XPS 8500, AMD Radeon HD 7870, TF2 Crashes

Not a power supply issue. The Dell OEM AMD Radeon HD7870 is validated on the 460w power supply. You could upgrade to the Corsair RM650 power supply and put a newer video card in there. But I think this is an AMD driver issue based on the hits found when searching the TF2 forums.

Hi Dell-Chris, Thank you for your response.  Some questions:

1. I'd read that the HD7870 is actually rated at higher wattage than my xps power supply, but Dell validates the rating based off of the entire computer system build.  I'm wrong there?
2. If did upgrade to Corsair RM650 power supply and newer video card, do I just order that from Dell and self-install?  Does that void my warranty? 
3. As for AMD driver issue, what specifically makes you think it's that?   I have the so-called latest driver installed based on AMD's recommendation.  Do I not want the AMD latest and / or recommended driver?   Admittedly there could be driver issues -- I've read that when updating drivers is it necessary  to obliterate all previous drivers from system to do a clean install, but doing that is a little confusing.  I've also read that it's a better idea to upload drivers from computer manufacturer ( Dell? ) rather than direct from ADM, or another party's site.  Can you offer me some specific insights, on any or all of this?

Thanks

I'd read that the HD7870 is actually rated at higher wattage than my xps power supply, but Dell validates the rating based off of the entire computer system build. I'm wrong there?
* The video card memory and GPU settings are lowered on our OEM video cards to work with our power supply.

If did upgrade to Corsair RM650 power supply and newer video card, do I just order that from Dell and self-install? Does that void my warranty?
* No, not from Dell. You can find them at a local store and install them yourself. The warranty on our hardware would still apply

As for AMD driver issue, what specifically makes you think it's that?
* Based on how many users were posting issues on TF2 Forums with TF2 and that video card

Do I not want the AMD latest and/or recommended driver?
* Not always. Sometimes older drivers work better with certain older games. TF2 came out in 2007. You just have to test multiple driver versions

I've also read that it's a better idea to upload drivers from computer manufacturer (Dell?)
* Download/save our driver to the windows desktop
* Uninstall the AMD driver
* Install our driver. Reboot. Re-test

No, this did not work.

I uninstalled the existing AMD driver and then

I downloaded both Dell drivers -- I say both, since the provided link includes two different ones -- to my desktop.  I hope that was right.

I restarted and then installed both.  I started tf2 and crashed -- It took a couple minutes.

I realize that TF2 came out in 2007, but the game is maintained and receives regular updates.  There was an update today at 2:38pm my local time.  Should I look for a driver from 2007?  If so, how?  The suggested Dell drivers don't seem to have an option ( that I can find ) to install A, B or C driver.  It's just seems to be one "recommended" driver.  And AMD's official offer appears to be similar.  They have one driver.  I don't see an older driver section anywhere.  Can you help w/ a specific link to older driver download locations?

Also, I've come across other possible recommendations:

"...disabled the 2d clock and run all the time @ 3d full clock...." ( I don't know how to do this yet )

OR

""TF2 needs single core performance more than anything... AMD's CPUs just aren't that great in that department"  And a suggestion of editing autoexec.cfg file. 

Still totally stumped

Rebooted the machine from last night and now, the morning after, the machine is still having display issues -- this has nothing to do with tf2, I never launched the game or any other games.  The mouse is artifacting and the screen is flickering to black to horizontal lines, etc sometimes.   

Windows alert that display driver failed and recovered.

Device Manager claims that the hardware is working properly and that the driver is up to date ( interesting in that if the Dell driver was a previous version it should be out of date? ).

Is the card dying?  If it's a hardware issue then shouldn't the windows Device Manager mention something about?

Previous AMD drivers. No, the Device Manager cannot know if a video card is dying. I think it is time to get rid of the AMD card and move to an Nvidia card. Read through this thread.

Chris, thank you for the information.  I don't know how, or if, you'll respond but did Dell sell me a graphics card that incompatible with my motherboard?  If so, will they cover the cost of replacement?  I have to ask. 

The link you provided was very informative.  The OP also changed his PSU.  Is it possible to fore-go that and simply get a comparable card that will work with my current PSU?  If so, are you able to give me a recommendation?  The other day I was actually shopping on Dell's upgrade sales page.  It recommended mostly AMD cards and only a few Nvidias but they all seemed a little ancient.  Again, thank you for your help.  I will scrub the recommended link for myself, but do you have a direct recommendation for me?

Thank you,

Did Dell sell me a graphics card that incompatible with my motherboard?
* No.

will they cover the cost of replacement?
* No.

Is it possible to fore-go that and simply get a comparable card that will work with my current PSU?
* That has been done with the GeForce GTX 970 as reported in the midst of a long XPS 8700 thread that 8500 owners jumped in.
EVGA GeForce GTX 560
EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti FTW
EVGA GeForce GTX 970

Did Dell sell me a graphics card that incompatible with my motherboard?
* No.

**Ok.  Well, what changed in my system to make things go from bad to really bad? 

And will this work? 

EVGA GeForce GTX560 SE 1024MB GDDR5 SLI Ready Graphics Card (01G-P3-1464-KR)

If so will it work with my current PSU?

And A11 Bios?

The EVGA 560 needs a 650W power supply with 2X PCI-E power connections. Card Length is not an issue with the XPS 8500.

That card Works fine in my Inspiron 620.

Getting the power adapters in after is impossible imho but you can plug them up BEFORE inserting and then carefully put the card in.

Here is a better pic with better wiring.

8.6 aka 9 inch cards are a VERY TIGHT FIT.  10 inch Cards are IMPOSSIBLE as are 12 inch cards. On Inspiron 620 or 3847

Also, my Dell extended warranty expires today.  And I'd submitted two service requests to Dell support on Feb 8 and a second one on Feb 9.  No one has responded.  However Dell, did send me a nice pamphlet on renewing my warranty. 

Hey SpeedStep, thank you for jumping in here.  I'm on a budget and I was hoping it wouldn't require PSU replacement.  I have a feeling I wont be getting around buying / installing a new one though.  And finding that card new is impossible, and I'm not enthusiastic about buying a used one.  I bet I'll end up getting something newer / more powerful when it all shakes out.  Chris provided this thread for me to read on XPS8500 card issues and some people have installed PSUs there w/ their card updates.  I'll start there. 

Thank you very much

Hi Chris, I don't know if you're going to respond to this thread anymore but it would be helpful to hear back from you.

I finally called Dell support since they never replied to the Feb 8th / 9th Service Requests.  My warranty was one day past due, but since I had previously requested support on the previous mentioned dates they honored the warranty.  

Dell tech support tried updating my BIOS ( from A11 to A12 ).  This seemed to initially help but a few minutes in I continued having display issues.  Machine had display issues, still locked, crashed, etc.  Support is opting to go ahead replace mother board and GPU ( I'd actually had both replaced before, maybe a year earlier? ).  Both parts will be the exact same.  I have always maintained that the AMD Radeon HD 7870 has been problematic and may not jibe w/ the XPS 8500 and / or the PSU.  I told the tech guy the same.  I also asked if Dell would be willing to send me a different card, or allow me even buy a different card since they're replacing anyway.  That option was not available.  They should replace both parts in two business days.  I'll post the results after.

There is not a compatibility issue with the Dell OEM Radeon HD7870 and the XPS 8500. We also sold that same video card on the Alienware Aurora-R4. If there was a systemic issue, we would have heard about it on these Forums from thousands of customers. I think for this 3 year old system, you need to move to an Nvidia video card and possibly a higher wattage power supply.

Ok, I'm just not getting the logic of switching to an Nvidia card if the existing card is compatible.   I hear you, it's a solid machine that's sold a lot, and been successful.  

Anyway, I'm going to take the Dell hardware update.  Then have the goal to update the PSU with higher wattage as soon as I can.  Then later upgrade to an Nvidia card.  

Thank you for responding because the information is always helpful.  :emotion-1: