Problem with Catalyst

I have a HTPC which had a 5450 and win732 and was trying to get an old game to work without lag. I tried overclocking it with Catalyst's software but the screen freaked out and the computer would restart and load desktop but if I had to do anything that took any graphical power at all (including opening catalyst) it would freak out. I tried uninstalling the software/driver and a reinstall multiple times with no luck. I didn't think the card was bricked or anything, but used this as an excuse to upgrade to an HIS 6570.

Now, here's where the real problem is. I installed the latest 11.7 catalyst amd said was for my new card (which was the same version I downloaded when trying to get the 5450 to work it seems) and everything went fine except the performance was still where I put it when overclocking the 5450. In other words, the maximum memory clock speed it will go to is 1000 when this card should go be set at 1800 by default. I've tried reinstalling while windows update is off, telling it to delete all software and drivers when uninstalling, and deleting the ati folder that was left in the programs folder after an uninstall with reboots between uninstall and installs and the problem still exists. I assume there is some hidden file on my drive that catalyst uses to load the performance settings that's not getting deleted. Where could I find this file or what else could I try aside from reinstalling windows to fix this? Thanks

if there are settings that are staying, for the ati they are in the registry itself.
when switching cards, or brands (especially) it is good to use the driver cleaners. 3dguru make a driver sweeper for both ati and nvidia.
then follow its directions completly removing and returning back to default compatability drivers, in safe mode, and making sure that windows update drivers are not used or mixed up into it.
Following that complelty should fully clear everything.


then any problems you have after that . . . . . . .

Well, just tried that and no luck. After the reboot, I even opened up guru3d and hit analyze to make sure nothing from ati was left before I installed it again. I thought of another couple possible solutions and that is modified drivers like guru3d's or just overclocking software and "overclocking" it to 1800.

Hey there htpc, which game are you trying to play?

Tokae said:

Hey there htpc, which game are you trying to play?

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Not sure how strict the rules are here but I'll say my project is to try to get 1.7 to run maxed out at 1080p while copying frame buffer.

htpc said:

Not sure how strict the rules are here

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What are you playing, Porn Director 3?

htpc said:

Not sure how strict the rules are here but I'll say my project is to try to get 1.7 to run maxed out at 1080p while copying frame buffer.

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1.7? I must have missed something..

Project64 1.7. Guess since it was on my mind it was more obvious to me. I don't think this forum would care, I just know a select few do.

AH.. I believe emulators and games might fall under copyright violation... Either way, the lowdown on that card is this:

Its an ideal htpc card. Not a gaming card. If you want to play any games on your htpc, I would look into getting something a tad more powerful... Hope this helps!

Edit: I hope I didn't confuse you with this answer but the 6570 is a bit of an improvement over the 5450, but not too much. You might need to run driversweeper and see if that will remove any hidden files that might be inhibiting your newer card's OCing ability..

Alright well I downloaded catalyst 11.8 from guru3d and did a driver sweeper in between uninstall or 11.7 and install and this is doing the same thing. However, it is faster than 11.7 and not everything maxed out at 1080p runs smoothly. I might experiment with custom drivers or overclocking software if I run into problems later but for now this works I guess. The 6570 works since I don't need to run anything better than this since my g73 laptop has a 5870 in it and can play games with good graphics, and this is passive cooling which is nice for HTPC use.

Nice! Yes another thing to realize is these htpc cards aren't really meant for overclocking so one cannot expect huge gains.. But at least its working for you

Yeah especially since they are fanless and the computer was built from scratch but in a crappy old HP case that doesn't exactly have the air flow a server gets. When I overclocked the 5450 I was ready to buy a replacement but figured it was worth a shot to see if I could get it to work. If I could have made it work and last without dying until the holiday sales it probably would have been worth it.

The 6570 that I have now is "overclocked" to settings lower than what it's real defaults are so that shouldn't have any problems.