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Blue screen

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micker377

Technical User
Jan 15, 2003
3,864
US
Windows 7 Pro - 64 bit. All up to date.
About five months ago, it started "blue-screening" about once a week. Giving an AMDATIXXXX error. I uninstalled the card, and removed the Catalyst drivers to start over. No help. So I pulled the vid card (three month old Radeon HD 4550, and installed an MSI R4550. It lasted a month and blue screened with the same error. So I installed a GForce 9400 GT. It just blue-screened! Since the error messages (yes, I checked them thoroughly in the past), all point at the GPU, what GPU do all of these cards use? Is there a vid card that doesn't use AMD?
Or am I off-base looking at the GPU? I'm starting to wonder if there is something wrong with the motherboard.
BTW, I've been in e-mail contact with Diamond Multimedia since June. I got one response back then asking for the serial number so they could check on the warranty. Well, I sent it in June, and July, and August, and September, and October - no response yet!!!
 
A blue screen can be caused by failing memory. Suggest you run MEMTEST86+ and verify the memory is good as well as going down the "bad video card" road.
 
I'd be surprised if a Gforce card from Nvidia, (Direct Competition to AMD/ATI) would be producing that error. I would also be suprised if you were using the Catalyst Drivers with a Gforce card.

Its possible your Motherboard is an AMD/ATI variety and that's what is causing the error.

Can you post the complete error?

If you've changed the Video card 3 times, and even wen to Gforce its unlikely to be the video card at this point causing that error now.

Test Ram as Goomb points out.

Does the mothewrboard has a built in video card? If it does did you completely remove all the associated drivers for it?







----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech
 
No built in video.
Checked memory when this all started in June.
Removed Catalyst drivers.
Mobo worked fine for a couple of years, problem just started in June.
I'll put the HD 6670 back in (blue-screens once a week!), in a couple of days I'll be able to send a complete error message!
 
So I installed a GForce 9400 GT. It just blue-screened!

Are you sure the blue screen error was the same while the GeForce card was installed? If so, then perhaps it is referring to a different component (which is what vacunita was getting at). In addition to the error code, post more information on your hardware (e.g., motherboard make/model, CPU, RAM make/model/speed).



-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

[tab][navy]For this site's posting policies, click [/navy]here.
 
I just reinstalled the HD 6670 and newest Catalyst drivers. When it blue-screens again (usually about a week!), I'll send a full report.
Thanks.
 
Worked fine for a couple of years" Then it is not the same error. A lot can happen in a couple of years. Driver changes, that can cause some cards to blue screen, or the power supply is getting weak, or the system board is going bad. A bad update on other software causing the video driver to malfunction. And the video card could be failing.
 
550 W Cooler Master P.S. (Two years old)
CPU stays at 100 - 105 degrees F. both cores.
Problem just started in June.
Same error message with three different video cards.
Just waiting for it to go out again, so I can copy the error message.
Thanks for responding - now it's waiting time!

Don't you love intermittent problems? <grin>
 
Same error message with three different video cards.

There you go, there's no way a Nvidia based Video Card would issue an AMD/ATI related error. different Makers, different Drivers, different things all together.

We'll probably be able to pinpoint what it is, with the make and model of your MB, and the full error when you get it again. Until then, my money is on a hardware issue on the MB itself. (Any takers?)

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech
 

"There you go, there's no way a Nvidia based Video Card would issue an AMD/ATI related error.

That's why I asked in my original post: "what GPU do all of these cards use?". I can't find what GPU these vid cards use.
 
That's the GPU:

Radeon HD 4550 is the GPU
The MSI (MSI is the brand name) uses the 4550 also, basically its the same card.

The GeForce 9400 GT is the Nvidia GPU.



AMD/ATI make the Radeon GPU's while Nvidia makes the Geforce GPUs amongst others.

Then brands like MSI, EVGA, ASUS etc... make their cards based on those GPUs.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech
 
Thanks, that's what I wanted to know. Which cards use which GPU's from which manufacturer.
 
BBB: I spent hours on Google, and the different video card manufacturers, and all I could find was the specs on the cards - but mention of the actual GPU. That's why I turned to you guys!
BTW, there was mention of the power supply. It pointed me to a connection to all of the cards - the "extra" 12 volt connection needed for the video. I reseated that one, and am now just waiting!
 
Micker, don't get me wrong, I know that you are not one of these 'no Google let someone else do that' type of person, and you are not ignorant on the hardware front of things, and that is why it is hard for me to believe that you did not find that information from the specs on the cards...

for example, I took a gander at a Sparkle gfx-card, so I entered in Google: "Sparkle graphic card", this took me to the manufacturers website, there I just picked one card from their product line (SPARKLE GeForce GT520 1GL), on the SPEC tab, it showed under "Graphics Processing Unit": GeForce GT 520. You take then that information enter it into Google once more, and Google spits out that it is an "nVidia" card...

another random pick, Googled "ASUS Graphic card", will get you on the first link the ASUS website with those cards, right side menu already lists the two main players in the field: AMD Series and the nVidia Series, as choices to pick. Lets say you'd pick the AMD series cards, it will then list all that that manufacturer produces...

now to the ones that you have, the MSI HD4550 and the GeForce 9400 GT, by now you already know that anything HD in front of numbers is an AMD card, and anything GeForce is an nVidia card, but let me indulge you a bit more on this.

Googling "MSI HD4550" the first link that I get is the one from NewEgg.com (I'll skip this one) and move on to the next link, which is a Forum entry on Tom'sHardware (skipped this one also), third link is the charm here, Amazon.com, and it lists it as "Customer Reviews. MSI [highlight #F57900]ATI[/highlight] Radeon HD4550 1 GB DDR3 VGA/DVI/HDMI Low-Profile PCI-Express Video Card R4550-MD1GH ..." (I highlighted the relevant entry...) ;)

Googling "GeForce 9400 GT", it lists the first two links from nVidia (Germany DE, since I live there, and the nVidia.com) websites... and clicking on the DOT COM link, will take you straight to the information that you had wanted to know... ;)

so you see, why it is so hard for me to believe that you did not find the relevant information online before...

anyway, do keep us updated on the situation... ;)






Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
 
What I wasn't aware of was that "HD 4550" (etc), WAS the GPU. I thought that it was just the manu's model nomenclature of the cards! <grin>
 
Ben, why would you skip the newegg link? under specs, it clearly states the chipset manufacturer, and the the gpu used. really, it tells you everything you need about the card, including a link to the website to get the drivers, from the MSI site.
 
Yeah, the problem was ME!
BTW, I just ran a Windows Memory Check. The instructions stated that a log file would be written. Where would I find that log file? I looked in the c:\root, but couldn't find anything under logs, or memory.
 
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