Date:
Tuesday , February 23, 2010
Author:
Kyle Bennett
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AMD ATI Radeon Dongle and GSOD Issues Addressed

While most ATI Radeon 5800 series video card owners are having great experiences, there are some people out there that have issues with the technology. This article will hopefully let you know a little more about the issues and what is being done to address DP to DVI dongle problems and GSODs.

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Eyefinity Dongle Solutions

Of course our next question to AMD is, "How do we get this fixed?" Right now, it cannot be corrected easily, however AMD is working on a solution that will allow you to update the dongle firmware without having to ship back hardware. My personal thoughts are this. If you are having a dongle issue and have ruled out USB power issues, and are still capable of returning the dongle for a new unit with the validated firmware on it; do so now. I am not sure if you can confirm the firmware version on the new dongle, but do so if you can. We have been told that new firmware versions should be in the e-tail and retail systems now.

The fix that AMD is hoping to get to the public is a solution that will allow you to flash the firmware on your dongle to the validated version. This would obviously be best for the enthusiast. Currently we are not aware of any solid ETA on this situation, but we do have an open communication with AMD on this topic and will be reporting back to our readers on this topic.

AMD is telling us that new "ATI Eyefinity Validated" and "ATI Eyefinity Ready" DP to DVI dongles ("Validated" is a higher level of compatibility testing done at AMD.) will hopefully be available to the public in 1 to 2 months if everything stays on schedule. These solutions are being targeted at the sub-$30 e-tail/retail market and will be for "single-link" DVI displays. For those of you needing Dual-Link DVI dongles, the current solutions are all that will remain available.

GSOD Issues

The Gray Screen of Death issue is not as cut and dried as the dongle one. The GSOD issue was caused by a "memory training issue" related specifically to the GDDR5 memory bus on 5000 series cards. With the GSOD issue people have been seeing system lock ups with gray colored screens. AMD is aware of this and has been working to get the issue corrected. With the latest driver release, version 10.2, AMD was certain that the issue was fixed. That however did not seem to be correct as AMD users were still having "GSOD" issues as identified by this forum thread I started with questioning users about their 10.2 experiences and GSOD.

I think it is also worth mentioning here, that no one at HardOCP has seen the issue using any 5000 series GPU video cards. Several of us personally use AMD GPUs outside of all the testing we do as well so we are very versed with everyday AMD GPU life.

GSOD Solutions

Talking to AMD about this issue, it was well understood that AMD was surprised that the "GSOD" issue was still happening to end users running the 10.2 driver set. AMD feels as though 10.2 fixed the issue for most users, while our very unscientific polling suggests the 10.2 driver fixed it for less than half the people having GSOD issues.

AMD asked for permission to reach out to our reader base to hopefully get the issue identified and fixed. After gaining permission from readers in this thread that identified 10.2 GSOD users with problems, HardOCP turned over contact and trouble information to AMD. As of yesterday, AMD was working with a select group of HardOCP readers to get those video cards back to AMD for evaluation so AMD can move forward in identifying the trouble and whether or not it is associated with the memory training issue previously identified or something completely different.

Samsung Thin-bezel Displays

A lot were made out of these at the 5800 / Eyefinity launch last year. If you are not familiar, Samsung told us that its thin-bezel displays would be available by Christmas and for priced around $1000 per set. Here is the latest update from Samsung, from earlier this month. Not exactly the answer we wanted.

Here is the correct information on the Samsung MD230 that features AMD and ATI's Eyefinity technology. The release date is March 2010. The price for the 23" 3-screen configuration is $1,899.00. I've attached a press release with more detailed information.

If you are looking for alternatives, you can go full out 3x1 with DP for around $750 with the Dell 23" displays or about $630 for the Dell 20" displays .

Game Developer Interaction

I see more than a few folks discussing that AMD does not interact with game developers enough in order to get its technology working properly in newly released games, if at all. On this point, I have to somewhat agree with you and we have voiced the same concerns to an extent. AMD is promising to share new information on this front very soon with us which we will pass along to you when we are put in the know.

The Bottom Line

The GSOD and Eyefinity Dongle issues are troubling some AMD 5800 series GPU users, and rightly so. The dongle issue is certainly an "early adopter" problem and being worked through. The post-10.2 driver "GSOD issues" seems to be as troubling to AMD as its users, and currently AMD is bringing hardware back in from HardOCP.com readers to further evaluate the GSOD issue. AMD is aware of these issues and is currently working to get these solved. As of today, you are as up to date on these issues as I am.

Trust me when I say that people at AMD are genuinely concerned and wanting you to have a good experience with its hardware. The overwhelming majority of AMD Radeon 5800 series GPU users are having a trouble free gaming and desktop experience. I know that I have personally suggested that you purchase AMD 5800 and 5700 series video cards, and I still stand behind those recommendations. I am sorry that some of "our guys" are having problems and I do feel somewhat responsible as I suggested you purchase these products. We are working to help make sure your enthusiast computer hardware problems get addressed.

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