Catalyst driver problem

[Joly]

Was wondering if anyone still have problems with this
driver for the radeon serie (I have the 9000 Pro).

Since All the drivers 3.4+ make my CPU crash when gaming.
Tried the brand new one (3.6) but was even worst.. Since
then I stick with the 3.2 one.

I was hoping to find a diferent solution, I am under the
impression thats it could possibly be a config problem, I
bought this computer to a friend, he had the same card
previously installed exept it was a 8500 w/128ram, mine
is 64, and he never had any troubles with full
acceleration.

Have to say I tried lot of things exept a Reg cleaner.

Sorry for the huge post but im really impatient to find
a real solution, been looking for one for 3months now,
well since they launcched the 3.4 catalyst driver...

Thnks.

 

[Chris H.]

One thing you might look at is updating the BIOS and/or drivers for your
motherboard. Most manufacturers have updated the drivers to better handle
the AGP slot. Also, you don't mention which sound card you're using or the
drivers for that. You might check that also, and even try reducing the
sound hardware acceleration in Sounds and Audio Devices.

 

[Joly]

That's a very good Idea,

unfortunately my board has been flashed but not since
they released this patch...A friend suggested me that my
board was to old, would it be possible that from 3.2 to
3.4 my board went obsolete? Or the sound card that is not
so compatible with the new driver, cause it was working
welll before...

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?Ren=E8_Rathmann?=]

-----Original Message-----


Was wondering if anyone still have problems with this
driver for the radeon serie (I have the 9000 Pro).

Since All the drivers 3.4+ make my CPU crash when gaming.
Tried the brand new one (3.6) but was even worst.. Since
then I stick with the 3.2 one.

I was hoping to find a diferent solution, I am under the
impression thats it could possibly be a config problem, I
bought this computer to a friend, he had the same card
previously installed exept it was a 8500 w/128ram, mine
is 64, and he never had any troubles with full
acceleration.

Have to say I tried lot of things exept a Reg cleaner.

Sorry for the huge post but im really impatient to find
a real solution, been looking for one for 3months now,
well since they launcched the 3.4 catalyst driver...

Thnks.
.

 

[Chris H.]

Only you would know the answer by looking for your motherboard at the
manufacturer's web site. But if the 3.2 version graphics driver works well,
there really isn't a reason to change it.

 

[Joly]

Thank you very much Chris for your help, it's nice to
see people willing to help people like this for free, I
will try to check the driver compatibility with my board.

Your right about the fact that I shouldnt change if the
3.2 works well but I'm starting to be anxious, I saw 2
new patch and it doesn't look like I will ever be able to
install another one,and that's very scary,video cards
need to be upto date, technologie is moving so fast and
this could create more problems in the futur..(im sure
most people know this just making a point ).

I was sure that eventually they would come out with a
new one that would be more stable but 2 patch later its
geting worst, like Star War Galaxies wasnt crashing with
the 3.4 but it was awful with that new 3.6.In addition I
feel like im not running this card to maximum of is
possibilities using older driver...

Well I'll be more patient I guess, maybe 3.7 or 4
something will be alright or a brand new G-Force..

Thanks again for the help.

 

[NT Canuck]

Hi Joly,

unfortunately my board has been flashed but not since
they released this patch...A friend suggested me that my
board was to old, would it be possible that from 3.2 to
3.4 my board went obsolete?

FIrst of all...the newer catalyst drivers are mostly to help the
latest games/cards and DX feature sets .. and yes computer
hardware has a "cutting edge" lifespan of about 6 months.

....Just because a piece of hardware may be EOL (end of line)
or considered Obsolete doens't mean it isn't good, or isn't
useful. In your case the Radeon 8500 still_outpowers most
video cards that are newer but in the midrange or less price
group. Gaming issues are best resolved at the game's site.

And Chris is right...most hardware manufacturers will tell you
that if a device is "functional" with a certain driver...that is the
best one to stick with. You would update the hardware drivers
only if there was a problem with "functioning"...which does not
really include a problem if only a few_games. Mainly it's for
"does it boot the OS", does "DX run onit" and the 8500 I believe
may be a DX7 (8?) video card, but newer DX versions (like dx9)
are backward compatible with that card, and most of the DX8
games should run ok on that card (and a few DX9 if settings
in game are reduced).

Or the sound card that is not so compatible with the new driver,
cause it was working welll before...

Maybe using system restore (if you have it) would be a good idea?

You should mark down the sound and video card driver numbers
when they work ok....getting newer drivers brings new bugs. AS
far as I know...the latest Catalysts are not even tested or considered
for 8500 cards or older....should be older drivers you can install from
the original setup CD or archived at ati.com.
PS...when you have a choice...always select a WDM (MS certified)
driver instead of beta or just_out hardware drivers.

Many crashes can be caused by various sound cards/drivers...even
the newer models. So...remove the sound card from the pci slot
and see if problems go away. If they go away...then is either the
slot the card was in (computers are fussy) or the driver...or the game
itself was not written (coded) to handle that sound driver. It is
impossible to write code that works on all hardware and models,
especially if you have to include sometimes a 10 year old 8 bit one.
(also contacts on cards do get dirty/corrode...rubbing and cleaning
the contact points with an old soft_eraser sometimes helps.)

Posting your motherboard brand and model (include bios revision
if you know it) as well as cpu type/speed and sound/video info helps
a lot...otherwise some of us have to consult these pages:
http://users.pandora.be/aldatillian/VARIOUS/psychic.swf

You can get most needed info (hardware) with free to use:
http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php
Aida32 is also a good program in that it gives the manufacturers links.