ATI grey screen freeze

[Heroxoot]

Ok this is the third time, but the first time ever for W7. I build this pc from scratch, and once in a while I leave a game running, and find out later the screen is gray and I have to press the reset button. I don't think its a hardware issue. Happened when I afked in an RPG selling stuff in my shop. Google links seem to lead to drivers so I thought I'd ask here if anyone knows why this happens?

The 2 other times I was playing Counter strike: Source. Using 9.12 Cat drivers from my DVD that came with it.

 

[sygnus21]

and once in a while I leave a game running, and find out later the screen is gray and I have to press the reset button.

Not sure what you mean when you say "I leave a game running" but...

Does this happen while you're playing the game? Or only when you leave it running for awhile?

If you're actually leaving the game running while away from the computer, that could be your grey screen problem.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your statement?

 

[Heroxoot]

Its an RPG. In order to vend or run a shop, you leave the game running with the character sitting in place with the shop window above his head. Its a normal thing for most MMORPGs. Anyway, I think its VPU. In 9.12 ccc they just keep it on. I switched to 10.3 and I think it just uses it as you need. I googled around and the only 2 things for the grey screen of death was, a hotfix for 5xxx series cards, and VPU causing it to crash or something. Not sure.

 

[sygnus21]

a hotfix for 5xxx series cards, and VPU causing it to crash or something. Not sure.

This is the hotfix you're talking about (GPU54ATICatalyst101), but it applies to the 5800 series cards, not the 4800 series. I suppose you could give it a try, but they're older drivers and probably wouldn't do anything for your card.

Have you checked for over heating problems seeing how you leave the game running for long periods of time? Maybe you ought to consider some type of cooling solution, even if it involves leaving a side panel off the case.

 

[Heroxoot]

a hotfix for 5xxx series cards, and VPU causing it to crash or something. Not sure.

This is the hotfix you're talking about (GPU54ATICatalyst101), but it applies to the 5800 series cards, not the 4800 series. I suppose you could give it a try, but they're older drivers and probably wouldn't do anything for your card.

Have you checked for over heating problems seeing how you leave the game running for long periods of time? Maybe you ought to consider some type of cooling solution, even if it involves leaving a side panel off the case.

My room is indeed quite hot, but I have yet to see this card ever crack above 60c. It almost always stays at 50 - 55c when at max load with a game like, SF4 or GTA4. GTA4 has some massive load for games, I must say, but I also use AA/AF 8x in SF4 and it has never crashed. It has crashed during Counter strike: Source, and afk selling in an RPG called Lunia. The first time it ever happened, I was watching anime and left CSS running on the title screen. I'm unsure if that hotfix could help seeing as its for the 5xxx series cards. I am currently on the newest 10.3 CCC which is supposed to fix grey screens for the 5xxx, so I think it may help my 4850 as well.

It has only eve crashed 3 times. First like I said, then while playing counter strike source (actually in a game), and yesterday morning I woke up and it was a grey screen. I am unsure of the real cause but I don't think its hardware related or it would happen more.

 

[sygnus21]

The fact that you leave that particular game running for long periods, plus the hot room could very well lead to an overheating card since it still has to render that game for long stretches of time. And ATI cards do tend to get hot. Again, consider an alternative cooling solution.

BTW I'm an ATI user (4890) and had a 4850 that I raved about. Great performance for the price and highly recommended for anyone on a budget who's looking for a performance card.

 

[Heroxoot]

This game is very undemanding. I used to play it on an intel 945GM, on an acer aspire ONE. When my room wasnt as hot ( like a week ago sadly) it could berally break 40c on temps. I don't think its over heating but I am paranoid about the temps so. I was thinking about looking into new heat sink thermal paste anyway, all around. The fan on it is giant and I keep it manually set to 65, or 70% now since its hotter. It stays fairly cool but its still 4c hotter than it should be.

Edit: Here are my current temps

as you can see, they arent much and that game has been idle minimized for hours now. It was running most of today once I switched to 10.3 CCC. I keep it minimized normally to release stress on the gpu anyway. But it has happened randomly even when the temps arent high. It could just be the drivers. The newest CCC are made to fix the grey screen for 5xxx series, it could help the 4800 series as well, unless I am the only person alive to get this issue. It doesnt happen often, but id like it to never happen at all.

 

[sygnus21]

I understand what you're saying; the game isn't as demanding as say Crysis or the other games you mentioned - SF4 or GTA4. GTA4. I get it. However, the longer you leave that game running, the hotter the card gets.

What I'm saying is even though those games are more demanding, you're still not pushing your card like you are with leaving your RPG game running for "longer" periods of time.

Here's a question???...

What’s uses more resources? A hundred pounds of metal, or a hundred pounds of feathers?

That's my point!

Am I 100 percent sure, no, it's just an educated guess. You could very well have something else going on. I'd at least give my suggestion a try before going to other or possibly more extreme measures; but that's your decision.

 

[Heroxoot]

I understand what you're saying; the game isn't as demanding as say Crysis or the other games you mentioned - SF4 or GTA4. GTA4. I get it. However, the longer you leave that game running, the hotter the card gets.

What I'm saying is even though those games are more demanding, you're still not pushing your card like you are with leaving your RPG game running for "longer" periods of time.

Here's a question???...

What’s uses more resources? A hundred pounds of metal, or a hundred pounds of feathers?

That's my point!

Am I 100 percent sure, no, it's just an educated guess. You could very well have something else going on. I'd at least give my suggestion a try before going to other or possibly more extreme measures; but that's your decision.

How is it getting hotter if the temp is stable? Ok, if you think its lockup due to too much heat, I can understand, but 50c should not over heat a gfx card of today. I do understand how heat bottling can cause it to mess up. I used to use a netbook for CSS and too much heat would cause it to bsod and some kind of crash. Maybe thats the issue? I'll just let it rest then :3

 

[sygnus21]

Sorry. I have no further suggestions.

Peace

 

[Heroxoot]

Sorry. I have no further suggestions.

Peace

Well since you think its heat, I tested it with furmark and it handles well under pressure. As for constantly rendering the same image, again I minimize it making gpu load 0, nothing to render. My place is hot, so I been turning it off during the day while im out, and leaving it up at night since its much cooler. I also cleaned the dust from the fan. I am not quite sure how its getting hotter if the temp is stable. The hottest I let it get was 65c but it kept dropping between 60 and 63 for about 3 minutes, and then I got bored of the fur ring spinning :| This was a stability test.

 

[Fumz]

In all likelihood it's just another ATI driver bug and there's probably nothing you can do about it except wait for another release? That the card is able to loop futurmark without overheating probably means it's not a temp thing. I realize the 10.3 cats are supposed to be a great improvement over previous driver versions, but, they're really not. Yes, some issues are resolved... others, not so much.

Known Issues For All Windows Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under all Windows operating system in the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:

• Loading time between maps in "Battlefield 2: Bad Company" may be long​
• [Catalyst Control Center] Changing to deinterlace mode may default to adaptive deinterlace mode instead when playing videos​
• Pressing the "Page Down" button while configuring the last display in Eyefinity group may cause the bezel user interface to close instead of switching to the next display​
• Desktop mouse cursor may intermittently appear enlarged​
• Utilizing hardware shaders (perfect mode) may cause text to become corrupted and unreadable while loading any mission in "IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946" game​

Known Issues under the Windows 7 Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows 7 operating system in the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:

• Black video may appear on one monitor when switching to clone mode during Bluray playback on PowerDVD​
• Green video may be visible in the beginning during AVCHD content playback with PowerDVD 9​
• Alt-Tabbing to desktop and back into "Mass Effect 2" game may cause the display to go black​
• Display may flash black when high settings of 19x12 are applied to in-game settings for "Dawn of War 2"​
• Catalyst Control Center might not remember the position of fourth monitor in Eyefinity group​
• Video corruption might be visible when watching live HD Jade Channel (Hong Kong) with Windows Media Center​
• Changing in-game resolution in "Alien vs. Predator" may result in screen flickering under Multi-GPU configuration; relaunching game will resolve issue​
• In-game anti-alias might fail to apply when other in-game options like Volumetric Effects are enabled in "Empire: Total War" and "Napoleon: Total War" games​
• Flashing black block corruption may be visible in "Battlefield 2: Bad Company" on some ASICs​
• Intermittent flickering and flashing textures may be visible in "Battlefield 2: Bad Company" on some ASICs​
• In-game V-sync option might not function in "Battlefield 2: Bad Company" until resolution/refresh rate mode change​

Probably not the only issues still unresolved, just the major issues still unresolved...
http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/1810-latest-ati-catalyst-driver-windows-7-a.html

 

[sygnus21]

You can always check here to see what's up with ATI's drivers - CATALYST Drivers - Rage3D Discussion Area

 

[Heroxoot]

Yea, I upgraded to 10.3 after it happened. I also dropped the clock from 700mhz back to the stock 650mhz. I OC'd in the CCC thinking it wouldnt cause harm if ATI let me do it them self. Maybe I'm wrong? No grey screen yet, and it has been given a run for its money. Been playing GTA4, and I must say that game can really let rip on the GPUs load. Yea its not crysis, ooooooh, but that game is hardware intense still.