Maximum PC

I want to play Crysis and FarCry II set to MAX settings at 1920x1080 60Hz. And I want good fps.
I cannot achieve this and I don't understand.
I'm pretty sure I should be able to with this GPU/CPU configuration.
I have the latest drivers for the GPU from AMD.

SPECS:
22" LCD - native 1920x1080 60Hz (HDMI cable used)
Windows 7 64-bit
700W Coolermaster PSU
M4A785TD-M EVO Motherboard
8Gb RAM @ 1333
AMD Phenom II x4 965 BE @ 3.4GHz
ASUS HD6870 DirectCU 1Gb Factory overclocked @ 915/4200

The Catalyst Control Center settings are all default.

Is this what you are getting?

http://www.techspot.com/review/325-amd- ... page6.html

Pink highlight is the 6870

Nasty

(All benchmarks done for 15 min)

Crysis I on MAX settings, full res.
fps:
min.10
avg. 31
max.45

Battlefield Bad Company II on MAX settings, full res.
fps:
min.35
avg.50
max.62

FarCry II on MAX setting, full res.
fps:
min.26
avg.50
max.64

Now looking at these specs you would think it is pretty nice. But it is quite laggy and the quality is inconsistent throughout gameplay.
Perhaps I am anal but I expected this card to be smooth as.

The only thing to do is go Crossfire...

Nasty

really? I did run a OCCT on the GPU for 15 min and it came back with 206 errors.
It could be underperforming

The errors could be due to overclocking if that is the way the card is setup now. If it is, try running stock and see if you get errors. If you do the card may have a bad memory module or two on it.

Nasty

This may sound silly but swap the HDMI cable with a DVI, see if that changes anything.

I purchased this card because it was factory overclocked.
If it cant run stable out of the box then I think I should RMA.
Or do my other components come into play?

My screen only has HDMI sockets. The HDMI cable is connected to a DVI adapter because the GPU only has DVI sockets.

thanks

I would call the video card company and explain the problems you are having with their card. I am willing to bet that they will rma the card and send you a new card in its place.

I never buy over-clocked cards because you can run into crap like this.

Nasty

I sent the card back to the supplier and they tested it without any errors at all. They sent it then to the manufacturer and they also tested without an errors. Once returned I ran crysis and i'm getting artifacts (little camera-like flashes). Is it RAM?

If this card is over-clocked I would clock it down to factory reference card specs and try it. If the artifacts go away the ram on the card can't take the over-clock they did at the retailer end.

Nasty

man that's unfair. wish i'd done a bit more research. thanks nasty for the nasty news

Did you try to clock it down? If so, did the issue go away?

Nasty

I clocked it down and nothing changed. Still getting artifacts. There must be some other component causing this. Both the supplier and manufacturer found no errors.

I am not having fun with this computer. Today i installed windows 7 sp1 and it automatically installed a new driver for the HD6870 1gb video card aswell. I also installed Asus Gamer OSD and the new version of Asus SmartDoctor. Now my windows experience rating for the video card has gone from 7.8 to 5.7. And when i run crysis i get artifacts AND colored artifacts and the game is so glitchy it's unplayable.
The only other thing i can think of is that i pulled out two of my four ram sticks to see how dual ram works. Put them back in and still same problem.

Have you tried dialing down the settings to say a medium setting so that the card isn't having to work as hard?
Also I would say that if you are a squeaky wheel then maybe that will help in this instance sometime finding the right Cus. Ser. Rep. helps a lot.

Go out to AMD/ATI manually and download and install that driver. The Windows defaults are decent, but getting them manually is still better.

Sounds to me like you installed more than one driver . Silly win7 loaded one and you loaded the other, which will give you a corrupt install of the driver.

Download the latest driver from the ATI site for your video card.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

Download Driver Sweeper.

http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

I would pull the internet cable out of the pc to start.

Shut off the anti virus!

Uninstall the driver via the Control Panel, say no to the reboot.

Delete the old ATI driver folder, empty the recycle bin.

Use Driver Sweeper to clean the rest of the driver out of the system, reboot the system.

Shut off the anti-virus.

Install the new driver and restart as prompted.

This will give you a clean install of the driver.

Plug your cable back in and you should be good to go.

Nasty

Thanks Nasty Crysis now plays fine after doing a clean install of CCC. However i'm still getting artifacts at factory settings and clocked down settings;

SmartDoctor
FACTORY: Vcore:1.2, Engine:915, Memory:4200
CLOCKED DOWN: Vcore:1.2 (Won't let me change). Engine:900, Memory: 4000.

Both the manufacturer and supplier said the card is fine.

I would try a different psu. If your present psu is having problems producing enough power to run the video card, it may be failing under high demand. Don't buy one, borrow one if you can first to see if this guess is correct or not.

Nasty