128MB DDR ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI (part #M3584)

Question

On March 15, 2004, my new DELL Dimension 8300 3.2GHz with a 120GB hard drive arrived.  I paid extra for 128MB DDR ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI (part #M3584). Within two days, after installing Windows Updates which included ATI drivers, the icons went bad on my computer.  Some icons would not be visible until I run the mouse over them, others were displaying with the left side chopped off, yet some were fine.  The text in buttons was running past the right side of the buttons.  The 'X' to close a window would always be invisible, yet if I clicked where the 'X' was suppose to be, the window would close. After emailing back and forth to Dell Support, we decided I needed to do a REPAIR INSTALL -- but that didn't help the situation.  Then we did a full reinstallation of XP Pro on March 21.  Everything was fine until I clicked on Windows Update.  The icons went bad again. I did a system restore to before I did the Windows Update and everything was fine again until I went to the Dell website to grab the 128MB DDR ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Graphics driver.  There are four out there, ending with A00 on up to A03 or A04.  I tried installing the newest one first.  The icon problem occurred again!  I restored back a few hours and tried installing the oldest (A00) driver.  The icons went funky again. I paid extra for RADEON technology and I can't even get drivers for it that will work on my system. HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM?  ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO RESOLVE IT? Thank you.

ProStreetCamaro · Answer

Simply go to www.ati.com and download the new 4.3 catalyst drivers. I have the 9800 pro in my 4600 and it works like a charm.

Twinkie1 · Answer

Thank you so much for the www.ati.com address.  The installation process was NICER than Dell's driver download installation process.  ATI gives more instructions.  I found that if I move the lever to the left in TROUBLESHOOT, full icons show up.  What does Hardware Acceleration mean?  Is it okay if I'm permanently set at the third notch from the right (to the right of the half way point)?  Or do I need to do anything further to make my system work at 'full' hardware acceleation?

ProStreetCamaro · Answer

You should be able to set it at full acceleration. Thats what mine is set at.

Twinkie1 · Answer

After I posted that last message about having to set the acceleration lever to notch #3, I ended up having to move it to the extreme left (off) because the title bar at the top upper-left side of each window had fuzzy text. Something is definitely wrong w/ my system setup. Time to call the Dell help desk because they don't want to deal w/ me via email anymore. At least now I know it's the graphics card driver that is causing the problem -- at least, I think it is.

Thanks for your help thus far. Additional comments welcomed.

ProStreetCamaro · Answer

Yeah I would call dell's support line. I havent had any issues with my system and the 9800 pro. They should be able to get your problem sorted out. I am an extream gamer and my system runs like a dream. Good luck with your problem. By the way the ati radeon 9800 pro and 9800xt are the best graphics cards currently on the market. Maybe its possible that you got a faulty card.

my system is as follows.

P4 2.4C, 80gig hdd, 1gig pc3200 memory, 9800 pro, audigy 2 sound card, windows xp pro.

Message Edited by ProStreetCamaro on 03-23-2004 11:45 AM

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