ATI 4850 issues: is it the card or this game?

[hacknslash]

Just started playing IT again the past month after a long break. Had 8800GTS 640 before and had a lot of rubber-banding but generally it was playable.

Now with this 4850 and a new Intel proc e7200, I've experience massive slowdowns like fighting Hades at 16FPS with 3 different toons, screen tearing and artifacts at salt pools in Act 4, stuttering sound and even more massive rubberbanding so delayed it makes my PC beeeep. So I think it is the video card at this point and I'm emailing their tech. Anyone else have these issues with this card?

Now starting back at Greece, screen tearing has become horrible turned off AA and set video sync, same issue.

[DirtySanchez]

Sounds like your card is not getting enough juice. Check your power supply.

[GWarrior]

any other games play badly ?

[hacknslash]

I'll test some other games. I finished Bioshock a couple months ago without issue and had put some time into Oblivion and The Witcher with no problems. Powersupply is a good idea. It is rated high enough but maybe something has gone bad. I'll also try my 8800 again and see if there is a difference.

[jcushing]

if 3dmark06 will run smooth, id say its the game

i have a 4850 and it runs the game great. try the fanpatch, and other performance improvements to the game

[DirtySanchez]

The power plug that comes from your PSU and runs to your video card....are there any other pieces of hardware attached to that? In between the card and the PSU or does your PSU have a dedicated PCI-E power cable.

What PSU are you running BTW? Could be it's low on the amperage rating.

The reason I'm thinking it's the PSU is your card has a warning alarm if not plugged in. A significant drop in amperage or voltage could cause this to "beep" when a optical or hard drive spins up.

[jcushing]

what version of the catalyst drivers are you running, 8.7 or later fixes the fan speed issue, you could be over heating a bit?

[hacknslash]

UPDATE: I fixed this tearing issue by reinstalling ATI drivers. Which means I guess I must have clicked something in control panel that I shouldn't have. So all is well with the fps and visuals, running smooth again.

Catalyst 8.7. Temps idle at 70, right after gaming 82 is highest I've seen.
Powersupply is 550 watt with dedicated pci-e cable. NHXT brand (make cases)

[DirtySanchez]

That PSU is a little low in the amperage rating for your card. If your "beeping" continues I'd look into a new psu with a higher amperage rating. At least 30-40amp on the 12v rail.