4870x2 issues

[Sir. VaSs]

How many of you 4870x2 owners have experienced any blue screen graphics crashes or anything similar?

[Sir. XaliaS]

Update your mainboard bios.

[Sir. VaSs]

how can i do that?.. I'm still new to computer construction

[Sir. TheHeartSmasher]

Go to your motherboard manufacturers website and download and run the bios update from your desktop. If they don't have one you can run from the desktop, usb stick, floppy, etc. then it is time to change your motherboard again.

[Sir. VaSs]

Do i need to backup my files before a bios update?

[Sir. XaliaS]

No data on your hard drive will be affected in any way. Bios is just like a set of instructions for your mainboard so it knows how to deal with the hardware plugged into it.

I only said bios the first time round because it seems quite a few mainboards need a bios update to understand the 4870x2 in particular. Anything could cause a blue screen in games that push your hardware. RAM for example, would be a good second bet, if the 4870x2 isn't overheating.

Some companies do write their own utilities for use under windows (e.g. updating CD drive firmware) like Heartsmasher said, but these are often thought of as 'high risk' most of the time because unless you know your OS is a) stable b) not full of viruses, anything bad could happen and you might "brick" your hardware.

The safest way to update any bios is in DOS.

1) Download the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool and the Windows 98 system files, also on the same page.

2) Get a USB memory stick (any will do, I'm using an old MP3 player) and use the tool to format as FAT and make it bootable with the boot files.

Also make sure the USB stick isn't assigned as drive A:\ or B:\ or it will give you a write-error.

3) Get your bios. Tell me what mainboard you have and I'll find them if you like.
Since I have an Abit board, I get my bios in a cool little package with awdflash, the bios and a runme.bat so it's really simple, and no need to enter the extra tags needed for awdflash to run on its own.

4) Plug in the USB stick, Reboot, stab Del or F2 to get into bios. Then re-order the boot order so your USB device boots above your hard drives. On my bios, the USB stick is recognised as a hard drive so I go into hard drive boot order, not to be confused with putting CD drive, USB-FD, ZIP drives, etc. ordering.

5) Save and Reboot again, this time your get a black screen and a command prompt. First type 'dir' to check it's reading the USB stick ok. Then (for me) I just type 'runme.bat'

You can do some pretty amazing stuff with bios actually. With my modded graphics card I edited my own bios to raise the default clocks, voltage, fan speeds and removed the boot message. I flashed the card with awdflash with my bios and for all intents and purposes I now have an 'SSC version' by default, which was about £60 more, with no strings attached.

[Sir. VaSs]

I have a bios update utility that came with the mobo - asus P5Q-E I'm guna see how i go with that 1st.

[Sir. XaliaS]

Good luck, they call it flashing for a reason.

[Sir. TheHeartSmasher]

Yep, just make sure you have a second machine sitting around for which ever route you take as if anything would go wrong, well let's just say you will need to install a new bios the same way you update/flash your bios before.

[Sir. bzb]

Actually i think step 1 should be dont buy an ATI card in the first place. They make perfectly decent cards but have a long history of not be able to combine them with PC's.