ATI display drivers

[cesareDH]

Here's what MS had to say:

Problem caused by ATI Graphics Driver

This problem was caused by ATI Graphics Driver. This program was created by ATI Technologies, Inc.. ATI Technologies, Inc. does not currently have a solution for the problem that you reported.

Recommendation

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The following troubleshooting steps might prevent the problem from recurring.

Download and install an updated version of ATI Graphics Driver from one of the following locations:
Microsoft Update
ATI Technologies, Inc.
If an updated driver is not available for ATI Graphics Driver, check with your computer manufacturer.
If you are running the latest version of ATI Graphics Driver, contact ATI Technologies, Inc. for your support options.
Additional information

If this problem continues to occur with the latest product updates for ATI Graphics Driver, we recommend you get assistance and troubleshooting information directly from ATI Technologies, Inc.

I've made a complete report to ATI and am waiting for them to come up with a solution. I would hope that everyone else having problems using ATI video cards will file a report with them.

[ForesterSOF]

ATI did not want to work at first till the first patch so I would make shure the driver and game are updated.

[Kuciwalker]

Yeah, the ATI problems should be gone if you're fully patched.

[cesareDH]

Originally posted by ForesterSOF
ATI did not want to work at first till the first patch so I would make shure the driver and game are updated.

I've done all that and it didn't help. Nothing I did would get it to work, and Friday I installed 3 more games and the 2 Race games locked up.

Today I took out the Radeon 9550 and installed a Radeon 512MB 1650 PRO. I'll see what happens the next couple days, but I've already had a message that Windows couldn't find the card. What next? Can any more go wrong?

[cesareDH]

Fully patched

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Yeah, the ATI problems should be gone if you're fully patched.

After upgrading to the Radeon X1650 PRO card, all my problems with the other games went away, except for CIV4. I played about 2 minutes (Dale's Mod) and the machine rebooted itself with no warning.

I sure hope one of you folks come up with a cure. ATI Technologies sure doesn't have one.

[Kuciwalker]

I'm sorry. The game never had problems on my Radeon x700.

[snoopy369]

Have you made sure the graphics card (or some other system element) is not overheating? Spontaneous reboots are usually from overheating. Civ4 is much more demanding in terms of graphics card heat load than nearly any other game out there.

[cesareDH]

BIOS Update

Originally posted by snoopy369
Have you made sure the graphics card (or some other system element) is not overheating? Spontaneous reboots are usually from overheating. Civ4 is much more demanding in terms of graphics card heat load than nearly any other game out there.

It appears that a BIOS update, along with all the newest drivers from ATI, and Ray's ATI Tray Tools where I was able to make some adjustments, have corrected the problem.

ComputerNerds told me they had updated the BIOS when they had my machine, but they didn't. So for the past month I've been going back and forth with ATI trying everything imaginable with negative results.

Since I updated the BIOS I've been able to run CIV4 at 1280X1224 for 2 days with no problems. Even DOOM 3 ran for a couple hours with no problems.