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March 31st, 2014 23:00

AMD fix or shift to NVIDIA?

 I've recently encountered the atkmpag.sys bsod and have done a couple of steps to try and fix it (ie clean OS install, clean gpu drivers install, trying multiple amd versions) and eventually ended up using Driver Tuner to find me the gpu drivers that would stop the BSOD and disabling one of my graphic cards. I'm planning on re-applying thermal paste on the GPU's this weekend in the hopes that I will be able to use crossfire again.

Can I still do something to resolve my BSOD problem or would upgrading to NVIDIA cards a better way to go in the long run? If so, what nvidia cards are compatible with my system? And can I also upgrade my processor? 

6 Posts

April 1st, 2014 06:00

to compare grafix cards go to www.game-debate.com

1.8K Posts

April 1st, 2014 16:00

Hi!

Can you please provide the entire BSOD error code? You can follow the steps here to pull it up using Blue Screen View.

Also, provide the model name and revision for the Alienware you own so I can find which NVIDIA Video Cards are compatible with it. 

4 Posts

April 1st, 2014 21:00

Thanks for the link tlmyasirs, I'll definitely look into it.

Hello Naomi!

Here is the entire stopcode:

S Is it upgradable? 

CrossFireX™ 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 7970M

32gb Corsair Vengeance (upgraded from the 8gb)

Windows 7 Pro 64bit (upgraded from Win 7 Home Premium)

It has been 4 months since I did my ram and OS upgrade and it was working fine right until the night before I started getting the bsod ( I was using photoshop and premiere ). A few hours later, I started it up again and got the bsod. I found out if I disabled one vid card (the second one listed in Device Manager) it will boot up fine.

I saw the stop error in the link that you provided and will try the steps given to fix it.

I hope I provided the right info and thanks for the help Naomi.

1.8K Posts

April 2nd, 2014 09:00

Thanks for the info!

After you try the steps on the article, if the issue persists I recommend replacing the Video Card. This replacement can be covered if you're still in warranty, you can add me as a friend and send me a personal message with your Service Tag and I'll review your case further.

You also wanted to know which NVIDIA cards are compatible with your system, here's the list of verified Video Cards:

  • GeForce GTX 660M
  • GeForce GTX 675M 
  • GeForce GTX 680M (better performance than AMD 7970, check Videocard Benchmarks)

To upgrade the CPU, the fastest ones compatible with this system are:

  • Intel® Core™ i7-3920QM - 8MB - 2.9 GHz (up to 3.9 GHz with Turbo Boost)
  • Intel® Core™ i7-3920XM - 8MB - 2.9 GHz (up to 4.1 GHz with Turbo Boost)

Hope this information helps!

4 Posts

April 2nd, 2014 10:00

Thanks Naomi! I, unfortunately, am not under warranty anymore so I'm looking at  buying the parts online and installing them myself. So this is most likely one of my cards failing right? (I'm running on just one 7970m, the other one I disbabled).  I'll try the steps on the article plus thermal re-pasting first. Thank you for your help Naomi.

1.8K Posts

April 2nd, 2014 12:00

Yes, that's right. I'm glad I was able to help, just let me know if you need anything else!

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