I'm currently running an X1300 and i figured it was time for an upgrade, just before The Sims 3 comes out. I'll start by saying that i've had no problems with the X1300 from purchase to install to date (just under 2 years now)
So anyway i got this GPU; it only just came this morning after ordering it on the 27th of December. I was a bit peeved at the long wait time, but hey, it's finally here! So I swapped them out and turned on the PC, and that's when it all went to pieces. At first the resolution was off, but that's to be expected (for me anyway), then i noticed my computer was running slow. As in, extremely slow. I have an AMD Athlon 3800+, with 3Gb DDR2 RAM, running Vista HP and it boots up in under a minute, about 45s actually. This time it took 3 minutes to get to the log on screen. So i log on, and it's still having trouble loading up the usual stuff: Anti-virus, skype, msn, etc. It's so bad that i can't click the start button in order to get to Device Manager via the integrated search bar. Not to mention, the image is flickering seriously.
I force a shutdown and restart in safe mode with networking, get into task manager and see that something is loading up my processor. I can't see what it is though, because it's only showing 28 processes running, and it's none of them. And yet the performance tab is showing 100% cpu usage. I ignore this because i figure it's the video card doing something, and proceed with installing the drivers via the cd that came with it. Except, the drivers won't install, in the catalyst install screen i get an error message saying "Failure to load drivers". Of course, now i'm getting angry, because the supplied drivers won't install and yet the video card is making my computer too slow to get on the internet and actually find working drivers myself. I'm still in safe mode by the way. I finally manage to get to Device Manager and uninstall the damn thing, then i re-install it, and hey presto, it works. Then i notice that this is because Vista's using the standard VGA drivers that it's got. So i tell Vista to look for new drivers on the cd, but it gets stuck for like 10mins, before telling me that while it's identified the video card, and found the drivers, it can't install them. I try the auto installer one more time and i get the same error, then i give up and put my trusty old X1300 back in.
I'm sorry if this seems long winded, but basically, i put this brand new GPU in my computer and it made my computer practically unuseable. I don't know how, or why. I do know that the supplied drivers do not work- Or rather, did not work for me. Downloading the drivers also did not work, i got the same error. I seriously doubt it's Vista that's the problem, as it's been out for a while now. The Video card itself also isn't the problem, as it was displaying- I could see the screen after all. The problem seems like it was the drivers, as while it was displaying, it wasn't doing so *properly*. Also, when Vista used the standard VGA drivers for it, it did show up properly, except that my processor was still fully loaded.
This has been a trying and disappointing day, as i waited ages for it to arrive, and when it finally does, it doesn't work. I'm still going to try again, but since i have just the one PCI-E slot, it's a tedious (if not particularly long or difficult) process.
| Brand | Sapphire |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 16.51 x 6.35 x 23.5 cm; 385.55 Grams |
| Item model number | 100236L |
| Manufacturer | SAPPHIRE |
| Memory Clock Speed | 500 MHz |
| Graphics Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Graphics Card Interface | PCI-E |
| Number of VGA Ports | 1 |
| Item Weight | 386 g |