet, so I will stick with them for now. Do you not recommend the Omega drivers, or do you just recommend the "official" drivers first?

Don't worry CATALYST maker, once I get my refund (can't wait to see how much they actually refund me), I plan on buying a retail 9000 pro. Best Buy has them for $129 with free shipping (have to check their actual "in store price" as well).

Talon

*CATALYST maker* · Apr 8, 2003, 03:55 PM

where are you located Talon?

Apr 1, 2003, 04:18 PM	#1
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	ATI Radeon Newbie Question Ok, I used to have an ATI Radeon 7500 32mb, and have since upgraded to ATI Radeon 8500LE 128MB, and since then I have been having problems. The darn thing just locks up in graphic intense games. Anyway, my question is, I found this site and the omega drivers today, and I was thinking of giving them a try, but I was curious as to the best way to install these new drivers. Should I Use the driver removal tool I found on this site to remove all previous files from ATI, including the Control Panel, and then install the omega drivers, or Uninstall the Control Panel first, then use the driver removal tool to remove the old ATI drivers, and then install the omega drivers, or Uninstall the Control Panel, and just run the Omega drivers over the old ATI drivers. Oh, and does it matter what version of DirectX you are running? Thanks for helping a newbie!

Apr 1, 2003, 04:25 PM	#2
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	Sorry, forgot to put my system in my sig. __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 2, 2003, 05:47 AM	#3
hellgate DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: South Korea Posts: 25 Rep Power: 0	Read this DRIVER INSTALLATION GUIDE FOR n00bs You can uninstall all of previous driver set use Driver cleaner on Driverheaven. And I use DX9.0a Welcome to Driverheaven. __________________ CPU : Pentium 4 3.06Ghz @ 3.8Ghz RAM : Geil DDR400 1024M MOBO : Gigabyte SINXP 1394 VGA : Radeon 9700 Pro Sound Card : Hercules GTXP 7.1 Keyboard : Logitech Freedom Optical Mouse : Logitech MX700 Cordless HBA : Adaptec 2940uw, Adaptec DP1554u2 SCSI Raid Controller HDD : Atlas IV 9.1 x 2 (Raid 0), Barracuda IV 60GB, WD30GB, Maxtor 40GB x2(Raid0), SyJet 1.5GB

Apr 2, 2003, 06:54 AM	#4
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for the info! I removed the control panel, installed the omega drivers over the old cat's, and also upgraded directx to 9.0a. Didn't fix the problem, so I think it is a physical problem with the card itself. I've tried just about everything imaginable! Talon (thanks for the welcome) __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 3, 2003, 10:22 AM	#9
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	Ok, here is something interesting I found while troubleshooting. Take a look at the picture below. For some reason, my pc has decided that every PCI slot, the AGP slot, and even the USB connections should all share the same IRQ. I have tried to change them, but have been unsuccessful. Is it possible that this could be attributing to the problem? http://www.ninjamicros.com/vbulletin...702#post197702 __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 2, 2003, 07:32 AM	#5
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	when you upgraded, did you do a clean OS install?? the GPU is a critical component and plugs in everywhere. Add/remove programs and even deviced from device mgr. just doesn't do it usually. I always do a clean OS install when installing new GPU.... definitely worth it

Apr 2, 2003, 10:06 AM	#7
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 2,999 Rep Power: 72	That tech support guy is speaking out of his a$$, the athlon XP is clock for clock as good if not better at 3d games than the p4. Just call/e-mail back and lie saying you've tried a freinds p4 system and it does the same so it must be the card. Stu

Apr 3, 2003, 11:18 AM	#10
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	Talon thats normal for winXP to show the IRQ like that. No problem there. I'd say follow Veridians advice and do whatever it takes to get the company to give you an RMA replacement card!!! Man, sorry you're having troubles... definitely suXors when things don't go "right"....

Apr 3, 2003, 12:23 PM	#12
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	In winXP I have every single pci device and the AGP GPU "sharing" IRQ 9.... and since you've done a clean OS install and have adequate cooling, the problem MUST lie with the card itself Have you tried using that drivercleaner and then trying some older drivers? DH here has a WHOLE LOT of previous driver releses! I would spend my time trying that rather than IRQ stuff...

Apr 3, 2003, 12:59 PM	#14
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	I'm not sure how big of a difference it would make (if any) but I would NOT use those hyperion drivers on a 266 based mobo. My personal preference for my kx7-333 was the official 1.38 release. If you need them I'd be glad to email them to ya to try. Though I have no idea if they will even go on over the latest hyperion... :clueless: heh

Apr 3, 2003, 02:03 PM	#15
DallasStar Junior Join Date: May 2002 Location: Wave Existence Posts: 2,065 Rep Power: 0	I don't recommend this, but just so you know your options..... here's my story: When I bought my Radeon 8500 OEM, it was also locking up with graphic intensive applications. I decided to raise the vmem and vcore of the graphics card and voila, problem solved (not to mention I also got an extra 25mhz gpu and 25mhz [50mhz ddr] increase in memory speeds ) . __________________ "A picture of my existence... would show a useless wooden stake covered in snow... stuck loosely at a slant in the ground in a ploughed field on the edge of a vast open plain on a dark winter night." --- Franz Kafka

Apr 3, 2003, 02:47 PM	#17
shuki DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: in the hidden place Posts: 1,975 Rep Power: 0	on its way And those 1.38's I use for VIA are far from the latest! they are just the most stable ones I ever had. I tried up to about v 1.43 or something and kept coming back to the trusty 1.38's. I believe those vcore and vmem are physical mods to the card itself. Though you can certainly look in your BIOS for AGP volts! maybe a tad more juice would solve the problem...

Apr 4, 2003, 09:48 AM	#19
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	It looks like DallasStar may have been onto something with the overclocking thing. I ran PowerStrip to check my settings, and it was running at 250/200 by default. After playing around abit, I was able to get Tiger Woods PGA to play without crashing at 265/230 (still using PowerStrip), but Splinter Cell still would not get too far without freezing. I will play around abit more tonight, and I will be online all day checking into how to overclock the ATI cards, but I am still going to try and get them to give me a new card. (of course, they have stopped answering my emails). Talon __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 4, 2003, 12:02 PM	#20
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,176 Rep Power: 94 System Specs	Just curious if you have the APIC feature active on your PC. It give you access to more IRQ's if your motherboard is designed to use this setting. Here is a shot of how my irq's are shared in XP Pro. __________________

Apr 4, 2003, 12:17 PM	#21
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	Is that set in the BIOS or in Windows itself. I'm pretty sure I have it activated, if it's what I think it is, in the bios. __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 4, 2003, 12:46 PM	#22
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,176 Rep Power: 94 System Specs	it is set in your BIOS __________________

Apr 4, 2003, 01:45 PM	#23
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	Then yes, it is enabled. __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 8, 2003, 02:29 PM	#26
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	Just as an update, I was issued an RMA number today, and they plan on refunding me for the card, saying it is just "incompatible" with my system. Whatever makes them feel better, as long as I get my money back. (minus the shipping I'm sure). I'll keep you posted. Talon __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 8, 2003, 03:36 PM	#28
*Zardon* enchanted Join Date: May 2002 Location: Driverheaven Posts: 32,260 Rep Power: 3150	Talon I have to agree that the company you got this from are not only talking out of their asses regarding XP processors but the tech support guy needs a good training course. My advice to you Talon is to get your money back, go into a good local dealer and purchase a made by ATI card with a good return policy. Dont give up on ATI. their cards rock. When you get it home. install the latest 4.46 hyperion drivers (I know what shuki said, but I find they have some pretty tight bug and performance fixes.) Check your bios aperture size is set at 128 meg. Clean your registry out with regcleaner or manually if you prefer. Go to ATIs site get the offical cat 3.2 set and install. I am not sure if you are overclocking, but make sure you are running everything default initially so you can make sure all possible problems are minimised.

Apr 8, 2003, 03:51 PM	#29
Talon DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 108 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for all of the tips Zardon! No problems with the Hyperions yet, so I will stick with them for now. Do you not recommend the Omega drivers, or do you just recommend the "official" drivers first? Don't worry CATALYST maker, once I get my refund (can't wait to see how much they actually refund me), I plan on buying a retail 9000 pro. Best Buy has them for $129 with free shipping (have to check their actual "in store price" as well). Talon __________________ AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1533MHz)/EPOX 8KHA+ Motherboard/1024 Crucial DDR 2100 RAM/Seagate 80GB Barracuda HD ATA100 @7200RPMs/GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Video Card/Hercules Game Theater XP 7.1 Sound Card/Antec SX835II Tower with Antec 350W PSU. View it here

Apr 8, 2003, 03:55 PM	#30
CATALYST maker ATI driver guru Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: ATI, Canada Posts: 763 Rep Power: 47	where are you located Talon?