[ATI] AMD HD 4350 versus NVIDIA GT220 (1 Viewer)

[VdR]

I have had an AMD HD4350 in my living room client with success for a while. However I just threw it out, here is why.

I upgraded the display to a Panasonic TX-P46G30E Full HD. Different from the old Samsung this screen had to be connected through HDMI. That brought trouble.

As discussed all over the internet the AMD drivers default to underscan on the HDMI output, so you get treated on a black frame around the image. The obvious thing to do is to install the Catalyst pack to adjust the underscan to 0%.

However, the underscan setting goes back to default (black frame) every time you change refresh rate. I could not figure out how to fix that. And also, with the Catalyst pack installed, every time a full screen video stream started the image quality changed to 'very poor' (pale colors and color blocks). This was repeatable, install Catalyst is trouble, uninstall and it's ok. Here too, I couldn't find a fix.

I got so fed up trying to fix this that I went out and bought the first NVIDIA GT220 card I could find. Everything worked 100% within 10 minutes. Just installed the drivers, no additional software, no settings to tweak.

I won't easily bother with AMD anymore.

VdR

PS
For Sale: Sapphire Radeon HD 4350, the ideal HD HTPC video card

 

[daos06]

AW: AMD HD 4350 versus NVIDIA GT220

Have you also tried other versions of the catalyst drive?

 

[mm1352000]

Hi VdR

It seems like you don't want a solution for the AMD problems so I'm not sure why you posted.

And also, with the Catalyst pack installed, every time a full screen video stream started the image quality changed to 'very poor' (pale colors and color blocks). This was repeatable, install Catalyst is trouble, uninstall and it's ok. Here too, I couldn't find a fix.

Did you check whether some kind of post processing was enabled?

In any case, my HD4670 operates ***perfectly*** with Catalyst 10.4. All post processing effects are turned off, and the deinterlacing mode is set to "vector adaptive".

mm

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

I actually found my nVidia card more troublesome than the ATI cards I use.

Horses for courses.....

J.

 

[VdR]

Re: AW: AMD HD 4350 versus NVIDIA GT220

Have you also tried other versions of the catalyst drive?

Yes I have tried five versions between 10.2 and 11.5, all the same behavior.

Hi VdR

It seems like you don't want a solution for the AMD problems so I'm not sure why you posted.

And also, with the Catalyst pack installed, every time a full screen video stream started the image quality changed to 'very poor' (pale colors and color blocks). This was repeatable, install Catalyst is trouble, uninstall and it's ok. Here too, I couldn't find a fix.

Did you check whether some kind of post processing was enabled?

In any case, my HD4670 operates ***perfectly*** with Catalyst 10.4. All post processing effects are turned off, and the deinterlacing mode is set to "vector adaptive".

mm

No I do no longer need a solution for the AMD card, it has been shelved. It may still be ok for another project. I posted to share an experience, anything wrong with that?

Yes I made sure all post processing was of and I tried a million other settings in the catalyst s/w, I spend over a day fiddling around. And that is exactly is my point, it took a whole of 10 minutes to get the NVIDIA to work.

On the PC you use the HD4670 in, do you change refresh rates? That seemed the killer problem that I did not find any posting of a solution for.

Hi there,

I actually found my nVidia card more troublesome than the ATI cards I use.

Horses for courses.....

J.

Who knows what still coming towards me then

VdR

 

[Andreas26]

AW: AMD HD 4350 versus NVIDIA GT220

hi vdr,

just a simple question.....r u happy with the picture quality the gt220 delivers? i also changed from 4350 to a gt220 a couple month ago. the only reason for that was the dolphin emulator. it worked perfect on my workstation with gtx460 board. but i couldnt get it to run stable on my htpc. the performance was ok for a 4350......but it crashed after a couple seconds of fzero...lol.
so i decided to buy a gt220. doplphin was running then. now comes the BUT: no matter what settings i choosed, i couldnt get a good video quality. i was trying all settings i could find in nvidia setup and codecs.....no chance. black wasnt black....it was grey.....eben on hd movies. after 3 days of trying i decided to chance back to 4350.

that was the second time i changed back from nvidia to ati for my htpc.

a couple years ago i had a passive cooled geforce 8600 with 1 gb ram from my workstation......as i bought a bigger card for it i thought it was a good idea to spend my htpc 1 gb ram on its graphic card. ati 2600 xt out........8600 in.....
same problem....no black....only grey



8600 gt out.......2600 xt in....

sorry if i told the later story at first....lol.....had a 13 hours working day....

but what i wanted to say is......for me...... gaming and performance pcs should use an nvidia card.......everything with video and tv......ati!

andreas


forgott.....i am using a dvi hdmi adapter cause my tv also need hdmi....never had any problems

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

no chance. black wasnt black....it was grey.....eben on hd movies

Strange then that mine are fine , black is as black as the TV case, so only see picture using 16\9 LCD showing a 1:2.35 HD widescreen movie, top\bottom bars not seen.

 

[pilehave]

The ATi/AMD solution to wrong underscan is to hack the registry database:
How I fixed overscan/underscan issues on an ATI card without Catalyst Control Center [Text View] - AVS Forum

Sucks, but it works

 

[VdR]

That would probably fix it for me too then. But I did not have a single problem with the GT220, so I just leave it where it is. The AMD card just went into my sons first computer, no refresh rate changes needed, so no problem.

VdR