Hi WayneFB, Have you tried downloading the 'Driver only', from the ATI web site and trying that. It has been known that the Control Center software to have given people problems. You dont need the Control Center software to run the card.

Hi RobinBredin, thanks for the tip; however it didn't work. I tried that with both ATI driver only and the recommended DELL driver. Same result as before - after the scrolling bars on Vista startup, once the driver loads the screen goes blank, the hard drive stops and I have to power down with the power switch. Thanks anyway.  Cheers, Wayne

WayneFB, I have the same problem, have you been able to find a solution?

Hi jr612,

No not as yet. i've got another machine that I am going to move the video card into and see if the problem repeats when I load the drivers. I'm guessing if it does then I've got a bad card. Tomorrow's job so I'll post again when I have a result. Cheers.

Hi WayneFB,

Well so far my Studio 540 still doesn't work with the 3650 drivers installed. So far I have (under Dell's direction) reinstalled Vista, changed the video card out twice, installed several versions of the ATI drivers, replaced the system board, and tried different memory configurations. The only thing left is the power supply and the CPU.

Did your system come with the 3650 and if so how long did it work correctly?

I'll be interested in what happens when you try your card in another system. 

Thanks

Hi jr612,

I installed the card into a DELL Inspiron 530 and the same result - as soon as I installed the driver I lost the video signal.  Googling around I've come across PSU as possibly being a player so that will be my next step. I'm assuming yours is under warranty and DELL have supplied new cards & motherboard, and surprised that DELL didn't think PSU?

What model PSU do you have? My Studio 540 has a Liteon PS-6351-2 rated at 350W with 25A on the 12V rail. My Inspiron 530 PSU is rated at 300W and only 18A on the 12V rail. From what I've read 25A might be the minimum you need for this card to operate successfully so perhaps an upgraded PSU will solve this problem. I'll update again when I've mucked around some more. By the way my Studio 540 was bought as a "second" and came with the fault. When I first turned it on there was no signal, so I found the problem after uninstalling the card.  I'm assuming the original owner got a replacement unit.

Cheers, Wayne

Hi WayneFB,

Well I may have finally may have found the problem. Kind of obvious and then again not. A flaky DVI-D cable. The cable I had was about two months old and had been working fine. But I finally got someone at Dell tech support who wasn't following a script and who thought about the problem. He first suggested I hook up the monitor to another computer and check the monitor. Checked OK. That got me thinking about the cable, even though I worked fine without the ATI Drivers. Then I decided to try another cable. Apparently the monitor and video card do some type of handshake when the drivers are loading and if thay can't the card shuts down? Anyway another new cable and everything seems to be ok now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This has been a pain...

jr

Hi jr612, Well good news for you, not so here! I went and bought a Coolermaster 650W PSU and before i installed it I thought I'd try out your fix. Tried two different DVI cables, one brand new, and neither worked. Just for info the AMD site for the Radeon 3600 series video cards recommended a 400W PSU so that was another reason to swap.  Installed the 650W PSU with superflous cables sticking out everywhere (most now jammed in to spare drive bays)!!   Booted up in anticipation and nothing happened...same result as always.  Conclusion: the card doesn't function properly. God knows how it can work in simple VGA mode but cease when its driver is installed. I've just about given up because I just don't know what else to do. I suppose I could try it in a Windows XP environment and see if that makes any difference. What the heck!!

Cheers, Wayne

ps this has been a big big pain ita!!

Try using the catalyst uninstaller? I always had to use it to update the ATI drivers and one reason I switched to NVIDIA.

Here is a link to the program that will help you get a clean install.

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Others/ATI-The-Catalyst-Uninstaller-10.shtml

Dennis Hain

Hi guys, on your studio 540, can you use your HDMI port on your 4670HD card? My 3450 card has a HDMI port, but I cannot use it because it was blocked by the computer case. I am just wondering that if this is true for all the studio 540 model.

Thanks.

Hi guys, on your studio 540, can you use your HDMI port on your 4670HD card? My 3450 card has a HDMI port, but I cannot use it because it was blocked by the computer case. I am just wondering that if this is true for all the studio 540 model

I guess not. Anyway, if you have a mini-tower case then hdmi port shouldn't be blocked

well, you can see the HDMI port, but there is a metal strip point out near the pcie slot. This strip wont affect dvi port, but will block a HDMI cable if you want to plug it in.

Dear dennishain,

Thanks for the suggestion regarding the catalyst uninstaller however I've just about given up now. I did a clean install of Vista on my Inspiron 530 desktop with a brand new Coolermaster 650W power supply installed and the same problem presented. As soon as I loaded the ATI driver the screen went black and the computer stopped responding.  I even installed the card in an Optiplex 960 desktop and same thing happened.  Also tried connecting the monitor via HDMI and still no joy.  Time I think to ditch the video card and buy another.

I think I can safely close this thread and will do so soon. I'm going to donate the video card to my local computer supplier and see if they are interested in playing around with it.  I'll close this thread after I speak with them.

Thanks again for your ideas.

Cheers, Wayne

ps

Dear aseu,

With all due respect the thread concerns a particular problem relating to installation of drivers for an ATI 3650 video card.  You just maybe a little off topic here!

Contact the card manufacturer, maybe there is a firmware update.

Good luck,

Dennis Hain

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for the last tip...been busy so I haven't followed that one up yet. Once I have done so I will report back.  Cheers.

Wayne