The HD 3850 AGP User Experience

[pyrocrickett]

... About 50% of the people say use the "hotfix" version of the driver and the other 50% say use the regular (non hotfix I guess) version. Some claim that the hot fix is, in fact, a hotfix while other claim that the hotfix drivers are standalone drivers that just include the hotfix. ... ATI driver or Sapphire's? Hotfix or not? Latest version or some version that actually works? ...

feddup, I regularly use ATI's latest AGP hotfix driver. The hotfix driver is little more than the mainstream driver with the AGP cards' device IDs added to the INF. So if you know, for instance, that the AGP 3850's device ID string is "DEV_9515" instead of the PCI-E's "DEV_9505" you could just manually edit the mainstream driver's INF & achieve the same effect. What I'm currently using, however, is a hand-edited version of ATI's latest mainstream driver for Windows 7 64-bit, though only because there isn't a Win7 version of the AGP hotfix.

So to summarize my answers to your questions: ATI driver, hotfix, latest version. Good luck!

PS - You may not have the same issue as you're not on a VIA chipset -- which is the chipset family that seems to cause the overwhelming majority of problems -- but I've found that if you're running into stability problems after getting the card & driver installed, try dropping the AGP bus to 4x. It's worked like a charm for me.

 

[feddup]

Thank you for your quick response. One more thought occurred to me while pondering the issue. The machine in question (XP SP2) hasn't been updated for while. On purpose i keep my favorite machine off the internet, on purpose, for security reasons. I think I better have M$s latest .net (3.X? whatever) before installing CCC (yes I actually like CCC) shouldn't I? I also noticed that Sapphire's "hotfix" drivers seem exactly the same in size as ATI's. Could it be that they're exactly the same? They even show up with an ATI logo once downloaded. Again I want to thank you for responding. Until I viewed my own post I hadn't realized that I was in an AMD forum. I didn't want to offend anyone. Between my entire family I've built four Intel 875P systems with the idea that the parts would be interchangeable. I started with Intel and for good or bad that's what I've got. I almost wish the 875Ps would die so I could get a Quad core etc and move on. Thank you again for your advice! Any further wisdom will also be appreciated!

 

[feddup]

feddup, I regularly use ATI's latest AGP hotfix So to summarize my answers to your questions: ATI driver, hotfix, latest version. Good luck!.

Do you mean use the hotfix version of the driver (I'm not sure there's any other for AGP) or apply the driver then the "hotfix"? I'd like to slap some ATI people for not clarifying this issue. I've been an ATI "fanboy from day one but driver installs have quite often been problematic.

 

[pyrocrickett]

Do you mean use the hotfix version of the driver (I'm not sure there's any other for AGP) or apply the driver then the "hotfix"? I'd like to slap some ATI people for not clarifying this issue. I've been an ATI "fanboy from day one but driver installs have quite often been problematic.

Sorry for the confusion: I only use the hotfix driver. ATI's hotfix driver isn't a patch you apply after using the mainstream driver; it's a self-contained standalone version of the driver & CCC package. You can bookmark ATI's AGP Hotfix page (http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/CatalystAGPHotfix.aspx) as the address stays the same & they just update it with each new Catalyst release.
To address your other points, yes, I do believe you'll have to have the latest MS .Net, though I'm fairly certain that the driver package from ATI has that included; it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Sapphire's driver package is identical to ATI's (save for perhaps some Sapphire-specific vendor/product IDs added to the driver's INF). Finally, no worries about having an Intel-based PC: this isn't an AMD-only forum; the "AMD Flavor" only refers to AMD-made (i.e. ATI) video cards. You're in the right place!

 

[feddup]

Thanks again for the feedback! I searched for days and in several other threads on other forums this particular thread was said to be THE place where people had been fighting with this card the longest. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[kniaugaudiskis]

In case you have HD3850 AGP with device ID of 9515, you can flash it with Sapphire, Club3D HD3850's BIOS in order to be able to use official ATI drivers without any further modifications.

 

[feddup]

I've flashed many motherboard's BIOS's but would have no clue as to how to flash a graphics card. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. I'm stalling until I get my security software and then update xp the the latest version of M$'s .net framework. I've got the card but am proceeding cautiously. I use my least valuable PC to surf the net and the one I'm going to put the card in has no decent firewall (XP's isn't) no AV and hasn't been updated in a year. If I'm going to install ATI's latest CCC I'm betting that having the latest .net version is a good idea. I imagine that Club3d somewhere, if I search, has instructions on flashing a GC bios is somewhere around. My old motherboard has the latest bios and will get no more since it's now a "legacy" part! My wanderings around ATI's site did yeaild the fact that the 9.3s would be the last drivers for my 9800XT, 1650PRO (junk) and my X1950XT ALL of which I thought were the ultimate AGP cards at the time. I'm a slow learner sometimes. I still couldn't resist the HD3850 for $95 AR. Thanks for the help and guidance. I'll inform you of the outcome.

 

[HEVIHITR]

hi, so im new here, found the place due to looking whats available in an aftermarket cooler for my 3850, tho seems like the cooler i have is good, well from what i read anyway.

i guess i should post specs

GPU - HIS ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP 512Mb - device ID [1002 - 9515]

 http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/5czr4/

CPU - AMD X2 4400

 http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=601448

so far i love this card, went from a 9600Xt to a 2600HD up to this beast, the HIS 3850HD, all within about a year, I know im a little behind in the specs game, still running 939, but hey i work with what i have, only thing i've had probs with is the driver thing, you guys know what i mean, driver wise im using the latest HIS drivers [2/06/2008 based on, well im not sure, catalyst i guess] havent been on the HIS site for a while, maybe there is an update, lol yeah sure.

only bench i've run so far is furry bench, pretty cool bench, i wanna get some others, later on tho, i've got alot on my mind, furry got me min 39 max 58 avg 45 @ 1920x1080, i dont know how good that is for a 3850, anyway thats me i guess, i am planning on reading this entire thread, prolly after i post this, seems like alot of good info.

-h