Is this just a driver issue, or something more? (My HD3850)

Xolair · Dec 20, 2007, 07:39 AM

Hello, and yes, I'm a n00b in these forums.

So, I've got a new Sapphire ATI HD3850 but it isn't working too well, for some reason. I've been troubled with it and actually had a Club3D card before, but decided to get it RMA'd and ordered a Sapphire instead, hoping for the problem to go away. Sadly, even with a new card, it's still there.

Lately I've been scoping out for the problem, and actually tried some ways to solve it, e.g. I've noticed that the card works fine with an OpenGL game (like Prey's demo and ET: Quake Wars), but the problem seems Direct3D related. I also get some weird spots in 2D usage in some websites, but I've also noticed that these occur on background images and when I take a closer look at those images, the spots are ''integrated'' into the pictures, rather than occuring randomly. Pretty strange...

Anyway, the problem is that I get some weird graphical corruptions/artifacts/errors everywhere, as said, mainly in D3D games. Here's some pics:

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...cket/error.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...et/error_2.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...ket/3dmark.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r.../artifacts.jpg

It's indeed a bit strange that I haven't spotted problems like that with OpenGL games, and one old, but classic game Diablo 2: LoD works fine in DirectDraw mode (which is 2D, I think) whereas in a proper 3D mode it gets that kind of stretched/disappearing objects as most of the other games.

One guy indeed proposed in one forum that he has spotted some problem with the Catalyst 7.11's, that they don't work with D3D or something. I think this could be true, it's either that or my mobo somehow cripples the card down with its 4x PCI-E speed, but I doubt that. Also, WITHOUT any C7.11's installed the 2D artifacts are gone, but instantly when I install them, they appear in background images again. What do you guys think? Has anyone else got this kind of problems??? Help would be much appriciated, if the driver gurus in this forum could see if there's any kind of D3D related oddness in the drivers that could cause this, that'd be even more awesome!

Here's a linky to the other forum:

VN Boards - Radeon HD 3850 and Cataylst driver issues.

[COLOR=Yellow]EDIT: [/COLOR][COLOR=Yellow]If this is in the wrong section, my bad.[/COLOR]

Vikingod · Dec 20, 2007, 09:18 AM

Hmm, that looks like a problem with your GPU, to me. It's not your mobo, the bus speed won't cripple your card.

Try a different set of drivers, but errors like that can be attributed to a problem with your cards core.

Xolair · Dec 20, 2007, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikingod

Hmm, that looks like a problem with your GPU, to me. It's not your mobo, the bus speed won't cripple your card.

Try a different set of drivers, but errors like that can be attributed to a problem with your cards core.

Hmm, my last card did the exact same problem, so it's either some driver issue or I've gotten incredibly unlucky and gotten two faulty cards. It just has to be...

Vikingod · Dec 20, 2007, 09:55 AM

Very odd.

Do you OC? What dort of temperatures are you getting in your PC.

Xolair · Dec 20, 2007, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikingod

Very odd.

Do you OC? What dort of temperatures are you getting in your PC.

No, no overclocking and the temps seem fine, 40c idle now @ 50% fan speed. Not sure about the load temps, but they were fine the last time, too.

There's got to be something there since all the OpenGL games I've tried have worked fine...

Vikingod · Dec 20, 2007, 10:14 AM

Have you tried Drivercleaner, then reinstalling some different drivers?

Xolair · Dec 20, 2007, 11:28 AM

Yeah, I uninstalled my previous drivers through Add/Remove Programs AND used Drivercleaner to be safe... since the 7.11's are the only drivers that seem to work with this card. I've tried 7.10's but they don't seem to work, there's ones on the driver CD but my DVD-drive doesn't want to read it. Heh, quite unlucky so to speak...

**kris23** · Dec 20, 2007, 11:36 AM

RMA it, never know till you try.....

Xolair · Dec 20, 2007, 11:55 AM

^ Yeah... my previous card is still in RMA, if they find a flaw from that one then this card is flawed too. I'll keep my ''fingers crossed'' for anything.

Xolair · Dec 23, 2007, 04:02 AM

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

I just got a hold on the new 2.20 bios from ASRock, tried it on my mobo and tested some games afterwards. Crysis works fine, WoW works fine... yes!

P.S. This probably means there's no errors in the drivers themselves, but the 2D artifacts and weird colours are still there.

**temeteus82** · Dec 23, 2007, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xolair

P.S. This probably means there's no errors in the drivers themselves, but the 2D artifacts and weird colours are still there.

Hmm... that is odd... you have asked if there is some new BIOS updates for your GFX card's BIOS? and do you have ATi Tray tools installed??? It has system tray hardware monitoring so you can have the temps there and it will write them to log file if you like. You could use it so see how hot the card get under load.

Tipstaff · Dec 23, 2007, 06:02 AM

I hate that motherboard. Damn thing causes so many issues. AsRock doesn't mention that the PCIE graphics slot is only a 4x slot, and not a full PCIE16 slot. It's damn misleading. I tell you, the number of people that I've had to help cuz of that thing...

People that are upgrading to PCIE think they are getting a great bargain buying that board, have issues trying to use the latest tech on it, and don't know what could be the problem, yet all along it's the board. Every time I get people with that board having problems I point them right back to AsRocks site, and show them the bios update page, and the supported VGA list. If AsRock hasn't got the card they are looking to buy on either of those pages I tell them not to buy it just yet.

Xolair, do yourself a favor, and replace that board (you can find a much better one for less than $100, like Gigabyte GA-G31MX-S2 based on a G31 chipset for $85). For one that PCIE graphics slot is only a 4x slot (same speed as the AGP @ 8x), so you aren't going to get as good a performance out of your card as you would on full PCIE16x slot. Yes it's working, but the card really isn't meant to be running in a slot lower than 8x. Secondly, your highest upgrade option is quad core, but thanks to the oddities of that board, once you drop a quad core CPU into that board the front side bus frequency gets lowered by 5-6% to keep it running stable. Buying a new board like the Gigabyte one I mentioned would not only give you a full PCIE16x graphics slot, but it will give you more options for CPU upgrades (cuz the board supports 1333mhz bus), 4 x SATAII 3Gb/s ports, and DDR2-800 support,

The only issues I foresee is that you would have to replace your ram (unless you are using DDR2 already, in which case your fine), and you would have to reinstall your system, but the benefits of switching makes it worth the $100-150 you might put out.

**temeteus82** · Dec 23, 2007, 06:20 AM

Xolair : If you are going to get new mobo take a look of Abit's Abit IP35-E and IP35. I got the later it's good solid board. And it's around 100€ @ Verkkokauppa.com the IP35-E is 77€ in there too and they have it available now. For IP35 you would have to wait a week.

Xolair · Dec 23, 2007, 09:26 AM

^ Meh, I won't get a new mobo. Sure the card's speed goes wasted here a bit, but it's still enough for me.

Dec 20, 2007, 07:39 AM	#1
Xolair DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Finland. Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	Is this just a driver issue, or something more? (My HD3850) Hello, and yes, I'm a n00b in these forums. So, I've got a new Sapphire ATI HD3850 but it isn't working too well, for some reason. I've been troubled with it and actually had a Club3D card before, but decided to get it RMA'd and ordered a Sapphire instead, hoping for the problem to go away. Sadly, even with a new card, it's still there. Lately I've been scoping out for the problem, and actually tried some ways to solve it, e.g. I've noticed that the card works fine with an OpenGL game (like Prey's demo and ET: Quake Wars), but the problem seems Direct3D related. I also get some weird spots in 2D usage in some websites, but I've also noticed that these occur on background images and when I take a closer look at those images, the spots are ''integrated'' into the pictures, rather than occuring randomly. Pretty strange... Anyway, the problem is that I get some weird graphical corruptions/artifacts/errors everywhere, as said, mainly in D3D games. Here's some pics: http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...cket/error.jpg http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...et/error_2.jpg http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...ket/3dmark.jpg http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r.../artifacts.jpg It's indeed a bit strange that I haven't spotted problems like that with OpenGL games, and one old, but classic game Diablo 2: LoD works fine in DirectDraw mode (which is 2D, I think) whereas in a proper 3D mode it gets that kind of stretched/disappearing objects as most of the other games. One guy indeed proposed in one forum that he has spotted some problem with the Catalyst 7.11's, that they don't work with D3D or something. I think this could be true, it's either that or my mobo somehow cripples the card down with its 4x PCI-E speed, but I doubt that. Also, WITHOUT any C7.11's installed the 2D artifacts are gone, but instantly when I install them, they appear in background images again. What do you guys think? Has anyone else got this kind of problems??? Help would be much appriciated, if the driver gurus in this forum could see if there's any kind of D3D related oddness in the drivers that could cause this, that'd be even more awesome! Here's a linky to the other forum: VN Boards - Radeon HD 3850 and Cataylst driver issues. [COLOR=Yellow]EDIT: [/COLOR][COLOR=Yellow]If this is in the wrong section, my bad.[/COLOR] Last edited by Xolair; Dec 20, 2007 at 07:44 AM.

Dec 20, 2007, 09:18 AM	#2
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,149 Rep Power: 85 System Specs	Hmm, that looks like a problem with your GPU, to me. It's not your mobo, the bus speed won't cripple your card. Try a different set of drivers, but errors like that can be attributed to a problem with your cards core. __________________ *How You Can Help DriverHeaven By Using Digg*

Dec 20, 2007, 09:55 AM	#4
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,149 Rep Power: 85 System Specs	Very odd. Do you OC? What dort of temperatures are you getting in your PC. __________________ *How You Can Help DriverHeaven By Using Digg*

Dec 20, 2007, 10:14 AM	#6
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,149 Rep Power: 85 System Specs	Have you tried Drivercleaner, then reinstalling some different drivers? __________________ *How You Can Help DriverHeaven By Using Digg*

Dec 20, 2007, 11:36 AM	#8
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 5,316 Rep Power: 64 System Specs	RMA it, never know till you try..... __________________ Driverheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (9/4/09) New i5 systems with more to come! Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Dec 20, 2007, 11:28 AM	#7
Xolair DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Finland. Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	Yeah, I uninstalled my previous drivers through Add/Remove Programs AND used Drivercleaner to be safe... since the 7.11's are the only drivers that seem to work with this card. I've tried 7.10's but they don't seem to work, there's ones on the driver CD but my DVD-drive doesn't want to read it. Heh, quite unlucky so to speak...

Dec 20, 2007, 11:55 AM	#9
Xolair DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Finland. Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	^ Yeah... my previous card is still in RMA, if they find a flaw from that one then this card is flawed too. I'll keep my ''fingers crossed'' for anything.

Dec 23, 2007, 04:02 AM	#10
Xolair DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Finland. Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	PROBLEM SOLVED!!! I just got a hold on the new 2.20 bios from ASRock, tried it on my mobo and tested some games afterwards. Crysis works fine, WoW works fine... yes! P.S. This probably means there's no errors in the drivers themselves, but the 2D artifacts and weird colours are still there.

Dec 23, 2007, 06:02 AM	#12
Tipstaff DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Toronto Posts: 5,532 Rep Power: 95 System Specs	I hate that motherboard. Damn thing causes so many issues. AsRock doesn't mention that the PCIE graphics slot is only a 4x slot, and not a full PCIE16 slot. It's damn misleading. I tell you, the number of people that I've had to help cuz of that thing... People that are upgrading to PCIE think they are getting a great bargain buying that board, have issues trying to use the latest tech on it, and don't know what could be the problem, yet all along it's the board. Every time I get people with that board having problems I point them right back to AsRocks site, and show them the bios update page, and the supported VGA list. If AsRock hasn't got the card they are looking to buy on either of those pages I tell them not to buy it just yet. Xolair, do yourself a favor, and replace that board (you can find a much better one for less than $100, like Gigabyte GA-G31MX-S2 based on a G31 chipset for $85). For one that PCIE graphics slot is only a 4x slot (same speed as the AGP @ 8x), so you aren't going to get as good a performance out of your card as you would on full PCIE16x slot. Yes it's working, but the card really isn't meant to be running in a slot lower than 8x. Secondly, your highest upgrade option is quad core, but thanks to the oddities of that board, once you drop a quad core CPU into that board the front side bus frequency gets lowered by 5-6% to keep it running stable. Buying a new board like the Gigabyte one I mentioned would not only give you a full PCIE16x graphics slot, but it will give you more options for CPU upgrades (cuz the board supports 1333mhz bus), 4 x SATAII 3Gb/s ports, and DDR2-800 support, The only issues I foresee is that you would have to replace your ram (unless you are using DDR2 already, in which case your fine), and you would have to reinstall your system, but the benefits of switching makes it worth the $100-150 you might put out. __________________ >><< Last edited by Tipstaff; Dec 23, 2007 at 06:11 AM.

Dec 23, 2007, 09:26 AM	#14
Xolair DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Finland. Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	^ Meh, I won't get a new mobo. Sure the card's speed goes wasted here a bit, but it's still enough for me.