Really frustrating AMD/CCC driver problem

Eunos_Cosmo

Forum Addict
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
6,968
Location
Oakland
Car(s)
'84 Mazda RX7, '12 Mazda 2, '99 Porsche Boxster
Hello all,

If you guys remember, I built a PC last year. The graphics card I'm using is a Sapphire HD7850. Ive run into a problem when I'm playing mass effect that the GPU is overheating and the fans are not increasing their speed. I've tried multiple programs like MSI Afterburner and AMD's CCC, but nothing I've yet found allows me to change the fan speed.

Every thing I find points to using the Catalyst Control Center, but the version I have contains absolutely no performance options. I've tried updating, backdating, reinstalling, uninstalling, and every other method of getting the driver to work correctly, but it simply will not work.

I found a sapphire specific monitoring/overclocking app called Sapphire TriXX, but when I run that program, it says the GPU is at 0 degrees and fans are at 1%, both of which are impossible. It even has a fan slider but enabling manual control has no effect. I'm absolutely frustrated because the fans remain at idle while the GPU heats up near and over 100 degrees C causing display failure. I don't know what to do, I've spent around 6 hours trying to search and diagnose the problem to no avail. Anyone care to help? My laptop has a CCC version that lets me adjust a ton of things related to the GPU, but I cannot adjust anything on the version I have for my desktop.
 
How do you know that it's overheating? Are programs like HWMonitor reading the actual temperature and you see that it's high, or are you simply getting shut-downs/artifacts/slow-downs/etc?
 
On my PC with a Sapphire HD5850 the settings for the fan speed are in Performance -> AMD OverDrive, but when even the Sapphire monitoring tool reports 0?C and fan is at 1% then there's something wrong.

Have you tried pulling the card out, cleaning the contacts of the PCIe connector of the card and the slot? Maybe reconnecting the fan cable on the card itself helps with contact problems between the card and the fan(s).

If that doesn't help, Sapphire support should be the next place to go.
 
I had another monitor that was showing 95+ degrees after only a few minutes in mass effect and the fans were not increasing in RPM. I'm fairly certain that it was crashing due to heat. I cannot find AMD OverDrive anywhere. My CCC looks like this:

stupidshit.JPG

No options like performance.

Every time I install the CCC driver it opens the browser window with this URL:

http://contentz.mkt932.com/lp/static/error.html

But the page doesn't work. I think the install keeps failing, but I do not know why for the life of me.
 
Last edited:
I just want to say that I'm a moron.

I had my monitor plugged in through the MoBo's HDMI port and not the GPU's. Switched it, and now CCC is working as it should.

edit:

I had been a bit curious as to why I couldn't play ME2 on full settings without a big hit to frame rate, and also why the CPU was getting so hot...it was running on imbedded intel graphics! I'm actually surprised it did as well as it did. Now I'm back to full resolution and max settings and it looks phenomenal.

Before, the CPU was hitting around 90 degrees and the integrated GPU was approaching 100. Now they are about 60 and 35, respectively. :)
 
Last edited:
Wait a second. Since you built your computer you have been running on integrated graphics rather than using the dedicated card? :eek:
 
Wait a second. Since you built your computer you have been running on integrated graphics rather than using the dedicated card? :eek:

Well, I've moved the computer around a lot so I can't be certain, but it's a distinct possibility. I think I originally plugged it into the GPU when I finished the build but when I turned the computer on, it would not display because the driver was not yet installed (maybe?) and so I just plugged it into the MoBo. In any case, it's like having a brand new computer!

I have to give it to intel though, that little integrated graphics chip ran Skyrim, Shift 2, Borderlands 2, Just Cause 2, and Grid Autosport on ultra settings with 30+ fps. The only thing that gave me issues was overheating on Mass Effect 2.
 
I've had nothing but problems with AMD. Would not recommend to anyone. There's a reason the performance comes at a cheaper price and that is shitty drivers and lack of customer care. 90% of the games that use shadows, the shadows are all messed up. Sometimes I will boot up without changing anything at all and CCC decides to just change the resolution of my monitor to something weird and not even supported. It's a damn mess. Just look at that screenshot you posted and tell me that looks like a professionally made program. The fonts look all too tiny and ugly, the text on the buttons on the left don't even fit the buttons...
 
I wont lie, I don't feel too differently. I'll probably go with Nvidia in the future.
 
shitty drivers and lack of customer care.

Disagree. I rarely have driver problems. If I do they just affect one game. Happened to FSX. The same thing happened to Prepar3D on my NVIDIA GPU laptop at a later date.

In both instances the companies fixed the issue in their next release.

90% of the games that use shadows, the shadows are all messed up.

No, thats not true.

sometimes I will boot up without changing anything at all and CCC decides to just change the resolution of my monitor to something weird and not even supported.

I have never experienced this on any AMD/ATI card. This is probably a specific problem to your system.
 
Top