P
Paul D. Sullivan
Saw this at RAGE3D - any truth to them?
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33716791
It says:
First, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to be causing the core to overheat
by between 8 and 12 degrees, which has caused hardware failures
in the cards themselves due to overheating. This did not happen
in any earlier version of the Catalyst drivers.
Second, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to have a bug in some systems
that allows the driver to process the SECONDARY adapter settings
when a game is started and tries to switch to the resolution and
refresh rate specified in the program.
Normally, the card is limited by the INF file settings for the
PRIMARY adapter, so that no resolution or refresh rate is
attempted that is beyond the capability of the monitor hardware.
But in the 3.8's, it seems to be processing the SECONDARY adapter
settings first. In a system without a monitor plugged into the
second adapter, there is no INF file limiting refresh rates and
resolutions, so, the system is trying to force refresh rates and
resolutions beyond what the monitor on the PRIMARY adapter is
capable of.
So instead of having the monitor "flicker" once when it switches
to the desired resolution/refresh, monitors are "flickering"
between 4 and 8 times, with resolutions and refresh rates that
are beyond the capability of the actual monitor.
As a result, some monitors have been damaged, while others have
blinked out and recovered. Some users monitors are under warranty
and can be RMA'd, but for those who don't have a monitor under
warranty, their monitor is damaged and they must buy a new one.
For those lucky enough to have had their monitor survive the
process, dropping back down to an earlier Catalyst seems to solve
the problem completely.
It may be tied to the VPU Recover feature or the built in
Overclocking support, both of which were introduced in Catalyst
3.8, but nobody can seem to get verification from ATI.
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33716791
It says:
First, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to be causing the core to overheat
by between 8 and 12 degrees, which has caused hardware failures
in the cards themselves due to overheating. This did not happen
in any earlier version of the Catalyst drivers.
Second, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to have a bug in some systems
that allows the driver to process the SECONDARY adapter settings
when a game is started and tries to switch to the resolution and
refresh rate specified in the program.
Normally, the card is limited by the INF file settings for the
PRIMARY adapter, so that no resolution or refresh rate is
attempted that is beyond the capability of the monitor hardware.
But in the 3.8's, it seems to be processing the SECONDARY adapter
settings first. In a system without a monitor plugged into the
second adapter, there is no INF file limiting refresh rates and
resolutions, so, the system is trying to force refresh rates and
resolutions beyond what the monitor on the PRIMARY adapter is
capable of.
So instead of having the monitor "flicker" once when it switches
to the desired resolution/refresh, monitors are "flickering"
between 4 and 8 times, with resolutions and refresh rates that
are beyond the capability of the actual monitor.
As a result, some monitors have been damaged, while others have
blinked out and recovered. Some users monitors are under warranty
and can be RMA'd, but for those who don't have a monitor under
warranty, their monitor is damaged and they must buy a new one.
For those lucky enough to have had their monitor survive the
process, dropping back down to an earlier Catalyst seems to solve
the problem completely.
It may be tied to the VPU Recover feature or the built in
Overclocking support, both of which were introduced in Catalyst
3.8, but nobody can seem to get verification from ATI.