Nvidia's version of the 6850

[choliscott]

Hi Everyone,

I currently have an AMD HD 6850 black edition. I am currently having problems (getting blue screen about once a day) where it's saying the issues is with the ATI drivers.

I was going to try another video card & was thinking of trying a Nvidia card. What card on the Nvidia side would be about the same as the 6850?

I could try another 6850, but if I'm having driver issues, would I have the same issue with another version of an AMD/ATI card or have any of you purchased a different version of the same model card, & that seemed to fix the problem?

From what I could tell & I could be wrong, that the GTX-460 is slightly worst, while the 470, is better

I know I can claim warranty, but don't want to deal with waiting for a replacement & I was also going to try putting this into another computer & see how it works in that.

Thanks

 

[Stuka87]

I think you need to wipe your drivers off and do a fresh install of more recent drivers. Its possible there is a hardware issue with your card. But best to check drivers before going and spending a bunch of money when you may not have needed too.

If you wanted to go nVidia, go for a 560Ti. They can be had for a pretty decent price these days.

If you have another machine to test with, I would do that. As its possible its an issue with your machine and not the card.

 

[sandorski]

I think you need to wipe your drivers off and do a fresh install of more recent drivers. Its possible there is a hardware issue with your card. But best to check drivers before going and spending a bunch of money when you may not have needed too.

If you wanted to go nVidia, go for a 560Ti. They can be had for a pretty decent price these days.

If you have another machine to test with, I would do that. As its possible its an issue with your machine and not the card.

Agreed.

It's not the "Drivers" causing the issue, but something else. Before spending $, figure out what the problem is first, as it's possible the next Vid card will have the same issue.

 

[choliscott]

The problem is I can do a fresh install of Windows and have the same problem, so not sure how wiping the drivers would help, when I'm assuming that reformatting and reinstalling windows would clear all drivers

I think you need to wipe your drivers off and do a fresh install of more recent drivers. Its possible there is a hardware issue with your card. But best to check drivers before going and spending a bunch of money when you may not have needed too.

If you wanted to go nVidia, go for a 560Ti. They can be had for a pretty decent price these days.

If you have another machine to test with, I would do that. As its possible its an issue with your machine and not the card.

 

[Keysplayr]

The problem is I can do a fresh install of Windows and have the same problem, so not sure how wiping the drivers would help, when I'm assuming that reformatting and reinstalling windows would clear all drivers

You're correct. It would indeed clear all drivers. To make sure it is the card that has the problem and not your mobo, see if you can try your card in another system. Not everybody has this option, I know, but if you can, and do not get the same prob, look into the mobo. If you get the same prob, well of course the card is shot.

 

[DominionSeraph]

AMD drivers may be crap, but they're not, "bluescreen your computer once a day," crap.
Check temps, re-seat card, and if it still bluescreens, make a warranty claim.

 

[nenforcer]

What version of the AMD Catalyst drivers are you running?

 

[choliscott]

12.3 was giving them to me big time. But would still get them with earlier versions.

Currently I'm trying default windows update driver

What version of the AMD Catalyst drivers are you running?

 

[mnewsham]

Sounds like an issue with the card itself (RMA if still under warranty) or some other part of the computer.

 

[steptaker]

Apologize for the threadjack, but how/where do you delete the old drivers from?

 

[hyrule4927]

6850 performance should be somewhere between the 460 and 560 to my knowledge. Although if you're going to get a new card anyway, you might as well go for a performance boost too . . . lots of good deals on 480's right now.

 

[Keysplayr]

12.3 was giving them to me big time. But would still get them with earlier versions.

Currently I'm trying default windows update driver

Probably the worst thing you could ever do.

 

[choliscott]

I hear you, but it seems just about every driver especially recent ones, I have the same issue.

With 12.3, it was really bad, previous versions it still happened just more spaced apart (timing)

I forgot to mention, I'm using the default ATI 6850 drivers from MS update, not the default VGA drivers.

Probably the worst thing you could ever do.

 

[Keysplayr]

Try and reseat the card. Try different PCI-e power connectors if available from your PSU.
Lastly, try the card in another rig. RMA the card if it's still under warranty. I all fails you, and your original question was what is the Nvidia equivilent to 6950. That would be a GTX560Ti.

 

[choliscott]

My card is the 6850 not the 6950

Does that change the card model you mentioned?

Try and reseat the card. Try different PCI-e power connectors if available from your PSU.
Lastly, try the card in another rig. RMA the card if it's still under warranty. I all fails you, and your original question was what is the Nvidia equivilent to 6950. That would be a GTX560Ti.

 

[azeem40]

The NVIDIA equivalent to the 6850 is the 560.

 

[blckgrffn]

Power supply.

Nearly always the culprit with weird crap like this, in my experience.

Honestly, if I were you, I'd stop even powering that thing on until you can test a known good PSU (or new)... in there. Yep, really.

One of my crunchers was just like this last week. A shiny new ECO 620 and it is rocking without any issues now.

 

[choliscott]

This is my current power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371044

What I have in my system besides what i have in my signature line is Blue ray burner, 4 sata HD's & a SSD drive.

Besides getting the BSOD occasionally due to the video, everything else has been running fine.

I did forget to put the error in my original post.. It's atikmpag.sys

Power supply.

Nearly always the culprit with weird crap like this, in my experience.

Honestly, if I were you, I'd stop even powering that thing on until you can test a known good PSU (or new)... in there. Yep, really.

One of my crunchers was just like this last week. A shiny new ECO 620 and it is rocking without any issues now.

 

[blckgrffn]

This is my current power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371044

What I have in my system besides what i have in my signature line is Blue ray burner, 4 sata HD's & a SSD drive.

Besides getting the BSOD occasionally due to the video, everything else has been running fine.

I did forget to put the error in my original post.. It's atikmpag.sys

I've had Earthwatts go bad. *shrug*

Your video card has one of the highest draws on a very specific part of the power supply. It could very easily be enough to tip the balance.

Again, weird freezes and erratic behavior (ie, bluescreens) are often PSU's on their way out.

Continuing to use a PSU in that state could ruin your current hardware, FYI.

PSU's are way cheaper than graphics cards, anwyay....

Since you've done a clean re-install of Windows, you've pretty much narrowed it down to hardware. A PSU is way more likely to go bad than a video card.

 

[choliscott]

You are correct as far as pricing goes (Power Supplies & Video Cards). I looked that the price of the 560 TI & it was outside of the range I usually like to pay for video cards.

I can go & see about getting a new power supply, in fact, I was probably going to get a new one anyways, as I want a modular one.

What wattage would you recommend & which brand?

I've had Earthwatts go bad. *shrug*

Your video card has one of the highest draws on a very specific part of the power supply. It could very easily be enough to tip the balance.

Again, weird freezes and erratic behavior (ie, bluescreens) are often PSU's on their way out.

Continuing to use a PSU in that state could ruin your current hardware, FYI.

PSU's are way cheaper than graphics cards, anwyay....

Since you've done a clean re-install of Windows, you've pretty much narrowed it down to hardware. A PSU is way more likely to go bad than a video card.

 

[Keysplayr]

Ah, 6850.
Might try a GTX460.

 

[blckgrffn]

You are correct as far as pricing goes (Power Supplies & Video Cards). I looked that the price of the 560 TI & it was outside of the range I usually like to pay for video cards.

I can go & see about getting a new power supply, in fact, I was probably going to get a new one anyways, as I want a modular one.

What wattage would you recommend & which brand?

I would sail for North of 600W if I were you, the Antec Neo is a good choice. If you are wondering, I figure that by aiming for using about 50% of what the PSU is rated for. That gives you 300W under load at great efficiency.

Really, anything that is Seasonic under the hood is solid choice. This includes XFX and Corsair (I think?). Or straight up Seasonic

 

[KompuKare]

What I have in my system besides what i have in my signature line is Blue ray burner, 4 sata HD's & a SSD drive.

Are you not better off trying your system with the optical and HDDs disconnected and using just the SSD? If the PSU is just borderline at not giving enough juice, temporarilty removing those should give you more 12V. Although looking at
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=110
it seems the PCIe connectors are on 12V3 and SATA and molex on 12V2.
According to actual measured usage, a 6850 uses around 120W at load so 10A - only some of that is PCIe connector so if you have a molex to PCIe adapter you can try powering it from 12V2. Worth a go: quick and costs you nothing.

 

[choliscott]

I could try this, but the problem being is not sure when I would get the BSOD. When i installed 12.3 version of the drivers, it came about once a day, before it would a week or two apart & I do need to be able to access what it on the drives.

One thing that I read when I was researching the BSOD msg (Atipmag.sys), was a couple people mentioned not to install CCC, which I am trying with 12.3 & so far it seems to be working (knock on wood)

Are you not better off trying your system with the optical and HDDs disconnected and using just the SSD? If the PSU is just borderline at not giving enough juice, temporarilty removing those should give you more 12V. Although looking at
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=110
it seems the PCIe connectors are on 12V3 and SATA and molex on 12V2.
According to actual measured usage, a 6850 uses around 120W at load so 10A - only some of that is PCIe connector so if you have a molex to PCIe adapter you can try powering it from 12V2. Worth a go: quick and costs you nothing.

 

[BoFox]

Ah, 6850.
Might try a GTX460.

Many different versions of GTX 460!!! It can be so confusing - I personally dislike Nvidia's method of quietly releasing GTX 460 v2 which has only 192-bit bus (actually ending up slower overall, trying to go unnoticed). It also has this strange memory configuration like with GTX 550 -
Techreport shows the stuttering issues on GTX 550 where there could be some bandwidth or buffer scheduling/management issues.

Check out the link in my sig -
and for more on the GTX 550 (and very likely GTX 460 1GB w/ 192-bit "trick"):
http://alienbabeltech.com/abt/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21797&start=230#p59879
http://alienbabeltech.com/abt/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21797&start=220#p59428

Now you're fore-warned - I'd stay away from these cards!