Radeon HD 4850 causes BSOD on launching any DirectX game

[Chode Messiah]

Recently purchased a new 4850, installed it, and nothing works. Every DirectX game I've tried ends in a stop error (BSOD). Sometimes I get a message about the driver entering an "infinite loop", but usually I get nothing.

This machine is running WinXP (32-bit) on an Athon-64 3700+ and an nForce 4 chipset.

I've confirmed this card works in a Core 2 Duo machine running an nForce 630i chipset using the same power supply from this computer using the latest drivers from ATI.

On my computer, I have uninstalled and reinstalled several different drivers several times using a variety of methods (uninstalling the old drivers, installing it over the old one, installing it in VGA mode, running registry cleaner before installing...you name it I've tried it).

From what I've been able to read, there is no reason why this card would be incompatible with my board. I have not been able to find any useful information from the stop error or the save dump, and most recommendations quickly talk about a faulty power supply or overheating card, but neither is the case with me since the same PSU and same card works in a different computer.

I am out of ideas, does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[SSChevy2001]

Have you tried uninstalling all ATi software and just loading the driver only in device manager?

Maybe for some reason CCC is causing the BSOD.

 

[Chode Messiah]

Yes, many times.

 

[SSChevy2001]

Have you tried to underclock the CPU or memory?
Have you disabled all non MS service and startup items?
Has the machine been dusted out?

If all these still fail to solve the problem then try using the system restore to go as far back as possible or a fresh install of the OS.

 

[taltamir]

reinstall windows, if that doesn't fix the problem that your video card BROKE, rma it.

 

[Chode Messiah]

We did a clean install and it worked in a different pc.

 

[FalseChristian]

There could be something wrong with your motherboard.

 

[AzN]

Did you try updating your mobo bios? It could just be a compatibility issue which you can't do nothing.

 

[Chode Messiah]

Sorry for the delay, computer in transition and whatnot.

@SSChevy2001: I keep a tight lid on Services (this is a gaming PC after all). Computer is regularly cleaned. I have not messed with the clockspeed at all, didn't want to bring anything out of spec.

@Azn: Attempted to update the BIOS, but that was a no-go. It is an Award BIOS, and the update utility provided by the manufacturer (Jetway) does not read from my USB Floppy very well. I've tried connecting a floppy from another machine, but that drive and the disk in it have to be about 15 years old, and neither was read by the computer or the OS. I have not tried something like WinFlash, as that carries a very high potential for bricking my motherboard.

I will clean out another drive around here and attempt a clean install with the motherboard in question. While I feel I've bent over backwards to avoid a driver conflict, at this point I'll take that answer over "there's a conflict with your motherboard". If anyone has a better way to flash an Award BIOS, I'm up for it.

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah
Sorry for the delay, computer in transition and whatnot.

@SSChevy2001: I keep a tight lid on Services (this is a gaming PC after all). Computer is regularly cleaned. I have not messed with the clockspeed at all, didn't want to bring anything out of spec.

@Azn: Attempted to update the BIOS, but that was a no-go. It is an Award BIOS, and the update utility provided by the manufacturer (Jetway) does not read from my USB Floppy very well. I've tried connecting a floppy from another machine, but that drive and the disk in it have to be about 15 years old, and neither was read by the computer or the OS. I have not tried something like WinFlash, as that carries a very high potential for bricking my motherboard.

I will clean out another drive around here and attempt a clean install with the motherboard in question. While I feel I've bent over backwards to avoid a driver conflict, at this point I'll take that answer over "there's a conflict with your motherboard". If anyone has a better way to flash an Award BIOS, I'm up for it.

if you have a usb stick you can use the tool in windows to make the usb stick a MS-DOS boot disk if you have the floppy's MBR which im sure you have.

just slap the flashing executable and the bios bin to the root drive, boot to usb and flash the bios properly from a CLI with proper tags and options.

in this day floppies pale reliability-wise in comparison to flash memory.

after the flash, scan the hard drive for defective sectors.
bad: replace drive
good: scan memory

if the memory scans good (lets say 4hours or more of memtest #5/7) then you are ok to install windows again. any errors and replace the memory.

once you have your new windows install up and going with all drivers, if it still bluescreens, you will know you have a mainboard problem, vga problem, or mainboard/vga compatibility problem.

 

[Chode Messiah]

I don't have a drive image to play with...that's all the trouble with the Award BIOS update utility.

Its a CLI tool that runs under DOS (meaning no NT, 2K, XP...), but doesn't come with any DOS boot image. The tool assumes you can make one. I can, but the DOS USB drivers that you get in "make a bootable floppy" don't seem to be enough for this utility to read from the drive.

I could be wrong on that one though. Manufacturer didn't mention any flags, however online usage of the Award BIOS flash utility reference them. I have no idea what they do (suggestions always welcome). I'll try to pull down a FreeDOS image or something of the sort and give it another go on a flash drive.

On a different note, memory and HD were tested before I installed anything with them. I haven't experienced any symptoms of RAM or HD failure, but it'll never hurt to check.

 

[Chode Messiah]

Just did a clean install of windows and updated the BIOS. Still didn't work.

Running a memory test, running outta options.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah
Just did a clean install of windows and updated the BIOS. Still didn't work.

Running a memory test, running outta options.

Anything overclocked ie video card?..run everything at default speeeds,install latest version of DX9.0C from here (March 2009) ,chipset drivers installed?..if you still get problems try relaxing the memory timings on the ram or try a different video driver.

 

[AzN]

Nothing you can do. You are trying to run a modern video card on a old motherboard. You really should search the net with your mobo and 4850 compatibility issues. Ask your mobo supplier or forum. you are not going to find the answers here.

 

[Chode Messiah]

@Mem: everything runs at stock speeds. Latest chipset driver and DirectX are installed. Different video drivers don't have any significant effect.

@Azn: I was kinda hoping someone wouldn't say that, but I guess its time I face up to the truth that this is not going to work. Jetway (the motherboard supplier) might have have the answers, but I doubt it since I've not found anything about a compatibility issue between nforce4 and a Radeon 4850 (I know that Crossfire will not work on this motherboard, but I'm not trying to do that here).

My only remaining question now is, why is this incompatible? PCI-E is PCI-E no matter what (unless the motherboard doesn't follow the PCI-E standard, in which case it shouldn't advertise PCI-E). Without knowing what could case this issue, I can't really shop for a new card without the possibility of winding up right back where I am now. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Mem]

What PSU are you using?