Random Blue screen AMD Radeon 8970

Any steps given would likely void the warranty.
How about using the warranty of the laptop instead and get it checked by the people you got it from.

Okay I will post in a while.
If I haven't replied over 24 hours, you may bump the thread.

Consulted with a friend who said:

Arc - Thu, 03 Oct 2013 11:36:40 -0600 said:

You may downgrade to catalyst 13.4 WHQL, as a test. But the issue is about switchable graphics. Most obvious, but you have paid a high lot for it

If it is the same with 13.4 too, either clean reinstall disabling onboard graphics, or RMA :)

KouroshT said:

Hi Koolkat
I do not think its a driver issue

Nothing matters about what you think. Apparently it is a driver issue.

KouroshT said:

All of which worked seeminly fine until an unexpected blue screen.

That is the nature of BSODs. They are unexpected.

KouroshT said:

Did the zip file i attached have nothing in there that shows a possible cause of the blue screens? or be conflicting with the graphics card swtich.

The suggestion you have already got is based on the zip that you uploaded. To alter the graphics driver. It is failing and causing the BSODs.

Code:

BugCheck A, {fffffb4006fcc278, 2, 1, fffff800033f4427}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmdag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+b29e6 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

Despite of being the latest version.

Code:

fffff880`0f26d000 fffff880`0fed5000   atikmdag T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: atikmdag.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmdag.sys
    Image name: atikmdag.sys
    Timestamp:        Thu Sep 05 12:55:27 2013 (522831E7)
    CheckSum:         00C20AB3
    ImageSize:        00C68000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

So, you were rightly suggested to shift to a known stable version. Excellent analysis, koolkat77!

You have a dual graphics environment.

Code:

Name    Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
Driver    c:\windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys (8.14.1.6347, 603.50 KB (617,984 bytes), 05/09/2013 07:33)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name    AMD Radeon(TM) HD8970M
Driver    c:\windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys (8.14.1.6347, 603.50 KB (617,984 bytes), 05/09/2013 07:33)

You can see that both the graphics adapters are controlled by the same driver. Now, it is making the situation even more troublesome. When it switches the GPU, the driver fails. To us, it is a very common scenario. It happens with such a set-up. That is a feature for which you paid more.

Either RMA the computer, or perform a Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 with the integrated GPU (Intel) disabled.

As it is issuing the same with multiple versions of the display driver, no other way is left there. ▼

KouroshT said:

i have tried the driver that is supplied with the laptop and also the newest one and a few of the others in between. All of which worked seeminly fine until an unexpected blue screen.

Actually we are not ready to accept that our hardware, our software, our configuration etc can fail. But the BSODs are not aliens ..... those are caused from within our computing environment only.

What is failing there is the hardware, the dedicated GPU. On which it is failing is the driver, the display driver. What makes it fail prone is the configuration .... the switchable graphics environment.

Now, the ball is in your court.