Ibuypower and the ATI mobility Radeon 9700 pro (having problems)

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 01:32 AM

Hi everyone, first post for me. I am about at my wits end with my new laptop. I purchased an ibuypower Battalion 101 S-Turbo Specs being...

Processor ( Mobile AMD® Athlon-64 3000+ CPU )
Operation System ( MS Windows XP Home Edition )
Memory ( 1024MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC-3200 [Notebook Memory] Major Brand )
Video Card ( Mobility 128MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 256-bit 3D Video )

When i got the notebook i installed the drivers on the cd they gave me and installed Steam to test out Half Life 2. When i launch HL2 it tells me that my driver is out of date and gives me a link to the ati site to get the newest driver. I go there and download Catalyst Mobility 5.6 for Windows XP. When i try to install the driver it tells me this....

"Unfortunately, this software update cannot be installed on your system. Please contact your notebook manufacturer for driver updates"

So i procede to contact ibuypowers customer support who tell me to get the driver from http://www.uniwill.com/ for the 258KA0 model. Then they hang up before i have a chance to ask any other questions. So i install that driver they told me to. After a reboot I go and launch half life 2 again and it tells me my driver is out of date and i realize it is the same version driver i had before i started any of this.

I tried uninstalling my driver and reinstalling the new one again and it still thinks i have the origonal driver.

I can run Half Life 2 with my current driver but it has graphical glitches constantly as i play(which i hope is a result of the driver, not a faulty video card)

If someone could please give me a link to a site with a driver that will work i would really appreiate it, or just any ideas as to what i could to do fix my problem. Thanks in advance!

nitrousoxide52 · Jul 8, 2005, 01:45 AM

Here try this out, http://www.hardwareheaven.com/patje/ , good luck!

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 02:02 AM

okay cool after i used that half life 2 no longer tells me im using and old driver....but i still have the graphical error. ive noticed it to a lesser degree in other games also such as guild wars. It looks like a pixel flashes for a second, but it only happens in half life 2 when i am looking at the sky.....its always flashing at a different spot on the screen so it cant be a bad pixel. any thoughts with that would be appreciated.

My driver Ver is 6.14.10.6458 when i look up driver details under system, Does that sound right?
Thanks for the program/help nitrous!

nitrousoxide52 · Jul 8, 2005, 02:10 AM

Yes the driver seems right, that pixel maybe overheating in the video card, can you tell me what the temp of the card is? You may have t osue a third party program such as ATI Tray Tools

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 02:31 AM

hmmm downloaded that program but cnat seem to figure out how to tell the tempature using it....ill continue working on it

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 02:47 AM

hmm cant find it, sorry man i sound like a noob but im actually quite experienced with comps. Just never used an ATI card before ;-)

nitrousoxide52 · Jul 8, 2005, 02:57 AM

Right click the icon, when it is in the tray, and then click hardware, then click Hardware>Overclocking Settings, then somewhere in that window it will say
GPU: (number)
ENV: (number)
Those numbers are for GPU=Video card temp, and ENV=environment temp

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 03:36 AM

Gpu = 445.5
Mem = 216

nitrousoxide52 · Jul 8, 2005, 03:45 AM

It's near the bottom of the window, those numbers that you posted are the speeds.

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 03:55 AM

thats all the numbers it shows...

nitrousoxide52 · Jul 8, 2005, 03:57 AM

Hmm... maybe your card doesn't have a temp gauge. Play a game for a while or something, and then turn the comp off, and touch the heatsink gently with your hand on the gfx card, if it is burning hot then it is overheating.

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 03:57 AM

it has a slider to change the core and mem speed.... then an artiffact tester without any numbers inside, then profiles at the bottom.

nitrousoxide52 · Jul 8, 2005, 03:58 AM

Don't move the slider, but run the artifact tester. If it has artifacts then it is overheating.

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 03:59 AM

okay ill post back in 30 or so min

LavanVonarx · Jul 8, 2005, 04:00 AM

yeah it has a lot of artifacts diff numbers and stuff you want specifics?......wait maybe not.

i clicked show 3d render then scan for artifacts
no artifacts for 40 sec and still going.

llamablaster · Aug 27, 2005, 06:48 AM

hey guys i ordered the same laptop from ibuypower as LavanVonarx and i have the same problem as you, the whole old driver when trying halflife2 and i went to the site with the mod tool, used that and itstalled drivers but i still have random blotches that appear while playing. you guys havn't posted in awhile so maybe you found a solution or maybe even a new driver for the ati mobility 9700

thanks

thegave · Aug 27, 2005, 04:43 PM

which drivers did you guys use with the modtools? have you tried using the modtool to install the latest official 5.8 catalysts? I think ATI's official Mobility Catalysts now natively support the MR9600/9700. if not, you guys can try some other great modified drivers such as the omega ATI drivers, www.omegadrivers.net
or the dhzeropoint drivers www.dhzeropoint.net

Cardano · Sep 13, 2005, 03:26 PM

Goog! Just wrote a indepth reply witha ll kinds of info, and IE deleted it. Short Version: It's a power problem, not a drover problem. You pimped out the lappy more than it's power supply can handle. Fix: Get CD hacks for your games, Press slide button on back of lappy and remove ROM drive, boot up, play games. Voila, no more gliches. I'm going to try some power management programs later, but I just figured it out today and passed it along.
Runnning the same computer you are, to a T, with current Omega drivers. Now after the frustration is over, pleased with the performance. Hope it works for you!

Ballakin · Oct 18, 2005, 09:25 PM

I have the same laptop down to a "t" and have the same exact problem. IBUYPOWER.com's tech support is horrible and they just ran me around in circles with the same driver. I've tried the latests and greatest from ATI, but nothing worked. I am testing the power supply issue as soon as I can and I will post an update ASAP.

EDIT1: Alright, I just remembered that I don't even use my DVD-ROM drive to play World of Warcraft and I still get artifacts, but I get them in Battlefield 2 also, where I do use the CD. So I'm not really sure what to do.

thegave · Oct 19, 2005, 04:53 PM

think you could grab some screenshots of the artifacting? it could be heat issues caused by sub-par dissipation which wouldn't be surprising coming from ibp.
might need to think about as5-ing the cpu and gpu cores. or check to see if the fan vents are clear of dust

Jul 8, 2005, 01:32 AM	#1
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	Ibuypower and the ATI mobility Radeon 9700 pro (having problems) Hi everyone, first post for me. I am about at my wits end with my new laptop. I purchased an ibuypower Battalion 101 S-Turbo Specs being... Processor ( Mobile AMD® Athlon-64 3000+ CPU ) Operation System ( MS Windows XP Home Edition ) Memory ( 1024MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC-3200 [Notebook Memory] Major Brand ) Video Card ( Mobility 128MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 256-bit 3D Video ) When i got the notebook i installed the drivers on the cd they gave me and installed Steam to test out Half Life 2. When i launch HL2 it tells me that my driver is out of date and gives me a link to the ati site to get the newest driver. I go there and download Catalyst Mobility 5.6 for Windows XP. When i try to install the driver it tells me this.... "Unfortunately, this software update cannot be installed on your system. Please contact your notebook manufacturer for driver updates" So i procede to contact ibuypowers customer support who tell me to get the driver from http://www.uniwill.com/ for the 258KA0 model. Then they hang up before i have a chance to ask any other questions. So i install that driver they told me to. After a reboot I go and launch half life 2 again and it tells me my driver is out of date and i realize it is the same version driver i had before i started any of this. I tried uninstalling my driver and reinstalling the new one again and it still thinks i have the origonal driver. I can run Half Life 2 with my current driver but it has graphical glitches constantly as i play(which i hope is a result of the driver, not a faulty video card) If someone could please give me a link to a site with a driver that will work i would really appreiate it, or just any ideas as to what i could to do fix my problem. Thanks in advance!

Jul 8, 2005, 01:45 AM	#2
nitrousoxide52 Driverheaven.com err .net Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,719 Rep Power: 0	Here try this out, http://www.hardwareheaven.com/patje/ , good luck! __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ XFX Geforce 7800GT ABIT AN8-SLI BFG Tech 650w

Jul 8, 2005, 02:10 AM	#4
nitrousoxide52 Driverheaven.com err .net Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,719 Rep Power: 0	Yes the driver seems right, that pixel maybe overheating in the video card, can you tell me what the temp of the card is? You may have t osue a third party program such as ATI Tray Tools __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ XFX Geforce 7800GT ABIT AN8-SLI BFG Tech 650w

Jul 8, 2005, 02:57 AM	#7
nitrousoxide52 Driverheaven.com err .net Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,719 Rep Power: 0	Right click the icon, when it is in the tray, and then click hardware, then click Hardware>Overclocking Settings, then somewhere in that window it will say GPU: (number) ENV: (number) Those numbers are for GPU=Video card temp, and ENV=environment temp __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ XFX Geforce 7800GT ABIT AN8-SLI BFG Tech 650w

Jul 8, 2005, 03:45 AM	#9
nitrousoxide52 Driverheaven.com err .net Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,719 Rep Power: 0	It's near the bottom of the window, those numbers that you posted are the speeds. __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ XFX Geforce 7800GT ABIT AN8-SLI BFG Tech 650w

Jul 8, 2005, 02:02 AM	Thread Starter #3
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	okay cool after i used that half life 2 no longer tells me im using and old driver....but i still have the graphical error. ive noticed it to a lesser degree in other games also such as guild wars. It looks like a pixel flashes for a second, but it only happens in half life 2 when i am looking at the sky.....its always flashing at a different spot on the screen so it cant be a bad pixel. any thoughts with that would be appreciated. My driver Ver is 6.14.10.6458 when i look up driver details under system, Does that sound right? Thanks for the program/help nitrous!

Jul 8, 2005, 02:31 AM	Thread Starter #5
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	hmmm downloaded that program but cnat seem to figure out how to tell the tempature using it....ill continue working on it

Jul 8, 2005, 02:47 AM	Thread Starter #6
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	hmm cant find it, sorry man i sound like a noob but im actually quite experienced with comps. Just never used an ATI card before ;-)

Jul 8, 2005, 03:36 AM	Thread Starter #8
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	Gpu = 445.5 Mem = 216

Jul 8, 2005, 03:55 AM	Thread Starter #10
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	thats all the numbers it shows...

Jul 8, 2005, 03:57 AM	#11
nitrousoxide52 Driverheaven.com err .net Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,719 Rep Power: 0	Hmm... maybe your card doesn't have a temp gauge. Play a game for a while or something, and then turn the comp off, and touch the heatsink gently with your hand on the gfx card, if it is burning hot then it is overheating. __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ XFX Geforce 7800GT ABIT AN8-SLI BFG Tech 650w

Jul 8, 2005, 03:57 AM	Thread Starter #12
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	it has a slider to change the core and mem speed.... then an artiffact tester without any numbers inside, then profiles at the bottom.

Jul 8, 2005, 03:58 AM	#13
nitrousoxide52 Driverheaven.com err .net Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,719 Rep Power: 0	Don't move the slider, but run the artifact tester. If it has artifacts then it is overheating. __________________ AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ XFX Geforce 7800GT ABIT AN8-SLI BFG Tech 650w

Jul 8, 2005, 03:59 AM	Thread Starter #14
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	okay ill post back in 30 or so min

Jul 8, 2005, 04:00 AM	Thread Starter #15
LavanVonarx DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 9 Rep Power: 0	yeah it has a lot of artifacts diff numbers and stuff you want specifics?......wait maybe not. i clicked show 3d render then scan for artifacts no artifacts for 40 sec and still going.

Aug 27, 2005, 06:48 AM	#16
llamablaster DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	hey guys i ordered the same laptop from ibuypower as LavanVonarx and i have the same problem as you, the whole old driver when trying halflife2 and i went to the site with the mod tool, used that and itstalled drivers but i still have random blotches that appear while playing. you guys havn't posted in awhile so maybe you found a solution or maybe even a new driver for the ati mobility 9700 thanks

Aug 27, 2005, 04:43 PM	#17
thegave -=[DHzer0point Team]=- Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 96 Rep Power: 0	which drivers did you guys use with the modtools? have you tried using the modtool to install the latest official 5.8 catalysts? I think ATI's official Mobility Catalysts now natively support the MR9600/9700. if not, you guys can try some other great modified drivers such as the omega ATI drivers, www.omegadrivers.net or the dhzeropoint drivers www.dhzeropoint.net

Sep 13, 2005, 03:26 PM	#18
Cardano DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	ansers and fix, kinda Goog! Just wrote a indepth reply witha ll kinds of info, and IE deleted it. Short Version: It's a power problem, not a drover problem. You pimped out the lappy more than it's power supply can handle. Fix: Get CD hacks for your games, Press slide button on back of lappy and remove ROM drive, boot up, play games. Voila, no more gliches. I'm going to try some power management programs later, but I just figured it out today and passed it along. Runnning the same computer you are, to a T, with current Omega drivers. Now after the frustration is over, pleased with the performance. Hope it works for you!

Oct 18, 2005, 09:25 PM	#19
Ballakin DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	I have the same laptop down to a "t" and have the same exact problem. IBUYPOWER.com's tech support is horrible and they just ran me around in circles with the same driver. I've tried the latests and greatest from ATI, but nothing worked. I am testing the power supply issue as soon as I can and I will post an update ASAP. EDIT1: Alright, I just remembered that I don't even use my DVD-ROM drive to play World of Warcraft and I still get artifacts, but I get them in Battlefield 2 also, where I do use the CD. So I'm not really sure what to do.

Oct 19, 2005, 04:53 PM	#20
thegave -=[DHzer0point Team]=- Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 96 Rep Power: 0	think you could grab some screenshots of the artifacting? it could be heat issues caused by sub-par dissipation which wouldn't be surprising coming from ibp. might need to think about as5-ing the cpu and gpu cores. or check to see if the fan vents are clear of dust