Dark Paladin

So here is the situation. I bought an AIW X800XT and installed replacing my old AIW 9000. when I installed it I got the newest drivers and everything and now when I am in windows my mouse will randomly turn into a block of static and then the computer will hard lock and the whole screen will turn to static or colored bars. When I play games on the comupter sometimes they just hard lock and do the same thing. I am able to stop the mouse problem in windows by turning down the hardware acceleration but even then my comp will just hard lock for no reason and soem parts of the screen will get distorted. I have already re-formatted the computer and I am running Catalyst 6.9 drivers and the problem is the same as it was before. PLEASE HELP!! I HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO TURN!

Dyre Straits

Greetings and welcome to Driverheaven!

First of all, there have been some problems reported related to the Catalyst 6.9 drivers. To see if it's a driver problem you're having, rather than a faulty video card, try reverting to a previous Catalyst driver version. One that is very stable is Catalyst 6.5. Try those and see if it makes any difference.

If using various versions of the drivers results in the same problem, it's likely that something is wrong with the video card. It could be that the cooling fan isn't functioning properly, or any number of other problems.

Since you just bought it, it should still be under warranty and easy to return for an exchange.

Good luck!

__________________

Dark Paladin

I already tried using older drivers and i cleaned out the heatsync on it and increased the fan speed with tray tools so i'm thinkin it's the card or a mobo incompatability.

Dyre Straits

Give us some more information: Computer specs from CPU down to the PSU.

__________________

Dark Paladin

-Gigabyte Motherboard GA-8VT800-L
-1GB RAM (not sure what make)
-600w power supply (brand new bought this week)
-onboard sound and ethernet
-ATI AIW X800XT AGP
-20GB Extra HD
-80GB Main HD
-DVD-RW single layer 2X, 48X CD-RW
-DVD-ROM 8X
-DVD-Dual Layer 8X, DVD-RW 8X, CD-RW 48X


I found that if I use SMARTGART to turn the AGP down to 4X the card works fine but this obviously makes the performance much slower and more agrivating. Is it more likely to be my MOBO or the card? My MOBO says it can do 8X AGP and I doubt it's lying to me. I'm probably gonna grab a card from my friend or my parent's computer to see but it's probably the card. And my old card is no indication of this because that ran at a max of 4X.

Dyre Straits

I hate to have to say it, but, I've said it to others so many times: VIA-based motherboards just don't seem to go well with ATi cards. I've had so many bad experiences I won't even look at a VIA-based motherboard anymore.

So, if there's anyway you can put out for a board that does not have VIA in the system, I think you'd be way ahead of the game.

__________________

Dark Paladin

ok thanks for all your help i guess i will just run at 4X AGP to avoid crashing in windows until i get money for a new mobo or my parents might buy me a laptop so which ever comes first.

Dyre Straits

Yeah, running at 4X has been the general thing to do to fix this kind of problem.

__________________

H3X4D3C1M4L

4x won't kill the cards performance too badly anyway so I wouldn't worry, it just means you don't have the whole "MAXIMUM SPEED" factor going