ATI Catalyst 3.8's causing hardware failures?

Saw this at RAGE3D - any truth to them?

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33716791

It says:

First, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to be causing the core to overheat
by between 8 and 12 degrees, which has caused hardware failures
in the cards themselves due to overheating. This did not happen
in any earlier version of the Catalyst drivers.

Second, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to have a bug in some systems
that allows the driver to process the SECONDARY adapter settings
when a game is started and tries to switch to the resolution and
refresh rate specified in the program.

Normally, the card is limited by the INF file settings for the
PRIMARY adapter, so that no resolution or refresh rate is
attempted that is beyond the capability of the monitor hardware.
But in the 3.8's, it seems to be processing the SECONDARY adapter
settings first. In a system without a monitor plugged into the
second adapter, there is no INF file limiting refresh rates and
resolutions, so, the system is trying to force refresh rates and
resolutions beyond what the monitor on the PRIMARY adapter is
capable of.

So instead of having the monitor "flicker" once when it switches
to the desired resolution/refresh, monitors are "flickering"
between 4 and 8 times, with resolutions and refresh rates that
are beyond the capability of the actual monitor.

As a result, some monitors have been damaged, while others have
blinked out and recovered. Some users monitors are under warranty
and can be RMA'd, but for those who don't have a monitor under
warranty, their monitor is damaged and they must buy a new one.

For those lucky enough to have had their monitor survive the
process, dropping back down to an earlier Catalyst seems to solve
the problem completely.

It may be tied to the VPU Recover feature or the built in
Overclocking support, both of which were introduced in Catalyst
3.8, but nobody can seem to get verification from ATI.

My technical opinion.... F*CK the 3.8's!!!! Burn them!!

--
Tony DiMarzio


"Replicant" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:07:45 GMT, "Paul D. Sullivan"
wrote:

Saw this at RAGE3D - any truth to them?

I don't know but I'm uninstalling the 3.8 drivers pronto.

"Paul D. Sullivan" wrote in message
...
Saw this at RAGE3D - any truth to them?

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33716791

It says:

First, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to be causing the core to overheat
by between 8 and 12 degrees, which has caused hardware failures
in the cards themselves due to overheating. This did not happen
in any earlier version of the Catalyst drivers.

That could explain why my system has suddenly started rebooting when playing
games.


Second, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to have a bug in some systems
that allows the driver to process the SECONDARY adapter settings
when a game is started and tries to switch to the resolution and
refresh rate specified in the program.

And that could explain why when I change res in Halo the game picks the
wrong refresh rate.

Note to self. Always stay one step behind in driver revision. 3.7 will be
going on tonight.


Normally, the card is limited by the INF file settings for the
PRIMARY adapter, so that no resolution or refresh rate is
attempted that is beyond the capability of the monitor hardware.
But in the 3.8's, it seems to be processing the SECONDARY adapter
settings first. In a system without a monitor plugged into the
second adapter, there is no INF file limiting refresh rates and
resolutions, so, the system is trying to force refresh rates and
resolutions beyond what the monitor on the PRIMARY adapter is
capable of.

So instead of having the monitor "flicker" once when it switches
to the desired resolution/refresh, monitors are "flickering"
between 4 and 8 times, with resolutions and refresh rates that
are beyond the capability of the actual monitor.

As a result, some monitors have been damaged, while others have
blinked out and recovered. Some users monitors are under warranty
and can be RMA'd, but for those who don't have a monitor under
warranty, their monitor is damaged and they must buy a new one.

For those lucky enough to have had their monitor survive the
process, dropping back down to an earlier Catalyst seems to solve
the problem completely.

It may be tied to the VPU Recover feature or the built in
Overclocking support, both of which were introduced in Catalyst
3.8, but nobody can seem to get verification from ATI.

ATI's first response on Warp2Search has been to blame
soft-modders. But there are more people than soft-modders who
have had their cards fried.

The "Blinking" deal is frying monitors. It cycles through some
half-dozen unsupported refresh rates and resolutions before
trying to lock in the one that works.

That does not happen with Catalyst 3.5.

Must suck losing a monitor because of crappy drivers.

Hi Paul,

thanks for the heads-up. On page 3 of that thread someone
points to a thread on Driverheaven regarding a statement from
ATI if I understand this correctly, but I can't read that
thread as I'm not registered on DH.

I went back to the 3.7 after some brief testing as they seemed
a tad slower than the 3.7's in N2k3 and IL2-FB. Also, the
graphics quality didn't improve any, I wasn't even sure
whether it had perhaps deteriorated a bit in the areas further
away from the viewer.

I didn't see that multiple flicker issue, and I've read others
reporting that the flickering got better for them - I don't
know what to think.
Maybe it works differently on different systems.

Achim




"Paul D. Sullivan" wrote in message
...
Saw this at RAGE3D - any truth to them?


http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthre...eadid=33716791

It says:

First, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to be causing the core to
overheat
by between 8 and 12 degrees, which has caused hardware
failures
in the cards themselves due to overheating. This did not
happen
in any earlier version of the Catalyst drivers.

Second, the Catalyst 3.8's seem to have a bug in some systems
that allows the driver to process the SECONDARY adapter
settings
when a game is started and tries to switch to the resolution
and
refresh rate specified in the program.

Normally, the card is limited by the INF file settings for the
PRIMARY adapter, so that no resolution or refresh rate is
attempted that is beyond the capability of the monitor
hardware.
But in the 3.8's, it seems to be processing the SECONDARY
adapter settings first. In a system without a monitor plugged
into the
second adapter, there is no INF file limiting refresh rates
and resolutions, so, the system is trying to force refresh
rates and resolutions beyond what the monitor on the PRIMARY
adapter is
capable of.

So instead of having the monitor "flicker" once when it
switches
to the desired resolution/refresh, monitors are "flickering"
between 4 and 8 times, with resolutions and refresh rates that
are beyond the capability of the actual monitor.

As a result, some monitors have been damaged, while others
have
blinked out and recovered. Some users monitors are under
warranty
and can be RMA'd, but for those who don't have a monitor under
warranty, their monitor is damaged and they must buy a new
one.

For those lucky enough to have had their monitor survive the
process, dropping back down to an earlier Catalyst seems to
solve
the problem completely.

It may be tied to the VPU Recover feature or the built in
Overclocking support, both of which were introduced in
Catalyst
3.8, but nobody can seem to get verification from ATI.

"Joachim Trensz" wrote in message
...
Hi Paul,

thanks for the heads-up. On page 3 of that thread someone points to a
thread
on Driverheaven regarding a statement from ATI if I understand this
correctly, but I can't read that thread as I'm not registered on DH.

I went back to the 3.7 after some brief testing as they seemed a tad
slower
than the 3.7's in N2k3 and IL2-FB. Also, the graphics quality didn't
improve
any, I wasn't even sure whether it had perhaps deteriorated a bit in the
areas further away from the viewer.

I didn't see that multiple flicker issue, and I've read others reporting
that the flickering got better for them - I don't know what to think.
Maybe it works differently on different systems.

Achim


I just installed a 9800 Pro along with the 3.8 drivers and this talk of the
core overheating and monitor failures is making me nervous. Being a new ATI
user, I gather uninstalling the 3.8 drivers also requires uninstalling the
3.8 Control Panel seeing has the 3.7's has it's own Control Panel. Is this
the correct procedure?

Thanks