Graphics Problems

[cooper795]

Not specifically a graphics card related thread, but is relevant to graphics, advise me if I should have posted somehere else!

Anyway, as you've gathered, I've got some problems with graphics on my system, which I believe is due to the fact that I still have my onboard graphics enabled, as well as my two graphics cards. Ordinarily, I'd go into the device manager and disable the 'standard VGA adapter' (or whatever its called) under the display adapters section, but they're not there... I can only see my Radeon HD 5800 series, meaning I can't disable the onboard ones. So is there any other way of disabling them?

My system spec is in my siggie, running Windows 7 Professional which I've just bought if it helps.

Help would be appreiated, thanks!

P.S. I've had this problem before on Vista, when I first built the system and I solved it by installing a clean copy of Vista and before installing any ATI drivers, disabling the onboard graphics. The standard VGA adapter appeared on Vista before I installed any 5800 series drivers, but don't on my new OS. Halp!

 

[cooper795]

Bump:

Surely someone knows how to help me?

 

[Surveyor]

You can't disable the onboard GPU because it's not enabled.

P67 motherboards can't use the GPU on the 2500K so there's no option to enable or disable.

Your problems must lie elsewhere.

 

[cooper795]

Now I'm really confused. When I first install windows, before any ATI drivers are installed, an option comes up in the device manager to disable standard VGA adapter. If this isn't onboard then what is it?

 

[Surveyor]

Now I'm really confused. When I first install windows, before any ATI drivers are installed, an option comes up in the device manager to disable standard VGA adapter. If this isn't onboard then what is it?

That will be your graphics card.

Until you install the ATI drivers Windows just sees it as a standard VGA adapter.

What graphics problems are you having?

 

[cooper795]

Ahh I see.

Well, the problems I'm having include:

Poor quality text on some sites e.g. facebook, the writing isn't clear at all, and strangely, the text in my siggy on this site shows as the times new roman font rather than what I actually set it to. On my laptop it shows it all fine.

And most importantly I can't run games, FPS is extremely poor. Its as if I don't have the graphics cards installed properly, although I obviously do as they ran fine 48 hours ago on Vista and I've got the latest drivers... I had the same problem on Vista a while back, but that was somehow miraculously solved by a simple OS re-install, but that's not working this time.

I'm now worried I may have installed windows 7 twice now aswell (I've read this is possible but not 100% sure it actually is), when I did the last re-install it didn't ask for a product key and on the boot screen it showed 2 windows 7 OS options before quickly loading one. I'm so confused/clueless about software.

 

[Surveyor]

Poor quality text on some sites e.g. facebook, the writing isn't clear at all, and strangely, the text in my siggy on this site shows as the times new roman font rather than what I actually set it to. On my laptop it shows it all fine.

Have you set your output resolution to match that of your monitor?

If you have a 1920x1080 monitor then you should set the output resolution to the same.

If that's not it have you tried a different cable? Which connection are you using?

And most importantly I can't run games, FPS is extremely poor. Its as if I don't have the graphics cards installed properly, although I obviously do as they ran fine 48 hours ago on Vista and I've got the latest drivers... I had the same problem on Vista a while back, but that was somehow miraculously solved by a simple OS re-install, but that's not working this time.

All power cables connected to the graphics cards?

Crossfire bridge fitted?

Are you sure you have the correct drivers - correct operating system and 32 or 64 bit?

Download the drivers again. Start the installation and when it gives you the option uninstall the existing drivers. Restart the PC and then install the drivers again.

If this doesn't help try each card separately to make sure one isn't faulty.

I'm now worried I may have installed windows 7 twice now aswell (I've read this is possible but not 100% sure it actually is), when I did the last re-install it didn't ask for a product key and on the boot screen it showed 2 windows 7 OS options before quickly loading one. I'm so confused/clueless about software.

If that's what you've done I've no idea how to sort it.

Perhaps someone else can help.

 

[cooper795]

Have you set your output resolution to match that of your monitor?

If you have a 1920x1080 monitor then you should set the output resolution to the same.

If that's not it have you tried a different cable? Which connection are you using?

Yeah the resolution is okay, its been at 1680x1050 for about 3 years, as the monitor was also used on my old system.

Not sure what you mean by connection, do you mean the cable from the monitor into the back of the PC? If so its just the one that came with the monitor, I think. But I bought the monitor a long time ago and therefore I'm not 100% sure.

All power cables connected to the graphics cards?

Crossfire bridge fitted?

Are you sure you have the correct drivers - correct operating system and 32 or 64 bit?

Download the drivers again. Start the installation and when it gives you the option uninstall the existing drivers. Restart the PC and then install the drivers again.

If this doesn't help try each card separately to make sure one isn't faulty.

I checked the cards last time I had the problem, all cables and the bridge etc were fine. I tried both cards separately and in different slots and the problem was still there.

I'm 100% sure I've got the correct drivers as they're still in my downloads bit on firefox, and I've checked them against my OS stated in the dxdiag and they're correct.

I'd absolutely love to know how the problem was solved by a simple re-install of my OS last time.

Edit: Could it be that I don't have things like flash player and Java installed at the moment? I'm clutching at straws here as you can see...

 

[Surveyor]

Not sure what you mean by connection, do you mean the cable from the monitor into the back of the PC? If so its just the one that came with the monitor, I think. But I bought the monitor a long time ago and therefore I'm not 100% sure.

Make sure you have ClearType turned on.

Control Panel > System and Security > Appearance and Personalization > Display > Adjust ClearType Text

Turn on ClearType (if it isn't already), click next and adjust the settings.

If you're using a VGA connection I thought you might get better results with DVI or HDMI if your monitor has these options. If you're using VGA possibly the cable is at fault.

I checked the cards last time I had the problem, all cables and the bridge etc were fine. I tried both cards separately and in different slots and the problem was still there.

I'm 100% sure I've got the correct drivers as they're still in my downloads bit on firefox, and I've checked them against my OS stated in the dxdiag and they're correct.

If the problem exists with each card individually then it's nothing to do with Crossfire.

When you say you get poor FPS what sort of numbers are we talking about?

What's the rest of your system?

Edit: Could it be that I don't have things like flash player and Java installed at the moment? I'm clutching at straws here as you can see...

Can't see that those would affect games.

 

[cooper795]

Make sure you have ClearType turned on.

Control Panel > System and Security > Appearance and Personalization > Display > Adjust ClearType Text

Turn on ClearType (if it isn't already), click next and adjust the settings.

If you're using a VGA connection I thought you might get better results with DVI or HDMI if your monitor has these options. If you're using VGA possibly the cable is at fault.

Adjusting cleartype has just changed what the text looks like, but the problem still remains.

Not sure what type of connection I'm using, above where the cable is plugged in on the monitor it says 'DVI-D' if that helps.

If the problem exists with each card individually then it's nothing to do with Crossfire.

When you say you get poor FPS what sort of numbers are we talking about?

Like 5 FPS on Shogun 2, i.e. it doesn't run at all.

What's the rest of your system?

Intel Core i5 2500k
Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3
OCZ Special Ops 4GB 1600mhz
2x Sapphire HD 5850 CF
500GB HDD

i5-2500k at stock at the moment just to make sure that isn't causing any problems.

I can't understand anything that could've changed simply from installing windows 7, especially as I had the problem before and that was solved with a simple re-install of my then OS.

 

[Surveyor]

So if you look in the device manager does it now say you have two HD 5850's rather than a standard VGA adapter?

 

[cooper795]

Yeah it does, the problem still persists though.

 

[cooper795]

Here's some images if they help:

Image 1

As you can see it recognises the cards fine, and when I click on them it says 'device working properly'.

Image 2

This one shows how the font in my siggy is showing in times new roman, instead of what I actually set it as? When I solved the problem last time this started showing correctly again: really confusing.

Image 3

Shows how the text on facebook is of poor quality, although to be honest its probably not that visible on here, compared to real life.

EDIT: I did a re-install of windows earlier in hope that the problem would miraculously solve itself again. For the first time an error message came up, it was in very technical terms so to be honest I had little clue as to what it meant, but it mentioned ATI and CCC quite a lot in the error log, which leads me to believe this may be the problem. If it appears again I'll take a screen shot.

 

[Surveyor]

All a bit of a mystery.

Something seems to be messed up but I don't know what it is.

Perhaps you should try re-installing again.

 

[cooper795]

All a bit of a mystery.

Something seems to be messed up but I don't know what it is.

Perhaps you should try re-installing again.

Yep, I will do a re-install tomorrow, or after my exams, if I fail due to lack of revision I'm blaming this PC!

If the error message comes up when I re-install I'll post it on here, see if anyone cleverer than me knows what it is. If not I'll probably take it to an IT shop. Its my first build so I bet I've done something monumentally stupid/simple that's an easy fix.

 

[DTWD]

I can't help you with the games side of things but I think I know what your problem is with your browsers.

Let me guess? Just cropped up in the last few months? Didn't happen to coincide with you installed ie9 or FF4 did it?

If so you need to switch GPU rendering off.

FF: Options>Advanced - Switch off "Use Hardware acceleration when available"
IE: Settings>Internet Options -Switch off (tick) "Accelerated Graphics - Use Software rendering instead of GPU rendering*"

That will fix your funny rendering text in your browser. Now onto why it's displaying in times new roman. This could be several things, first off does any other text on the site display in Times? It's a serif font and the majority (at a quick glance everything I can see) is a sans-serif on this site. So first off check this if you running firefox:

Options>Content>Fonts and Colours>Advanced - Tick: "Allow sites to choose their own fonts, instead of my choices above". If that's already doing it then it's possibly still a browser issue, but also could be your missing the Franklin Gothic font. Check that out. The easiest way to tell is can you select it in something like Word?

 

[jonny512379]

Hello Cooper.

I think i know what your problems are (from what you have said).

First i don't think you need to reinstall your OS, as this has not fixed the issue for your last few reinstalls.

I think your problem with fonts is a simple issue.
Your Sig font it using "Franklin Gothic Medium" font. in order for you to display this font in your browser the font needs to be installed on your PC first (if it is not or there is a error with it, windows/you browser will default to Times New Roman).
To cure this first look in Windows\Fonts and see if Franklin Gothic Medium is listed there. If not do a web search, download it, install it and that should be job done. If it is there, try reinstalling it as above, or look through your browsers properties for font setting, as something there could be casing he problems.
EDIT: Just Seen DTWD's post or what he says

Facebook fonts.
As said above try adjusting clearType calibrations / try a few different monitor resolutions to check that you are using the best one for your monitor, also check that the MHZ of your monitor is set correct under display properties.
Or it could be the below.

Slow FPS
I assume that you have Just UPGRADED your copy of Windows Vista to Windows 7? and have not done a clean install, as you say you were running everything fine with vista 48 hours ago, and you still have your Firefox Downloads. If you had done a clean install your firefox downloads would not be still there (unless you use separate/partitioned HDD's).
Just because your Graphics Cards show in Device manages does not mean you have the correct or best drivers installed.
You also mention that they are the drivers you used with Vista. They are not necessarily the same drivers required for windows 7 32/64 bit (even if they seem to install ok).
I would download the latest drivers from the AMD site for your version of Windows 7 (32 bit or 64 bit) and install them (and for good measures i would also download/install the latest CCC too).
If this does not work (or you can do this fist off, if you wish) i would try to uninstall all ATI drivers and software and CCC within windows add and remove feature and also remove any traces of the ATI drivers with something like "driver sweeper" (google and download it).
I would also suggest updating all drives if you have not already done so after installing windows 7 (dont rely on the drivers widows 7 automatically installs, get the latest ones from the manufacturers). Also run all of the Windows Updates.

If all else fails, doing another reinstall is not likely to help, however a full and clean install (including formating of the HDD when asked if you would like to) is always the most fail safe way of installing. (however you will loose all saved data this way, make sure you have a back up). I never like OS upgrades as i have found this is too often problematic.

Hope all this helps and good luck with the exams (if it's an IT exam you may be in luck).

 

[DTWD]

Would it default to Times?

It's a prefered font face in the browser, so if it's missing it's down to the browser to re-interperate the page and not the OS is it not? If that's the case I suspect it would just drop back to it's default font for the forum, which is over-ridden by the same thing here:

td, th, p, li {
font: 10pt verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif;
}

 

[cooper795]

Okay, the problem has once more miraculously fixed itself.

I literally changed nothing, other than plugging in my younger brother's monitor to see if it was the cables that were the problem. When I plugged his monitor in, the problems still remained, but when I plugged mine back in a few hours later I booted up and all the problems had miraculously disappeared.

I am so confused, but happy confused!

 

[jonny512379]

Would it default to Times?

It's a prefered font face in the browser, so if it's missing it's down to the browser to re-interperate the page and not the OS is it not? If that's the case I suspect it would just drop back to it's default font for the forum, which is over-ridden by the same thing here:

td, th, p, li {
font: 10pt verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif;
}

You are right, it is the Browser that sets the fonts (but i was wondering how this works if the fonts is not installed on the PC, i don't really know the true answer as to whether the OS would offer an alternative of if the browser would...)
You have a good point, you would think it would take the font above if none were specified, but in this case i honestly dont know why it uses Times for the OP.
I was thinking along the lines of: Typically i think all browsers (although i don't know this as fact) use Times as the default font if no font it specified, maybe this rule is applying to errors with the preferred fonts too..... But i honestly dont know... it seems a strange issue.. after reading what you said i think your probably right with it is a browser setting / upgrade issue.