Graphics Problem (ATI X1400)

I have an Acer Aspire 5562WXMi notebook with a X1400 graphics card. Today I had the computer running all day but with the GPU on lowest speed. Suddenly the screen started going a little strange (bouncing around) and the display went. I have seen something similar when the GPU was underclocked too far.

I shutdown and then instantly restarted and the problem was still there. Which suggests overheating, but the computer wasn't hot (I run it cool at lowest CPU speed and lowest GPU speed). After leaving it for a couple of minutes and starting it again the problem seems to have gone away.

Has anyone ever had this problem? I am wondering whether using the machine at the lowest CPU speed and GPU speed does not allow surficient cooling for the GPU, generating this problem. Anyone else have any ideas?

The system was still running fine even with the strange graphical effects, so the CPU / RAM is not at fault.

 

Was the fan on when you had the machine on? That might have been a problem. However, if the GPU got too hot, it would have probably just shut off.

 

The fan was on minimal, so it was on, but you can hardly feel any air coming out of the vent! How hot does the GPU need to get before shutoff? I probably shut the machine down before it got critical and would have shut itself off (about 10 seconds after the problem started!). Do you know whether the GPU has a thermal sensor? If it does have one, do you know of software that can read it (I have tried ATI Tool and that doesn't seem to work).

 

I can't get temperature readings with my card either. The card does have a temperature sensor and will shut down at a certain temperature. For the X700, I believe it is somewhere around 110*-120*C. It should never get that hot.

Check for a BIOS update for your computer. Sometimes they can change power and fan settings, it could fix the problem. Also might try falling back to the stock drivers. How long have you had the notebook?

 

Its about 3 months old now, there is a BIOS update (from 1.11 to 1.17) that I could try. At the moment I am clocking the system a little higher so that the fan is constantly on and seeing what happens. I can also drop the drivers to see if that helps.

When I first got the machine I ran some quite heavy stress tests with Prime95 and 3DMark (all versions) and had no problems. I have also run SIN Episodes for a few hours on the machine. It seems to be quite stable when the fan is constantly running!

It seems someone else has a similar problem with the X700? Have you heard of such things before? It seems a little strange that 2 people with different setups could suddenly get the problem at the same time!

 

Only thing I can think of is that you are both possibly using the same drivers . .

 

It seems he is using Omega based on 6.5 and I'm using ATI Mobility 6.6. I will try to drop to Stock and see if that solves the problem.