ATI 5850 - Dual Monitor Flickering

#1

Sup fools,

Computer is up and running, really happy with it, except apparently there’s a glitch in the 5xxx series drivers which creates “flickering” when using dual monitors - which I am. Apparently ATI are releasing a fix for the driver, but they haven’t specified how long it’ll take.

I’ve googled the problem, there’s heaps of others having the same issue. Many solutions suggested it had something to do with the card’s “sleep mode”? Something to do with power saving or something.

People have suggested adjusting clock speeds etc (I don’t have a freakin clue when it comes to overclocking lol).

So, I played around a tad (carefully) and made the following adjustments, having said that, I have no idea what these adjustments mean or what they do (n00b I know), but that’s what some people suggested to do:

They seem to have stopped most of the flickering, but I’m still seeing it occasionally when running same games.

Anybody heard of any other fixes for this issue?

#2

Have you run the auto tune?

#3

Hey Tim.

I’ve seen a similar issue (grey screens) which can be fixed using the same method. I’ve also come across people that have the same problem you are having, unfortunately it seems the only common fix is to stop the cards underclocking themselves when in their idle state.

I’ll keep an eye out for anything.

EDIT: What driver version are you running? I have read that any driver over the 10.4 has the problem fixed.

#4

One word fix mate. Nvidia

#5

I run 10.10 no probs here

#6

Yep AutoTune run - that’s where I got those results from.

Fairly certain I’m running the latest 10.10…but I’ll redownload and reinstall just to be certain.

Haha God - I have ALWAYS used Nvidia - Any for ONCE I trust the judgment of my fellow OEers and this is what happens.
Na look, its a good card, hopefully a ‘fix’ will be released.

Will let you know how I go with the newly installed driver.

Thanks peeps.

#7

Sorry, I think I may of assumed that your screen shot was for the 2D clocks, rather than the 3D. (You may of done this correctly, but you haven’t specified)

If you just clicked the Auto-Tune button to do an auto OC, it will not completely fix the problem. You need to make a new profile for the idle clocks that set them from dropping too low. It’s the frequency constantly changing that is making your screens flicker from what I’ve read.

I’m happy to go over in more detail if the driver fix does not work.

#8

Just ring Nipper’s Help Line…works for me :wink2:

#9

Still flickering guys.

Nip, I can’t find options to distinguish whether I’ve only adjusted 2D clocks instead of 3D - the option simply says “ATI Overdrive”.

This is what my current profile looks like:

<Profile>
  <Caste name="Graphics">
    <Groups>
      <Group name="Overdrive5">
        <Feature name="TimeUnlocked" />
        <Feature name="OverclockEnabled">
          <Property name="OverclockEnabledProperty" value="True" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="AutoTuneSupport" />
        <Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0">
          <Property name="Want_0" value="40000" />
          <Property name="Want_1" value="76500" />
          <Property name="Want_2" value="83500" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="MemoryClockTarget_0">
          <Property name="Want_0" value="102000" />
          <Property name="Want_1" value="102000" />
          <Property name="Want_2" value="102000" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="CoreVoltageTarget_0">
          <Property name="Want_0" value="1088" />
          <Property name="Want_1" value="1088" />
          <Property name="Want_2" value="1088" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="MemoryVoltageTarget_0">
          <Property name="Want_0" value="0" />
          <Property name="Want_1" value="0" />
          <Property name="Want_2" value="0" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="FanSpeedProtocol_0">
          <Property name="FanSpeedProtocolProperty" value="Percent" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_0">
          <Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_0">
          <Property name="Want" value="2312" />
        </Feature>
        <Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_0">
          <Property name="Want" value="50" />
        </Feature>
      </Group>
    </Groups>
    <Adapter name="PCI_VEN_1002&DEV_6899&SUBSYS_21E41458&REV_00_4&932E434&0&0018A">
      <Aspect name="Overdrive5" />
    </Adapter>
    <Adapter name="PCI_VEN_1002&DEV_6899&SUBSYS_21E41458&REV_00_4&932E434&0&0018&02A">
      <Aspect name="Overdrive5" />
    </Adapter>
  </Caste>
</Profile>
#10

What you provided is good, you just need to modify a parameter in that profile as your memory clocks are already locked in your 2D/low 3D/high 3D settings. You may have to put your core clock target up to 45000 etc. I don’t own a 5850 so I’m not sure what exactly causes this problem, but I am led to believe that it is because the 2D clocks are set too low which causes a flicker everytime the GPU changes its clock rate.

You want to change:

 <Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0">           
<[COLOR=Red][B]Property name="Want_0" value="40000" /[/B][/COLOR]>           
<Property name="Want_1" value="76500" />           
<Property name="Want_2" value="83500" />         
</Feature>

[COLOR=Gray]To

[/COLOR]

<Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0">           
<[COLOR=Red][B]Property name="Want_0" value="value until the flickering stops" /[/B][/COLOR]>           
<Property name="Want_1" value="76500" />           
<Property name="Want_2" value="83500" />         
</Feature>

This person has also suggested something that may help. I’d try it first as it involves less mucking around.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6593742&postcount=32

EDIT: A lot of posts have led me to believe that a 400MHz 2D clock should be adequate. Make sure your profile is loaded, it would also be handy to you to know what the clock speeds are doing when the flickering is appearing. Download GPU-Z and click on the sensor tab, your clock speed shouldn’t drop below the lowest value set.

#11

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4l61SuMmO8&feature=fvw[/ame]

A lot of comments suggesting that works too.

One question, was ATI Overdrive initially enabled when you noticed the flickering? Maybe you should try disabling it and then seeing if it disappears.