Still no downloadable whql 7970 drivers

[Chiropteran]

Yeah, I had to revert back because 12.2/12.3 where not as stable.

What does that even mean? Most people use the word "stable" to indicate a system that isn't crashing, so I am assuming you mean your computer is crashing more often with those drivers. I haven't seen a video card driver related crash in YEARS, and even when I overclock too far worst case is a "video card driver blah blah has failed and restarted".

"Not as stable" seems to imply that even with the "good" drivers you are crashing. Sounds like there is some serious problem with your computer if you are having stability problems. It should be rock solid, we aren't using Windows 95 anymore random crashes should simply never happen.

I don't think my current computer has ever blue-screened, not even once, and I've used every possible driver with my 7970 and overclocked it to 1212mhz until the driver crashed.

2. Corrupted mouse cursor on one screen with 3 displays. - No fix.

That I have seen, I think it was in a game of league of legends. Alt-tab out and back in and it was fixed though. Not a big deal, but I'd like it to never happen.

 

[lavaheadache]

I can't believe AMD didn't even release some kind of performance driver to take some steam away from the GTX 680 release.

My card has been great but I really feel like the card got released and has recieved very little attention from there on out.

 

[mingsoup]

Why does nvidia get all the fancy new Skyrim driver sets. I want my AMD fancy Skyrim driver set. Next GPU is a Nvidia. This is not fun. Hell, I might just sell my dual 6970's and trade in for a 680. I nice new quieted version 680 with adaptive vsync and fancy skyrim drivers. LOVE. I think I just might.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I can't believe AMD didn't even release some kind of performance driver to take some steam away from the GTX 680 release.

My card has been great but I really feel like the card got released and has recieved very little attention from there on out.

The 680 and your nvidia 3d kit are calling your name..

Performance driver? Try being stuck on a gtx 480 LOL! I'd gladly take a 7970 and non performance driver.

 

[Golgatha]

What does that even mean? Most people use the word "stable" to indicate a system that isn't crashing, so I am assuming you mean your computer is crashing more often with those drivers. I haven't seen a video card driver related crash in YEARS, and even when I overclock too far worst case is a "video card driver blah blah has failed and restarted".

"Not as stable" seems to imply that even with the "good" drivers you are crashing. Sounds like there is some serious problem with your computer if you are having stability problems. It should be rock solid, we aren't using Windows 95 anymore random crashes should simply never happen.

I don't think my current computer has ever blue-screened, not even once, and I've used every possible driver with my 7970 and overclocked it to 1212mhz until the driver crashed.

That I have seen, I think it was in a game of league of legends. Alt-tab out and back in and it was fixed though. Not a big deal, but I'd like it to never happen.

Unstable as in the video driver (not the system) crashed a handful of times within a 2 month period, graphical anomalies in games, and the fan speed ramp not working correctly with the WHQL drivers. The system itself is 24/7/365 stable and I brutally test any new system I put together. The system is fine and the video card was to blame period. This is not a new system, it's just a new video card, and the system has been rock solid for nearly 2 years now.

In contrast, nVidia drivers didn't crash (again, video driver crash, not system crash) but maybe 1-2 times in 1.5 years with my old GTX 570 and have yet to crash with my new GTX 680. There were also WHQL drivers available for the GTX 680 on release day. After a couple of weeks of gaming on the GTX 680 with various games, I have yet to experience any issues whatsoever.

I really don't care how good AMD's video card performance is anymore. Their drivers suck ass (I don't care what anyone says at this point...they do suck ass) and AMD apparently doesn't want to or can't afford to devote the proper amount of resources necessary to support their flagship card. When I spend $600 on a luxury product, I expect it to work and work well. AMD dropped the ball plain and simple. nVidia products only in my systems from here on out. I have absolutely no patience with products that don't work as advertised. I don't want to troubleshoot and tweak a computer endlessly. I want to play games on it and have fun. nVidia products allow me to do this without any extra effort needed, aside from maybe tweaking the driver settings from the control panel or in-game.

If I sound bitter, it's because I am. I spent $600 on a product which didn't live up to my expectations, and lost over a hundred dollars sidegrading to a product which does meet my expectations.

 

[lavaheadache]

The 680 and your nvidia 3d kit are calling your name..

Performance driver? Try being stuck on a gtx 480 LOL! I'd gladly take a 7970 and non performance driver.

lol. Yeah the glasses are stowed in their pouch under my U3011, ironic =) I'm sure I will be using Nvidia again. My GTX 285 is in my rig connected to the 120hz screen but I'm too "nervous" to try the 285 since I have only been playing modern games

 

[Chiropteran]

Unstable as in the video driver (not the system) crashed a handful of times within a 2 month period, graphical anomalies in games, and the fan speed ramp not working correctly with the WHQL drivers. The system itself is 24/7/365 stable and I brutally test any new system I put together. The system is fine and the video card was to blame period. This is not a new system, it's just a new video card, and the system has been rock solid for nearly 2 years now.

That isn't normal. Your results do not prove the video card or drivers are at fault. You have left out critical information. What card were you using before you got the 7970. Did you actually remove the old drivers correctly? Did the old driver uninstaller program actually work correctly? Did you prior video card use comparable power levels? Maybe your power supply is too weak and now that it is being pushed it can't handle things. Maybe you actually got a defective card, it happens.

I got my 7970 a month ago. I set it up with 12.2 drivers, later updated to 12.3 drivers. I have never seen a video card driver crash while running it at stock speeds. Only after pushing the card to 1212mhz without bumping voltage did I get a video driver crash. So there is something seriously wrong with either your system or you got a bad card.

PBCK, not the drivers.

 

[Golgatha]

That isn't normal. Your results do not prove the video card or drivers are at fault. You have left out critical information. What card were you using before you got the 7970. Did you actually remove the old drivers correctly? Did the old driver uninstaller program actually work correctly? Did you prior video card use comparable power levels? Maybe your power supply is too weak and now that it is being pushed it can't handle things. Maybe you actually got a defective card, it happens.

I got my 7970 a month ago. I set it up with 12.2 drivers, later updated to 12.3 drivers. I have never seen a video card driver crash while running it at stock speeds. Only after pushing the card to 1212mhz without bumping voltage did I get a video driver crash. So there is something seriously wrong with either your system or you got a bad card.

PBCK, not the drivers.

Yes, it was the drivers. Performed an uninstall + DriverCleaner from safe mode before installing the 7970. This system has had 4850 crossfire, GTX 275 in SLI, 5850 Crossfire, GTX 480, and a GTX 570 in it (and briefly a 7970 in it). 4850 Crossfire was fairly stable, 5850 Crossfire was decently stable as well, although game support was a bit untimely, and a few games had graphical anomalies (prompted the move to GTX 275 in SLI). GTX 275 in SLI, GTX 480, and GTX 570 all ran flawlessly. Really, I've been burned twice in my experiences with AMD's drivers and that's 2 times too many. Not a fanboy of any company's products, but I do highly value a stable system. FWIW I have an 850w single 12V raid Corsair HX Professional series power supply. Ran the GTX 570 with it and both the 7970 and 680 use less power, so yeah, definitely not the power supply either.

 

[pieguy]

My 7950 is being RMA'd to Sapphire because of this issue. My current PC is a new build and since I sent the 7950 back I have been using my old 4830, it works just fine.

I would be very interested to see if the issue goes away with the new card.

My replacement 7950 has been going for over a week now without any problem. It was definitely a problem with my first 7950. I'm referring to the sleep/monitor standby system crashing issue and just wanted to give you an update.

 

[3DVagabond]

My replacement 7950 has been going for over a week now without any problem. It was definitely a problem with my first 7950. I'm referring to the sleep/monitor standby system crashing issue and just wanted to give you an update.

Just curious, I've read (here on these forums) where Sapphire RMA service is really bad. How did you find it? Was it a long wait?

 

[pieguy]

Just curious, I've read (here on these forums) where Sapphire RMA service is really bad. How did you find it? Was it a long wait?

Actually it was really good. It took a couple days of troubleshooting to get tech support to decide an RMA was necessary. Then the RMA request was initialized and processed in one day. After that, the replacement card was delivered 8 business days after I dropped it off at the post office. I only wish the replacement card was a sealed retail package instead of just the card in a static bag.

Sorry about the off topic. More on topic, I'm starting to think that "driver maturity" isn't going to net us much more performance on these cards. It just seems that with the slowness of driver development and AMD's fairly aggressive recent price drops, it probably is what it is.