So I recieved my fancy new Sapphire Radeon 7750 HD (1GB GDDR5) graphics card a day ago and have been having some issues with it:
System:
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHZ with stock intel fan.
3GB RAM
400 watt Corsair PSU (30A on the 12 volt rail) upgraded from a 300 watt stock PSU.
320 gig HDD.
CDROM drive
DVD drive.
FoxConn GM3302 mobo (Dell OEM though)
OS: Windows XP SP 3
Symptoms:
Using the supplied graphics drivers (or even the latest ones from ATI's site) and only installing the graphics card driver (installs Catalyst Command Center, too for some reason), while playing games such as swat 4, the operation arrowhead demo or even browsing the web in firefox, the graphics card driver will crash and display the 'VPU Recovery' notification.
Sometimes when this does happen, I get a BSOD instead saying that ati2dvag.dll is in an infinite loop and get a STOP code of 0x000000EA.
Problem with this is that there's a slew of fixes for old AGP cards and changing the PCI bridge driver to a generic driver (tried this, didn't work, got the same BSODs etc)
I've check the temperatures of both of the CPU and GPU:
39/40 degrees idle for the CPU
55-57 degrees under load for the CPU, sometimes hitting 60 (thank you OA! :P)
29/30 degrees idle for the GPU
36-40 degrees under load for the GPU.
I would think that this rules out an overheating issue at the very least.
Any input on this would be appreciated.
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
You may as well be speaking French :s
Provided that you are talking about degrees Celsius, the temperatures are really ok. Looks more like a software issue to me.
Have you the lastest directx version installed?
What exactly did you mean with "Problem with this is that there's a slew of fixes for old AGP cards and changing the PCI bridge driver to a generic driver (tried this, didn't work, got the same BSODs etc)"?
You are using a 32bit OS, don't you? Not sure if that might cause a problem. Is the OS still using the whole 3 GB Ram?
Yeah, I was using degrees celsius, overheating issue should be ruled I guess.
I've got DX9.0c installed on this OS, dunno if XP can 'handle' DX 11, which the graphics card can.
I've done alot of googling of the ati2dvag.dll BSOD issue and there's a lot of threads etc from 2003/4/5/7 regarding this issue, some related to old AGP cards that ATI produced.
The PCI bridge driver thing is where you go into the Device Manager in Windows, click on the System checkbox and change the 'PCI bridge' hardware's driver to 'Standard PCI-to-PCI bridge' driver (i.e not using the MOBO's proper driver).
And yes, I am using a 32bit OS.
One thing I forgot:
The specs of the card is PCIe 3.0 compatible, whereas my mobo is only PCIe 1.0 compatible. Could be some hiccups with the 3.0 driver talking to 1.0 hardware..
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
PSU
400w is really not enough, you really are at danger of destroying everything in your tower. A card like that requires maybe that much, just to power the card.
ATI did you a favour by adding the feature that it will shutdown to protect your system.
I'll bet you...thats your issue
Lt_Col WIZ, VC, MiD (Ret)
I dont think th ePSU is the issue. That card is made to run ~75W
SAS_Capt_Fluffy
Captain
"Let's just wing it" -Fluffy on things we should most definitely not wing
I agree with fluffy, the PSU should be enough as the card takes its power from the pcie slot. According to some forums, it can run easily on my Dell Inspiron 530 with the stock 300 watt PSU.
I did some more googling of the bsod issue and came across this topic:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/p/18860508/18983494.aspx
Different card, but the same issue in the same system, perhaps I may need to look into getting it replaced, though maybe a re-install of Windows is worth a shot.
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
I used to have such problem with my ATI HD cards.
Here's what I think may be the problem:
-Overheating, ATI cards can take the beating, but anything above 60 C is dangerous for the card whereas 70 and above will most certainly do some damage. If you can't bring the temperatures down, add an external cooler (you can find many on the cheap designed for your card specifically)
-Windows. Newer drivers are made for newer OSes, XP SP3 is maybe still widely used and supported by Microsoft (Until 2014) but most newer software will go apeballz with it. Xp is the best WinOS, but MS sucks that much that it wont make any better soon. What you can do here is find proper driver versions, is your card AGP, PCI, PCIe? There are drivers for each of these, if your card is AGP, there is a specific AGP version for such cards that wont accept other.
-Catalyst. Yes, Catalyst. The control panel is big pile of c**p and will slow your system down and bring it to a point where you will have to reinstall everything, install the catalyst driver, and uninstall the stupid control panel. If you want true control over any ATI card, download ATI Tray Tools which is FREE, and tune everything from it, I would also suggest you run it only when you want to. Other drivers, if Catalyst is causing you all the trouble, find custom Omega Drivers, they are unsupported, so use at your own risk, but if everything else fails, this should work.
-RAM/CPU/GPU incompatibility. For some reason, GPU's can sometimes go crazy when you install new RAM or change CPU and later work just fine. It's like a grumpy kid coming to a new school.
What you can do here is check if everything is set properly, that you have sufficient supply and most importantly that there's no dust on these components.
-Incompatible drivers, not just Catalyst. Make sure other drivers are compatible with your GPU ones, do a brief online search on this topic.
Last but not least, once you fix this issue, have fun with your new rig
Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide
Don't count me as an expert, but I'll try to give my explanation (I've done a lot of searching for these kinds of things).
High end graphics and other hardware need a lot of wattage. They draw power from the Power Supply Unit. If the hardware tries to pull more power than the PSU can provide, the PSU will go out, and that can damage your components. It's the same as any other extreme power surge to any electronic - too much juice will fry it. If the thing that provides all the power to the system fries, what do you think the possibilities are that it can do damage to everything connected to it?
I guess the same thing goes for having your computer get "struck by lightning". It could happen if you're unlucky, but I tend not to worry about it. I have a feeling WIZ is all too experienced with it.
A PSU will only use what it needs. IE if you have a 700w PSU, and you only need 400w...everything will run ok.
whereas if you are trying to draw 900w from the same 700w PSU, you can under-power all, or some of the major components...this is very bad.
PS..On temps, getting above 70c is bad because lead solder starts to melt just above that, and every component of every part of your pc is soldered with lead. and if your circuits melt into 1...go figure !!!
Lt_Col WIZ, VC, MiD (Ret)
THIS
I tried, just for the heck 2 days ago, underclocking the gpu's processor from it's standard 800mhz to about 450mhz or so, have been stable ever since, not one vpu recover window or BSOD.
I do of course realise this is a short term 'solution' as I have no other PSUs around, so I'm going to get a better PSU ASAP (maybe 3-4 months).
SAS_Master - Regimental Sergeant Major
GCHQ
"He's trusting you to do your job which is to clear that corner! Nothing else!"
Excellent !!
Do remember everybody, that when a card says its rated at say 500w, this is the power that the card needs; NOT your PC.
Lt_Col WIZ, VC, MiD (Ret)