Does AMD/ATI make stable drivers?

[Twinpeaksr]

Just curious, on my 7th version in 3 weeks and still constantly crashing. Wasn't sure if they were testing before shipping or just hopping they would get enough feedback from "field test" to know what is wrong.

I understand the complexity, but this is ridiculous. I look at the testing that we do at work before releasing new software and know that we would never have released this junk.

Just a rhetorical questions, not trying to start a war on video cards, but starting to get really irritated at the crap they are releasing.

 

[Elfear]

Give us more info about your rig and the issues you are having (i.e. which apps are you crashing in, are you overclocking, etc.).

I've been using ATI drivers off and on for the last 6-7 years and haven't had any big issues with them except for the early days of Crossfire. To be fair I also had issues with Nvidia drivers when SLI first arrived on the scene.

 

[Twinpeaksr]

Sure:

Radeon HD 5870 and Adobe Flash

This is the brunt of the problem, given enough time (2 min to 200min) playing any video (media player or flash are all I have tested) causes the display drivers to crash. after 2 to 3 soft crashes I have a hard crash and the system reboots.

1680x1050 x3 Windows 7

With the 3rd monitor now connected I have not found a way to use the correct resolution. to be fair I don't know if this is ATI or Windows (or Viewsonic) but I can't get the proper resolution to show up.

System:
- Asus P5N-D Motherboard
- Gigabyte GV-R587OC-1GD Radeon 5870 Graphics
- 4GB Mushkin PC2-6400 (4-1GB)
- SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme PCI-e
- Corsair 650Watt Power Supply
- Dual Viewsonic VG2230 on DVI, 1 Viewsonic NC2232w on HDMI

Though my post is a bit harsh, I want to be clear that I am sure there are others with similar issues on NVidia, but it just irritates me to no end that I find so many problems.

Thanks for the offer of help, hope there is an answer out there, hard to get things done with a video card that crashes constantly.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

go to your systems folder under the drivers directory. theres a file called ati something click properties on it and give me the date it says on it

 

[Twinpeaksr]

go to your systems folder under the drivers directory. theres a file called ati something click properties on it and give me the date it says on it

ati2erec.dll - 1/4/11
atihdmi.sys 3/9/10
atihdw76 11/17/10
atikmdag.sys 1/4/11
atikmpag.sys 1/4/11

 

[happy medium]

yea sure they do , you just have to wait for the next hotifx.

Rule of thumb, do not upgrade if you don't have to. If its not broke don't try to fix it , it might break something else.

 

[Twinpeaksr]

yea sure they do , you just have to wait for the next hotifx.

Rule of thumb, do not upgrade if you don't have to. If its not broke don't try to fix it , it might break something else.

Solid advice, when I get a version that works I plan to stick with it, any thoughts on what version that would be?

 

[OCGuy]

They are definately in a driver funk right now.

 

[busydude]

Solid advice, when I get a version that works I plan to stick with it, any thoughts on what version that would be?

You said you jumped from 10.4 to 10.11 right? Did you have any issues with 10.4? Also, did you try 10.10e?

 

[Twinpeaksr]

You said you jumped from 10.4 to 10.11 right? Did you have any issues with 10.4? Also, did you try 10.10e?

I installed 11.1 this morning, we will see how it does.
- 10.11 same issue
- 10.12 same issue
- 8.723 (Gigabyte drivers) same issue
- 9.12 (I think) same issue
- 9.8 (I think) same issue
- 10.4 same issue

So far I have not found a version that works reliably. I don't think I have tried 10.10e though. To many versions, the hallmark of poor software testing.

 

[happy medium]

Solid advice, when I get a version that works I plan to stick with it, any thoughts on what version that would be?

I still use the 10.10 drivers, believe it or not. :thumbsup:

I think that was the one that helped my stuttering, crashing, video playback.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Funny thing... I just switched to a 6870 because I was tired of x264 video stuttering and audio sync problems on drivers newer than 258.96 with my GTX 460. I was getting pretty irritated with the NV driver developers. Now everything works perfectly since switching to AMD.

 

[Elfear]

Sure:

Radeon HD 5870 and Adobe Flash

This is the brunt of the problem, given enough time (2 min to 200min) playing any video (media player or flash are all I have tested) causes the display drivers to crash. after 2 to 3 soft crashes I have a hard crash and the system reboots.

1680x1050 x3 Windows 7

With the 3rd monitor now connected I have not found a way to use the correct resolution. to be fair I don't know if this is ATI or Windows (or Viewsonic) but I can't get the proper resolution to show up.

System:
- Asus P5N-D Motherboard
- Gigabyte GV-R587OC-1GD Radeon 5870 Graphics
- 4GB Mushkin PC2-6400 (4-1GB)
- SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme PCI-e
- Corsair 650Watt Power Supply
- Dual Viewsonic VG2230 on DVI, 1 Viewsonic NC2232w on HDMI

Though my post is a bit harsh, I want to be clear that I am sure there are others with similar issues on NVidia, but it just irritates me to no end that I find so many problems.

Thanks for the offer of help, hope there is an answer out there, hard to get things done with a video card that crashes constantly.

That is really strange behavior. I can watch Flash apps just fine on the computer in my sig.

Is your cpu overclocked? It's probably not the issue but it might be worth returning everything to stock just to test that possibility.

Have you used Driver Cleaner when you've updated your drivers? Might be something is stuck in the registry from the older drivers.

 

[Twinpeaksr]

That is really strange behavior. I can watch Flash apps just fine on the computer in my sig.

Is your cpu overclocked? It's probably not the issue but it might be worth returning everything to stock just to test that possibility.

Have you used Driver Cleaner when you've updated your drivers? Might be something is stuck in the registry from the older drivers.

Strange indeed, even more strange is was only flash, the media player problems are more recent.

No overclocking, I am all about stability, which is why I am not happy right now!!

I reinstalled windows with several of the drivers, did not seem to make a difference.

I will try 10.10, anyone have a link to the archive drivers? AMD's site is pissing me off.

 

[happy medium]

Funny thing... I just switched to a 6870 because I was tired of x264 video stuttering and audio sync problems on drivers newer than 258.96 with my GTX 460. I was getting pretty irritated with the NV driver developers. Now everything works perfectly since switching to AMD.

So what driver are you using for your 6870?
10.1,e,f,g,h,i or 11.1 ,e,f,h,i or mabe the classic 12 drivers. ?
We need the one that works. :\:'(

 

[Wreckage]

I installed 11.1 this morning, we will see how it does.

There is an 11.1a hotfix.

 

[busydude]

Other than the occasional game crashes.. I never had an issue with flash video. I sampled every driver from 10.5 and I had no probs what so ever.

I will try 10.10, anyone have a link to the archive drivers? AMD's site is pissing me off.

Download 10.10e here

 

[Twinpeaksr]

Other than the occasional game crashes.. I never had an issue with flash video. I sampled every driver from 10.5 and I had no probs what so ever.

Download 10.10e here

Downloading now. I think electronics hate me, I seem to fail everything!

11.1 has not crashed, but about every 5-15min all the screens flash, I think this is an improvement, but not 100%. If it crashes again, 10.10e is going in next, see if that is the magic number!

 

[busydude]

11.1 has not crashed, but about every 5-15min all the screens flash, I think this is an improvement, but not 100%.

What clock's is your card running at when you playing a video?

 

[Twinpeaksr]

What clock's is your card running at when you playing a video?

Default. Overdrive is enabled but only so that fan is 100% and the card is not cooking at 65C.

GPU Clock is set to 870 and memory at 1200

 

[busydude]

Default. Overdrive is enabled but only so that fan is 100% and the card is not cooking at 65C.

No.. I mean there are different clocks based on the workload. If you have a single monitor the idle clock are 157/300.. if playing a flash video or if you have multiple monitors the clocks should be set at 400/900(?). Clocks of 870/1200 are actually 3D clock speeds(Gaming).

 

[Twinpeaksr]

Got it, yes it is 400/900 currently. 3 monitors running and media player running. same with flash running.

 

[happy medium]

Got it, yes it is 400/900 currently. 3 monitors running and media player running. same with flash running.

OMFG, the drivers still have this problem? I thought this was fixed a while back. My video did the same thing with a dual monitor setup last year, but after 3 months they came out with a fix where they raised the clocks in the driver.

Thats why I told you to use the 10.10 driver, that fixed the problem for me, way back then.:thumbsup:

 

[NoQuarter]

Wait, you are running 3 monitors from the 5870 without using a DisplayPort monitor or adapter? My guess is right there is the issue.

The cards aren't suppose to handle 3 monitors over DVI/HDMI, there aren't enough clock generators for the 3rd monitor. Sometimes you can get by with the 3rd monitor in desktop mode at lower resolution (apparently the TDMS/RAMDAC has just enough juice to sync up a 3rd monitor) but it's not the way it's suppose to be ran.

Try it with 2 monitors, if it stops crashing, go buy a single link active DisplayPort->DVI adapter for about $30.

 

[busydude]

OMFG, the drivers still have this problem? I thought this was fixed a while back. My video did the same thing with a dual monitor setup last year, but after 3 months they came out with a fix where they raised the clocks in the driver.

What are you talking about? I don't see any issue with the clock speeds he posted. Are you reading the same thing as I am?

Wait, you are running 3 monitors from the 5870 without using a DisplayPort monitor or adapter? My guess is right there is the issue.

He is using a passive DP->VGA adapter. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2137964

I think that might be a problem too. OP, can you disconnect the 3rd monitor and check.. if its still crashing?