graphics card problem (i suppose)

hi, first of all i'm new here so if it's a wrong place to make this thread, move it.

my problem is that my screen goes a random color while playing/trolling games or just writing these words to you. it happened once while writing this.

if that doesn't happen, sometimes screen goes black then comp restarts itself. when it starts it says windows is saved from a critical error etc. when i checked details it says it is blue screen of death, but i actually never seen blue screen itself.

these two events happened after i bought my new graphics card.

my comp parts are:

kingston 1600mhz 4gb x2 ram
asus m4a88t-m le motherboard
powercolor hd radeon 6950 1gb graphics card
amd phenom ii x6 1100t processor

fan must be okay since my max heat is around 70 C

this is happening a lot so any help would be appriciated.

 

Hi and welcome to MG's,
Have you checked that you have a strong enough PSU to run this card, I believe you need to run this card by a molex to pcie power cable that should of came with your card.
Try updating your driver, also, has this issue just started since installing the new card ??

 

im not sure what PSU is but let me add my os is win7 and if it is power supply unit you mean it must be 400W im not exactly sure.

 

PSU is power supply unit. Open your case and look at the PSU. It should have a label or be stamped with the wattage.

Go ahead and right click Computer from the Start menu and select Properties. Choose Advanced System Settings from the left menu. Under Startup and Recovery hit the Settings button. Uncheck the Automatically Restart box and hit OK. That should let you see any blue screen should you get one.

Which driver version are you using?

Looks like 8.821 is the latest from powercolor. http://www.powercolor.com/us/support_driver.asp?byclass=1&PSeries=7&PModel=71
I'd wait for Iain to help you out on finding the best driver version. You can probably get something more up to date from amd/radeon.

 

for graphics card it says radeon 6900 series but im very suspicious of it since best resolution i can get is 1440x900 with x16 multisampling x8 anti-aliasing etc.

i really couldnt be able to open case but im %99 sure that its 400W

i installed my driver from cd then it also updated itself. can you tell me when you are absolute sure about latest version? its a b""ch to reinstall graphics drivers.

thanks for your help.

 

I'm going to let someone else give you an answer on drivers. You might want to go to Device Manager and click Display Adapter and then right-click your radeon 6950 listing and select Properties and on the driver tab get the version number and date. That info will help someone determine how recent your driver is.

While in Device Manager check what is listed for your Monitor. If it just listed as generic plug n play then getting the driver for your actual monitor may allow you more resolutions.

 

driver version: 8.872.0.0
driver date: 06.07.2011

 

Hi,
Sorry for the late response, sometimes gpu (graphics cards) drivers are best left alone if they are running perfect without being updated, I would personally roll back the driver to the original version that came with your card,and only update if the new driver version actually is a fix for an issue/bug that "YOU" are experiencing . A 400W PSU is enough to power your machine with that card,is it connected using the molex to pcie power connector, it needs to be connected with that as the PCIe slot will not give it enough power to run efficiently.
To roll back your driver .... Start> type...device management...> Display Adapters> right click your card.. select .. properties .. select Driver Tab .. Roll Back Driver.

 

If you wish to try updating your driver here is the latest catalyst driver for your card.....

http://www2.ati.com/drivers/11-11_vista32_win7_32_dd_ccc_ocl.exe

There are other "optional" drivers available here also that "may" enhance your cards visual experience....

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon_win7-32.aspx#1