I recent reconstructed an old machine of mine it has a Dualcore (805 Smithfield I think it is), 1 GB DDR2 PNY Memory and my Sapphire HD 4870 512 MB that I was using in my previous machine.

Since then I have noticed that my machine has been locking up whenever I attempting to do anything even slight video demanding e.g. watch videos it will run for a while and then out of no where it either freezes up or crashes and I get this message.



This also applies to gaming I only experienced it in one game because I'm really not running anything else at the moment.

I though it could have been a memory problem so I tried switching in some 2GB DDR2 G.Skill memory but I'm having the same issue. Already dried uninstalling the drivers and re-installing them, using the latest ones of the AMD website and even some a few months old and have tried allowing Windows 7 to choose its own drivers but in all instances the same issue reoccurs.

Any thoughts?

What PSU are you running? Complete specs would be nice also
.. You tried resetting your video card; make sure the PCIe cables are seated correctly? No issues in device manager nor in Catalyst Control Center (make sure nothing is overclocked)?

It could be that the part of the GPU responsible for the video decoding is overheating and making poor contact with the heatsink.

It could also be driver releated, but my thoughts are that it's due to heat. Is it now summer where you're living?

You could try underclocking your GPU a bit to see if that helps.

An RMA sounds like it's going to be in order. Did you recently update the drivers?

You could have also scratched something on the board or damaged it in some way when you moved the card from one machine to another.

Well I didn't think the PSU was relevant since this system is a less power demanding system than what I was using before that is why I only gave the specs for Processor, Memory and Video Card it also has a 700W PSU in it and 2 Sata Hard Drivers 320 and 640 respectively all connected to an AsRock 775 Dual-Vsta Mobo. I also wasn't aware that one could reset their video card so no I did not try that.

I can check seating and the placement of the cables but I think those are fine there are no issues in Device Manager and I'm not that familiar with Catalyst to a point to check for errors I usually just use it to turn up my fan speed.

Also remember I don't mess around with overclocking so no nothing is overclocked.



Yes it is Summer, I could try under clocking it but if its not working at stock speeds that doesn't seem very promising I can't get an RMA on it for one of two reasons 1. Its past its warranty and 2. Even if it is on its warranty I had ordered it through a Courier Service which I'm no longer a member of in any case of RMA they would be required to start the process for me. I don't think I scratched or broke anything off the board but I think I may have overheated and damaged something in the case either not enough thermal paste or due to the cooling fan not being placed properly on the cpu.

PSUs go out and the card can be badly seated or a PCIe connector may be damaged.
- reseat the card - not reset it; sometimes it does not make perfect connect in the slot or there is dust.

Look at Catalyst Control Center and see if your video card is OK in overdrive; sometimes with new install the clocks are messed up.

And finally, try another video card in your PC and try your 4870 in another PC for a real trouble shoot

Be sure to check your GPU temperatures as well.

Yep, good advice by Apoppin and Leon! If the temps are unusually high, then it might be dust in the heatsink.

Purged everything this time around instead of just uninstalling the drivers I uninstalled the entire packaged which I had downloaded off AMD's website and just allowed Windows 7 to choose the nearest compatible drivers and I seem to be good so far.

Well, if it works, you should *still* get the complete package again from AMD's site - or wait for Catalyst 11-7 later on this month. There is more functionality than the generic Win 7 driver provides.

And Windows installs the *same* driver - just an older version of it. You may just have had a driver that did not install properly. If it happens again, go into Control Panel - Programs and Features and use the Catalyst Install manager to UNINSTALL ALL ATI SW before trying another driver.