I really think this is a driver/game incompatibilty. But, to rule out the video card, contact Dell Canada Technical Support. Have them setup a "Parts Only Dispatch" to replace the Radeon HD7870 with another Radeon HD7870. If both video cards have the same issue, to me that means the hardware itself is ok. Does all of that make sense to you?
12.8 actually made it worse. The most stable driver I've tried so far was 12.7 Beta. And thanks for the info on 12.1, i'll give it a try.
As for the swap program, I work for a company that owns around 8000 Dell Computers/Servers, and purchases a few thousand every year. Typically when we've run into warranty issues similar to this, they've been willing to go out of their way to make sure things were working. I wasn't sure if this was a "keep the big guys happy" thing, or if it was an actual program :-).
As for the video settings, here's what i'm currently running:
Display Mode - Windowed (Fullscreen)
Resolution - 1280x1024
Multisampling - 8x
Vertical Sync - Enabled
Texture Resolution - High
Texture Filtering - 16x Anisotropic
Projected Textures - Enabled
Shadow Quality - Ultra
Liquid Detail - Ultra
Sunshafts - High
Particle Density - Ultra
View Distance - Ultra
Environment Detail - Ultra
Ground Clutter - Ultra
Advanced:
Triple Buffering - Disabled
Reduce Input Lag - Disabled
Hardware Curse - Enabled
Graphics API - DirectX 9 (I've noticed it crash quite a bit more with 11, so i've been keeping it at 9)
Well, my video card (Radeon HD 7870) isn't supported with the 12.1 drivers, so the earliest version I could use is 12.3. I tried 12.3 for a few hours, and guess what, still crashes.
I'm thinking that you're right Chris... I'm not going to bother with a replacement card yet, no reason to waste resources. I'll continue badgering Blizzard :-).
1280x1024 is the native resolution for my monitors (Dell 1908FP-BLK). I've been playing in Windowed (Fullscreen) for 7 years now without an issue. I try the visual themes/desktop composition when i get home to see if it makes a difference.
However, you would have a much better experience with a 22-24" wide screen monitor (especially in WoW with all the gadgets on-screen). The 4:3 monitor can be a secondary monitor.
Try running real Full Screen and Alt-Tab to Curse.com or whatever. Don't try to do serious multi-talking while playing WoW.
I'm actually running two on my alienware, and three at work.
I typically play windowed/fullscreen so i can watch something while i play. (it will crash regardless). I've been considering just going with one big one, and using a second computer for media stuff (i can't stand doing only one thing at a time).
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
•
56.9K Posts
1
August 20th, 2012 12:00
Oouter,
I really think this is a driver/game incompatibilty. But, to rule out the video card, contact Dell Canada Technical Support. Have them setup a "Parts Only Dispatch" to replace the Radeon HD7870 with another Radeon HD7870. If both video cards have the same issue, to me that means the hardware itself is ok. Does all of that make sense to you?
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
•
56.9K Posts
0
August 18th, 2012 21:00
Oouter,
We do not have a video card swap program. All of the WOW users are saying you cannot use any AMD driver past the 12.1 version.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 18th, 2012 22:00
Try a clean WoW install without any custom Add-ons.
Only use WHQL (release version) drivers. Clean install them.
Try running in full or native res. of the panel or full desktop res.. Try turning vSync ON.
RichardGK
72 Posts
0
August 19th, 2012 02:00
12.8 has just been released. Give that a whirl. I'll wanna know more about this as I was looking at getting these cards.
Oouter
12 Posts
0
August 19th, 2012 05:00
12.8 actually made it worse. The most stable driver I've tried so far was 12.7 Beta. And thanks for the info on 12.1, i'll give it a try.
As for the swap program, I work for a company that owns around 8000 Dell Computers/Servers, and purchases a few thousand every year. Typically when we've run into warranty issues similar to this, they've been willing to go out of their way to make sure things were working. I wasn't sure if this was a "keep the big guys happy" thing, or if it was an actual program :-).
As for the video settings, here's what i'm currently running:
Display Mode - Windowed (Fullscreen)
Resolution - 1280x1024
Multisampling - 8x
Vertical Sync - Enabled
Texture Resolution - High
Texture Filtering - 16x Anisotropic
Projected Textures - Enabled
Shadow Quality - Ultra
Liquid Detail - Ultra
Sunshafts - High
Particle Density - Ultra
View Distance - Ultra
Environment Detail - Ultra
Ground Clutter - Ultra
Advanced:
Triple Buffering - Disabled
Reduce Input Lag - Disabled
Hardware Curse - Enabled
Graphics API - DirectX 9 (I've noticed it crash quite a bit more with 11, so i've been keeping it at 9)
Max Foreground FPS - (Enabled) 100
Max Background FPS - Disabled
Oouter
12 Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 11:00
Well, my video card (Radeon HD 7870) isn't supported with the 12.1 drivers, so the earliest version I could use is 12.3. I tried 12.3 for a few hours, and guess what, still crashes.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
•
56.9K Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 11:00
Oouter,
Do you have any newer games you could test on the 7870?
Oouter
12 Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 12:00
I'm thinking that you're right Chris... I'm not going to bother with a replacement card yet, no reason to waste resources. I'll continue badgering Blizzard :-).
Oouter
12 Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 12:00
I recall this happening with another game once (I don't play many other games on the PC), so it was either Battlefield 3, or Diablo 3 .
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 13:00
Resolution doesn't look right. should be something like: 1920x1200 (if 16:10).
Be sure it's FullScreen (not Windowed).
And a general Win7 Direct-X tip ...
On the game's icon, Compatibility tab (if available) , make sure both are selected:
- Disable Visual Themes
- Disable Desktop Composition
Basically, this dedicates all the video card's resources to the Full Screen game (not reserving part to run the Windows fancy Aero Desktop).
Oouter
12 Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 13:00
1280x1024 is the native resolution for my monitors (Dell 1908FP-BLK). I've been playing in Windowed (Fullscreen) for 7 years now without an issue. I try the visual themes/desktop composition when i get home to see if it makes a difference.
Elfiwolfe
1 Rookie
•
90 Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 14:00
um. This sound simular to the problem I had with BF3 and HD5970.
I could not use any driver new than 12.1 without BSOD.
Took a new image of the computer to resolve the issue.
I do not know if this helps.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 14:00
Props on the UltraSharp.
However, you would have a much better experience with a 22-24" wide screen monitor (especially in WoW with all the gadgets on-screen). The 4:3 monitor can be a secondary monitor.
Try running real Full Screen and Alt-Tab to Curse.com or whatever. Don't try to do serious multi-talking while playing WoW.
Oouter
12 Posts
0
August 20th, 2012 15:00
I'm actually running two on my alienware, and three at work.
I typically play windowed/fullscreen so i can watch something while i play. (it will crash regardless). I've been considering just going with one big one, and using a second computer for media stuff (i can't stand doing only one thing at a time).