GA-P55M-UD2 + 5850 = Computer crashes.

[cpharris]

Hello,

Does anyone here run the new ATi HD5850 on a Gigabyte P55M-UD2? (I have a Sapphire 5850)

Although all my components run fine individually under test (Memtest86+, Prime95 Blend, FurMark), I keep getting video crashes when idle, resulting in BSOD, or a VPU recover.

In Windows 7, the Experience Index test crashes most of the time, either with the monitor going black, then desktop, then black, etc... very slowly, or with BSOD during data transfer test, then reboting. Or just locking up when idle, or browsing the desktop - resulting in a VPU recovered message.

I have tried every combination of drivers I can find, but all have the same problem. Either a faulty graphics card or incompatibility with this motherboard??

Any suggestions?

[oggmonster]

Sounds more like a faulty graphics card, can you try the graphics card in another machine?

[MindLESS]

I have a P55-UD4 with a 5870 card - not had any problems with it.

I know the 5850 is less power hungry than the 5870 - but what PSU are you using?
Never rule out the PSU - can you check the voltages when running windows to make sure they're not massively out.

What drivers are you using with your card - and what operating system exactly (x32 / x64)?

I did get some VPU recover messages when running RC (x64) with 8.66 drivers.
However, as of Win7 release ATI have released Catalyst 9.10 - I've been running these with my release Win7 Pro x64 and not had any issues.
Inability to complete the windows experience was also a driver issue - I think I had to install updated HDD drivers (for matrix raid, gigabyte raid etc.) to get mine to finish. It didn't BSOD, it just failed and got a message saying it crashed and couldn't complete.

Recap - My suggestions:
1) Check Catalyst drivers (Official download pages: Win7x64 Win7x32)
2) Check PSU voltages (haven't installed it on mine but I think the Gigabyte Smart6 may be able to monitor it - can anyone confirm it for me. I only played with it for a couple of minutes before deleting RC off my machine)
3) Check for updates on all storage controllers in the machine - whether you have drives connected to them or not.

[cpharris]

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, ATi Catalyst 9.10. All other system drivers are installed by Windows 7.

No software installed apart from some benchmarking/monitoring programs.

PSU is a Corsair 450W modular supply, with 33A on the 12V rail. I know it's not massively powerful, but I'm sure is enough for my system (1 HDD, 1 DVD-RW, 2 case fans). And system under stress / max power runs stable...

Seems I can get the system stable, and passing the WEI by DISABLING the EIST/C1/C3 CPU functions in the BIOS. It seem that the sleep/halt states of the CPU may be crashing the video card somehow.

Are you running a Core i5 CPU? And with these options enabled?

[MindLESS]

Yup - i5 here.

I've not had to disable any settings in my BIOS. I updated the BIOS and loaded setup defaults the other day just before installing the release version of Windows (had been running RC still, being lazy). I'll try and remember to check my full BIOS settings later, but fairly sure mine will be enabled.

Have you tried to update to the latest available BIOS for your board?

[cpharris]

Just a quick update. Gigabyte e-mailed me a newer BIOS for the P55M-UD2 (F4i), and along with installing the new chipset, lan, and audio drivers from the Gigabyte website, my system seems to have stabilised. Yay!

[Pottypete]

Hi,
WOW, 
Thats what I call great customer service,
You don't see much of that about these days, they really do Care
And NO I don't work for gigabyte
Credit where credit due

[MindLESS]

Just a quick update. Gigabyte e-mailed me a newer BIOS for the P55M-UD2 (F4i), and along with installing the new chipset, lan, and audio drivers from the Gigabyte website, my system seems to have stabilised. Yay!

Also nice to have someone come back and post when they've had a solution =)
So many times I look around with a similar problem to find so many abandoned threads =S

[cpharris]

unfortunately my problems came back with a vengeance! As well as the idle crashing, I am getting complete system freezes, and the odd garbled display (sometimes a full light-coloured blue/brown screen) requiring a hard reset.

It seems disabling all the speedstep options (EIST, C1, C3/6/7) in the BIOS helps the situation, but obviously I loose all the power-saving features of the CPU.

Will report again if I get any further! I hate abandoned threads...

[ETNiES]

This really does seem like a power issue to me. I've read around forums and most people use a minimum of a 500/600 w power supply, Is there anyway of swapping it out with a more powerful one?

[cpharris]

Sorry, I forgot to say that the freezing began when I upgraded my power supply to a brand new Corsair HX650W...

But I think I have diagnosed the freezing down to the bump in 'AUTO' base clock from 133 to 136.7 actually driving my memory over the edge of stability. Locking the base clock back to 133 (and thus my memory at 1333MHz), I have hopefully patched that issue.

Now to get back to diagnosing my VPU recovers - drivers or hardware!?

[Pottypete]

Hi,
Found this on ATI site,.  http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst/top10-4.html
Not techie enough is my problem,
Regards