Ok so basically I built a new computer a few weeks ago and it was great! The problem is, the comp decides to freeze, a lot. It hardly happened at all during the first 2 weeks, just once randomly when I was surfing the net. However, in the past week it has been freezing A LOT. The screen would go black with grey stripes and a heavy sort of freezing noise (can't think of another way to describe it) would occur. It would then come up with a blue screen and say that Windows had encountered a problem and needed to reboot. Upon logging back in, it would ask if I wanted to troubleshoot the system. This is what it comes up with: Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1 Locale ID: 3081 Additional information about the problem: BCCode: 7f BCP1: 0000000000000008 BCP2: 0000000080050031 BCP3: 00000000000006F8 BCP4: FFFFF80002C81EC0 OS Version: 6_1_7600 Service Pack: 0_0 Product: 256_1 Files that help describe the problem: C:\Windows\Minidump\090810-23649-01.dmp C:\Users\Alessandro\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-53367-0.sysdata.xml Everything is brand spanking new and I don't really do much on it at the moment, just surf, listen to iTunes & play Starcraft 2. It MOSTLY happens when I play sc2, pretty much 90% of the lockups that I've had have been then. Occasionally, after freezing and then rebooting, the fan on the card would go psycho (like it's running at full speed) but I wasn't sure why? Even after hours of playing sc2 at the highest settings, the card would be whisper quiet. I wasn't sure what was going on, although when I went into Catalyst and clicked on 'restore factory defaults' the fan would return to normal speed and would go back to being whisper quiet. It happens most of the time after it reboots after a lockup and then goes back to normal after I return it to the default settings. Anyways, these are my Specs: Intel Core i7 960 3.2Ghz LGA1366 CPU Gigabyte X58A-UD3R LGA1366 DDR3 Motherboard Seasonic X-650 Gold 80Plus Gold Power Supply Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 65bit OEM G.Skill-Trident 6GB Kit (2Gx3) DDR3 2000 RAM Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 5970 Now I know a lot of people have been having trouble with this card. Some people think it's a problem with the drivers, some think it's a problem with my memory & someone even said the card might be faulty.. Everyone seems to have a specific problem though, I just wanna know what mine is so I can get rid of it!
Thankyou for the reply =) I'm not the most techy (and I apologise) but I'm assuming I do everything in the first section? Just a question also, the card seems to get veryyyyy hot at times, is that dangerous for the machine?
Check your temps using GPU-Z I wouldn't want my GPU cores to go above 90C or the VRM to go above 100c otherwise the card is going to start throttling down. Anyway, just read through the thread and that will will help you to get a better picture of what to expect. Cheers, Simon.
It's pretty long but I'll go through it and report back =) Thanx Simon Edit - So after reading through the thread I suppose I need get my original vbios and save them to my desktop (then a usb stick) just in case something goes wrong and it turns out my card is faulty?
Also, just got GPU-Z and looking at the specs, the temp is 42C. Assuming this skyrockets when I play a game though..
GPU-Z has a 'log-to-file' function under the 'sensors' tab. Ticking this will make the program log temperatures over time into a text file, so that you can review them later. MSI afterburner can be handy too - it graphs temps and GPU usage over time. Game with it running, then drop out to the desktop after a few minutes. You should be able to see the temps you had while playing.
Lately the comp has been starting up and then the fan will blitz again, probably around 75% fan speed, which doesn't really bother me because it's been keeping the temp down, but it's strange because it does it randomly =S NOW, just before I attempt the fix, when I logged on this morning, I got a few PC issue warnings. Funnily enough, - Check for solutions to problems (those being the bluescreens) Windows Problem: Video hardware error Files that help describe the problem: WD-20100826-1351.dmp sysdata.xml WERInternalMetadata.xml View a temporary copy of these files Warning: If a virus or other security threat caused the problem, opening a copy of the files could harm your computer. Windows Problem: Video hardware error Files that help describe the problem: WD-20100905-1457.dmp sysdata.xml WERInternalMetadata.xml View a temporary copy of these files Warning: If a virus or other security threat caused the problem, opening a copy of the files could harm your computer. - Address a problem with ATI Graphics Driver, and - Install your video card driver Could it be that windows has FINALLY detected that there's a god damn problem with this thing and has now tried to correct it?? Either way, would you recommend I still attempt the fix now or?
If you are still getting problems, then I would use the vbios update which will fix your problems. Simon.
Yeah figured that was what I'd have to do. Just a few quick questions, and again I'm sorry if you've mentioned this about 50 times already. - How do I copy my original vbios files to a usb just in case something goes wrong? - Do I have to use a separate usb for the original vbios files and the new ones? - How exactly do I clear everything from the card? Do I manually uninstall everything from the control panel (add/remove programs) THEN use the drive sweeper program? -Then finally, what else do I need to do? Thankyou for your continued help =) Edit - a LOT of people seem to be having trouble with things like, flashing the slave to the master & vice versa. Can you provide me with some details to make sure I don't end up doing that because it seems to cause a huge hassle lol
Just follow his guide mate. That's got everything you'll need to know in it. No direction required, only eyes for reading
I'm just a little worried I haven't done everything correctly! I downloaded the Powerpoint on how to make a bootable flash drive and it's pretty self explanitory. Just a few questions before I actually get this finally happening: - Step 9-10 states that I reboot with the usb stick attached. It then asks me to go into the motherboard bios settings and proceed to flash the comp. But in his first post it states that I need to type the following when I'm in pure DOS mode: atiflash -p 0 C0001OCM.AC1 -f atiflash -p 1 C0001OCS.AC1 -f So do which do I do first? Follow the powerpoint and THEN type those commands in DOS mode? Or do I do it the other way around? I'm also confused as to how I check to see which is my master and slave (just in case it's different). I know that I have to clear the display drivers prior to doing all of this using driver sweeper, and THEN re-install the vbios located in post #1. But do I use the ati flash tool for something else or =S I apologise, I'm just a little confused! Can someone clear it up for me, step by step =)
After making a DOS bootable USB drive, and adding the 2 vbios + Atiflash tools to your USB stick. You then reboot into Pure DOS (To enter pure DOS from your USB is to make your USB first boot from your motherboard Bios. Now that you are in pure DOS, type atiflash -i Now that command will tell you which GPU is Master and which is Slave by 0 and 1. So if Master is 0 and slave is 1. C0001OCM.AC1 -f is Master vbios. C0001OCS.AC1 is Slave vbios. You can now type the following commands, atiflash -p 0 C0001OCM.AC1 -f Then once that is completed Now type this to flash the Slave vbios. atiflash -p 1 C0001OCS.AC1 -f Once that has flashed, you can now reboot. Hope this helps you out. Cheers, Simon.
You're really gonna hate me because I just have to ask a few more haha =) In your topic, it states that I have to download the atiflashtool (but that's already covered in the powerpoint presentation) so I'm pretty sure I don't need to do that.. At the moment, my usb has these files on it (as per the guide): atiflash.chg atiflash flash S3C00001.OC8 S3C00001.OC9 NOW, do I need to add the vbois files to the usb stick also? ie C0001OCM.AC1 and C0001OCS.AC1?? Then once all that has been cleared up, I'm assuming I don't do the last few steps on the guide (steps 10-15) because that gets covered when I reboot with the usb stick in (thus in DOS mode) and then I just follow the commands you listed and it should be done? THEN after all that is done, do I have to re-install the drivers or? I'm REALLY sorry, it just takes me awhile to understand this kind of stuff =(
The files on your USB are correct. Now add the 2 vbios files C0001OCM.AC1 and C0001OCS.AC1. Now go into DOS and type the commands stated above in the other post from me. After you have flashed, you can now reboot and now reinstall the new drivers. Cheers, Simon.
Unfortunately, the comp booted normally. I tried reformatting the usb again and followed all of the steps also, but the comp continues to boot as normal?
This is because you need to go into your motherboard bios and change first boot from your HDD to your USB drive. Then your PC will boot from your USB stick, It will show up Windows 95 logo then it will go straight to a black screen which is Pure DOS. this is where you will first type the command atiflash -i which will tell you which GPU is Master/Slave by 0 and 1. So lets say after you type atiflash -i and it comes back with, 0 master. 1 slave. Now you will know how to type the flash command ie atiflash -p 0 C000OCM.AC1 -f The 0 after the -p is telling the program which gpu it is flashing. So if you type the command atiflash-i and it tells you your master is 1 and your slave is 0, you will type the command like this, atiflash -p 1 C000OCM.AC1 -f then after that has completed you will type, atiflash -p 0 C000OCS.AC1 -f. Note; you always flash your Master GPU first. The S or M in the bios line is indicating M for master vbios and S for slave vbios. I hope this has cleared this up for you. Cheers, Simon.
