Odd...my 4850 wont run 100%

[EliteRetard]

This Asus 512MB 4850 has been giving me stupid driver crash errors for a while now (ever since I moved it to a newer better rig)...sometimes it doesnt recover and the computer just freezes or gives me black screen of death. I was playing around with it some more today and I relized I cant get it to go to 100% usage. It hovers from 50-60% usually staying near 56%. This using games or GPU tests like the old ATI-Tool fuzz box. While I was testing I got a black screen o death. Not sure what to make of this new discovery, other than the card is on its last legs. No longer in warrenty either.

If this thing does blow up that will be 1 Nvidia and 1 ATI.

Actually, whats a safe voltage/overclock for this thing? It did come factory overclocked...and while I tried underclocking it I wonder what voltages it should get. I noticed ATI-Tool didnt work with this card so I got some other ATI thing...ATI-Tray? Not sure how to use it yet but there is a voltage thing.

 

[Lonyo]

What temperatures is it running?

 

[EliteRetard]

GPU core idles at 45C...I get about 65c at 56% and Ive run a few more tests and got spike of 90% for the first few seconds, then spikes of 82-90% for a few seconds here and there at 68c. More crashes to grey screen/black screen.

Its interesting...the more CPU I use seems to effect how much GPU I can use. If Ive got the task manager open and fling it around Ill get like 10% CPU usage and my gpu percentage drops some. Not sure if that a coincidence or what.

Got an AMD PhII X3 unlocked to x4 at 3.6GHz 1.45v 4GB DDR3 at 960MHz 1xHDD 1xDVD and the 4850 512MB hooked up to a Corsair ~500 watt unit in an Antec 300 full of fans.

 

[BD231]

4850's are highly voltage limited. If your card is getting extra juice like my XFX 4850 dose then its safe to say you're nowhere over 1.22v, but that's really the most amount of voltage you can hope for unless you're willing to do a pencil mod.

As far as the crashes go, I've only seen those gray screens when I push my clocks to 725. My fan spins up to 100% and actually sounds as if it would spin faster if it could by bouncing between 90 to 100% repeatedly.

Typical clocks would be 625/993 @ 1.1xx v. A safe OC would be 700mhz. Have you cleaned out the cooler? Also, do you have a single slot cooler or a double on your card?

 

[EliteRetard]

Peice of shit copper hunk with no RAM/VRM sinks...no adjustable fan either. Its clocked at 680/1050 from the factory...and I think 1.1v. I have tried underclocking it before and it didnt help. Maybe Ill try undervolting it too.

My main goal is to get the stupid thing to stop crashing, but the fact that I cant get 100% usage out of it was weird enough that I thought Id post. I dont think Ive ever seen that before.

 

[BD231]

Try backing the ram down to 996mhz, I can't OC mine at all without running into problems

 

[EliteRetard]

Weird...underclocked it to 600/900 and 1 or 1.1v did seem to matter. I tried to game and while I can get near 100% CPU usage (on a 3.8Ghz Ph2 X4) only usually get 34-40% GPU in games (I average 56% in heavy games or stress testing). This at 1920x1080 and a variety of settings. Most games will dip into the single digits. I would try a higher resolution but I cant hook it up to my CRT. Tried games like Trine, Defense Grid, Aion (crashes allot), Civilization 3/4, AOE (all), EE (all), Batman AA, HL2, BioShock, COD (all), Deus Ex, Far Cry, Doom 3...uhhh, Mass Effect, Quake (4?), W40K + DOW2, Witcher...ummm COH, SupCom, Grid, Dirt 2, Portal, IL2 1946, Titan Quest, UAW, SS HD (1&2)...yeah pretty much every game I own and can think of (It was fun trying to list them all, I still missed allot).

Aion must be more buggy, it crashes almost every time I use it. Didnt have the problem with other MMOs like Warcraft or Warhammer or Guild Wars.

 

[Absolution75]

Weird...underclocked it to 600/900 and 1 or 1.1v did seem to matter. I tried to game and while I can get near 100% CPU usage (on a 3.8Ghz Ph2 X4) only usually get 34-40% GPU in games (I average 56% in heavy games or stress testing). This at 1920x1080 and a variety of settings. Most games will dip into the single digits. I would try a higher resolution but I cant hook it up to my CRT. Tried games like Trine, Defense Grid, Aion (crashes allot), Civilization 3/4, AOE (all), EE (all), Batman AA, HL2, BioShock, COD (all), Deus Ex, Far Cry, Doom 3...uhhh, Mass Effect, Quake (4?), W40K + DOW2, Witcher...ummm COH, SupCom, Grid, Dirt 2, Portal, IL2 1946, Titan Quest, UAW, SS HD (1&2)...yeah pretty much every game I own and can think of (It was fun trying to list them all, I still missed allot).

Aion must be more buggy, it crashes almost every time I use it. Didnt have the problem with other MMOs like Warcraft or Warhammer or Guild Wars.

This would seem to indicate there are problems elseware on your pc. Near 100% CPU usage isn't really that typical of games. It explains why your GPU isn't getting fed enough data though.

I'd look for a service/program that is hogging all of your CPU power.