Sapphire HD4850 Vertical lines / Freezing Problem

ing0c0

Junior Member
Apr 21, 2005
12
0
0
I recently just purchased a new computer and needed to upgrade the stock video card. I got a Sapphire HD4850 but have only been having problems with it from day one.

Problem: The card itself seems to work fine only when I am not playing a game (Borderlands, Mass Effect 2, etc.). When in game, the card will freeze but I don't exactly know what is causing this. So far, the freezing seemed to be random, however, in Mass Effect 2, whenever I enter a particular room the game will always freeze. To be a little more specific, my screen will have vertical lines (I'm aware of the 5XXX series issue) and the last bit of sound will repeat in a loop.

What I have tried:
1) I personally believe that this is NOT a power issue although I may be wrong. So far I have tried the video card in three different systems with the same results. The current system the card is running in is 350W. I have tried it in another 350W system, 450W system, and I have also powered it using a 550W PSU.
2) I have reformatted my system once already.
3) At first I thought the issue was overheating, but I no longer think it is. The card will freeze within one to two minutes (or more depending on the game) upon gameplay, but I have run Furmark (stability) for more than ten minutes without a problem. I have also tried leaving the side panel open, but the freezes do not seem to take any longer.

Other notes:
1) I am currently running the latest drivers (10.1) with the same problem. Again, it will only occur when I play games, but not when I run Furmark.
2) After installing the 10.1 drivers on the 450W system (Windows 7 32-bit) and trying to refresh the Windows Experience Index I get a BSOD with MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error. However, the current 350W system (Windows 7 64-bit) with the 10.1 drivers has no problem refreshing the Windows Experience Index.

I would like to try and fix this issue without having to RMA the card as it will cost me an additional $15 for processing and I have to pay for return shipping as well. I'm sure I have left out details as to other things I have tried, but at the moment I cannot recall them. Any help or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advanced.

System:
Dell Studio XPS 8000
Intel i7-860
3GB (3 x 1GB) DDR3 RAM
Sapphire Radeon HD4850
Windows 7 (64-bit)
 

Zstream

Diamond Member
Oct 24, 2005
3,396
277
136
Take one stick of memory out and try it. Try it again with the other one removed.
 

ing0c0

Junior Member
Apr 21, 2005
12
0
0
Take one stick of memory out and try it. Try it again with the other one removed.

Tried it will all combinations with the same results. Now that I think of it, I may try adding one more stick of RAM.

On another note, that one particular area in Mass Effect 2 that I would always freeze, I was able to pass but under a much lower resolution but did not test any further. My native resolution is 1600x1200 and the resolution that I was able to pass on was 1280x960.