Sorry to bring this old (and repetitive) topic back alive, but I have some info that some guy experiencing this problem might find useful.
I had a Sapphire X1950 Pro, and used it at first to run old games. I had updated drivers, updated Vista 32 bit. Basically everything was up to date. Everything ran perfectly.
As soon as I started trying to play more graphic demanding games, this problem appeared, and it appeared ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY while trying to play newer games.
I was told by my brother to download GPU-Z to check the graphic card temperature.
It was a little bit above 70 Celsius on iddle, which as far as I know, is hot as hell. No GPU should go over 50-55 on iddle.
About 80 Celsius AT FULL LOAD is something to start worrying about blowing your video card, so you get the point.
I tryed virually EVERY SINGLE reccomendation about this problem on the internet, and they would only alleviate the issue, never completely resolve it. I re-formated the computer, tried different Windows versions, different driver versions, driver without CCC (Catalyst Control Center), with CCC, modified drivers (DNA, Omega etc), tried "underclocking" the video card and many other absurd suggestions that go from deactivating antiailasing to tell the BIOS to boot up just one processor Core.
The problem was still there.
I then read ATI Troubleshooting section, and they indeed marked either temperature, power source deficiency and RAM deficiency as the problem.
What I did was buy a new card, a new RAM module, and a new power source. The card was a new Sapphire HD5770, the RAM a Kingston 2gb module, and the power source a OCZ 500 Watt one.
I just received the parts, installed them, formated computer, installed newest drivers and installed Vista 7 32 Bit Professional (With newest updates). So far everything is running more than perfect. Video card gives beautiful resolution, RAM runs perfectly etc. The card is running at 30 Celsius after being on iddle for about 10 hours straight. Havent put any real load on it yet, as I am still downloading the videocard stress test, but have watched HD videos (some people report having this error even while watching youtube).
Bottom line is, that if someone is experiencing this problem, stop trying all those stupid software solutions you find everywhere. The only thing they do is put less load on the videocard, and thus, not overheating or overloading the RAM and/or videocard. These "solutions" DO NOT solve the problem, but just mask it. Instead of trying those, I suggest you take a look at the following:
Many people upgrade the hell out of their comp, and forget to buy the necessary juice-giver for such setup. That, or they stay with a crappy, no-name one that,even if it feeds a "gazillion" watts (I dont know why the hell people lay so much value only on the wattage... Ive seen people go "I have a power source from the brand "Happy Duck", but it feeds 900 Watts, so that cannot be the problem"), feeds the power with such "unclean" frequencies that can ruin your hardware, or cause overheating issues (*wink wink*). Plus, crappy power sources have crappy amperage (Go figure!), so even if it does feed lots of watts, it still doesnt feed them as fast as your setup needs it.
Also try some other RAM modules, and if you have multiple ones installed in your motherboard, test each one individually. For some reason many people report that running ATI videocards with lots of RAM modules is sometimes the source to this problem. Also, if you are using no-name RAM chips, your problem probably lies right there.
Lastly, check that you are not overclocking your videocard too much. I personally dont like the idea of overclocking video cards (They come with preset settings for a reason....), but I guess thats not an option for a performance freak. So if you absolutely, positively have to overclock your hardware: PAY ATTENTION TO TEMPERATURE AND OVERBURDENING!
Ok, Ill come back to you once I run the stress test to my new videocard. I guess its safe to say that if everything works as it should, this would be the living proof that the problem does not lie on the software, but on the hardware setup instead, as Im still running the same processor, motherboard and harddrive as I did with the X1950 Pro.
For lots more of info about this problem and similar ones, visit: 6600GT How to make it work right - NVIDIA Forums
This is about Nvidia Cards, but those issues are analogue to the ones present in ATI cards. They have the very same source (You silly boy wouldnt think both ATI and Nvidia are making faulty drivers, would you?)
I had a Sapphire X1950 Pro, and used it at first to run old games. I had updated drivers, updated Vista 32 bit. Basically everything was up to date. Everything ran perfectly.
As soon as I started trying to play more graphic demanding games, this problem appeared, and it appeared ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY while trying to play newer games.
I was told by my brother to download GPU-Z to check the graphic card temperature.
It was a little bit above 70 Celsius on iddle, which as far as I know, is hot as hell. No GPU should go over 50-55 on iddle.
About 80 Celsius AT FULL LOAD is something to start worrying about blowing your video card, so you get the point.
I tryed virually EVERY SINGLE reccomendation about this problem on the internet, and they would only alleviate the issue, never completely resolve it. I re-formated the computer, tried different Windows versions, different driver versions, driver without CCC (Catalyst Control Center), with CCC, modified drivers (DNA, Omega etc), tried "underclocking" the video card and many other absurd suggestions that go from deactivating antiailasing to tell the BIOS to boot up just one processor Core.
The problem was still there.
I then read ATI Troubleshooting section, and they indeed marked either temperature, power source deficiency and RAM deficiency as the problem.
What I did was buy a new card, a new RAM module, and a new power source. The card was a new Sapphire HD5770, the RAM a Kingston 2gb module, and the power source a OCZ 500 Watt one.
I just received the parts, installed them, formated computer, installed newest drivers and installed Vista 7 32 Bit Professional (With newest updates). So far everything is running more than perfect. Video card gives beautiful resolution, RAM runs perfectly etc. The card is running at 30 Celsius after being on iddle for about 10 hours straight. Havent put any real load on it yet, as I am still downloading the videocard stress test, but have watched HD videos (some people report having this error even while watching youtube).
Bottom line is, that if someone is experiencing this problem, stop trying all those stupid software solutions you find everywhere. The only thing they do is put less load on the videocard, and thus, not overheating or overloading the RAM and/or videocard. These "solutions" DO NOT solve the problem, but just mask it. Instead of trying those, I suggest you take a look at the following:
Many people upgrade the hell out of their comp, and forget to buy the necessary juice-giver for such setup. That, or they stay with a crappy, no-name one that,even if it feeds a "gazillion" watts (I dont know why the hell people lay so much value only on the wattage... Ive seen people go "I have a power source from the brand "Happy Duck", but it feeds 900 Watts, so that cannot be the problem"), feeds the power with such "unclean" frequencies that can ruin your hardware, or cause overheating issues (*wink wink*). Plus, crappy power sources have crappy amperage (Go figure!), so even if it does feed lots of watts, it still doesnt feed them as fast as your setup needs it.
Also try some other RAM modules, and if you have multiple ones installed in your motherboard, test each one individually. For some reason many people report that running ATI videocards with lots of RAM modules is sometimes the source to this problem. Also, if you are using no-name RAM chips, your problem probably lies right there.
Lastly, check that you are not overclocking your videocard too much. I personally dont like the idea of overclocking video cards (They come with preset settings for a reason....), but I guess thats not an option for a performance freak. So if you absolutely, positively have to overclock your hardware: PAY ATTENTION TO TEMPERATURE AND OVERBURDENING!
Ok, Ill come back to you once I run the stress test to my new videocard. I guess its safe to say that if everything works as it should, this would be the living proof that the problem does not lie on the software, but on the hardware setup instead, as Im still running the same processor, motherboard and harddrive as I did with the X1950 Pro.
For lots more of info about this problem and similar ones, visit: 6600GT How to make it work right - NVIDIA Forums
This is about Nvidia Cards, but those issues are analogue to the ones present in ATI cards. They have the very same source (You silly boy wouldnt think both ATI and Nvidia are making faulty drivers, would you?)
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