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Latest ATI Radeon HD 3870 does NOT work with PowerDVD

Alex39462

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Unfortunately, there's no point buying any card with a Radeon HD 3870 chip at present because of the lack of software support to benefit from the advertised smooth blu-ray playback.
I contacted Cyberlink support today and they have confirmed that none of the current versions of PowerDVD works with this chip and they don'k now when an update will resolve this issue. I'm quite disappointed because this was my main reason for buying this otherwise great card :-(
Does anybody have similar issues? Is there any workaround like 'pretending' to have another card so that PowerDVD doesn't quit with an error message?
Thanks for any replies - I spend a lot of money on this card and would love to get it working :confused:
 
There is no "work around" Power DVD & ATI is having more than there share of problems.
 
What is this supposed to mean? Will it take them forever to get the card working with PowerDVD? Or are you suggesting that it might not work at all? In this case I'd probably return the card because there's no benefit over the one I used before...
 
What is this supposed to mean? Will it take them forever to get the card working with PowerDVD? Or are you suggesting that it might not work at all? In this case I'd probably return the card because there's no benefit over the one I used before...

Personally, I would return the card while you can.
 
Thanks for your advice - I've contacted both AMD and Cyberlink but the answer from AMD is still outstanding (they only sent a standard auto reply which didn't even relate to my issue).

Yes, I'm using the latest Catalyst v7.12 and even the latest PowerDVD but it's not working...

Well, I can only wait for new releases of Catalyst and PowerDVD or return the card which would be a shame.

However, I tried Nero Showtime last night and it seems to be working ok - some blu-ray discs don't play (BD+ ones mainly) but others play ok. Will have to do more testing after Christmas to see whether 1080p over HDMI works and what the digital image quality is like but this might be a work around for the time being.
 
Radeon HD 3870

Hi, reading Your posts got me out of a nightmare....
I was thinking to be crazy.
On th half of november I bought the new HD 3870 Radeon, to install in my media center (in substitution of HD2600XT under Vista Home Premium 32 bit) for both playing BD movies and to play games.
After installing all went good, the games run very well, so I closed the case and reinstalled ALL the home theatre equipment.
After I inserted my 007 Casino Royale BLU Ray original disc and all went fine until the main menu. As the movie started the screen went to blank...... and I could only hear the audio. I tried with Anydvd HD but the result was the same.
After hours of testing with all my BD discs (more than 15) I was capable to say that only Night at the Museum worked.......
I put off the card and reinstalled my hd 2600 XT (all went fine again...) and installed the 387 in my work PC, but the result was the same.
I've not tried Nero Player but Zoom (in soft mode, obviously, and it works - slowly and buggy- but I can see the image). The same PowDvd, in file mode, plays - only in english and I'm italian..... - the movie....
So I contacted AMD customer care, but with very disappointing results, 'cause I 've got only standard response that nothing had to do with the problem....
I see now, from Your posts, that is a problem of chip support.
I think that if it is so Amd and Cyb. will solve the problem because the number of cards they sold and the diffusion of Powerdvd is so wide that they can't simply forget the problem.
If someone knows a solution, or a different player that works, please help us, unlucky buyers of the new Ati crap.
Best regards and wishes for the new year!
spinzauti
 
I finally got a reply from 'ATI customer support' which I had to post below as it doesn't even relates to the product I was talking about. I'm really angry now because they make you buy a very expensive graphics card which claims to accelerate blu-ray playback but then doesn't even play any disc let alone accelerate anything - and if you contact their support team they send you one standard reply after another without addressing the problem - maybe it wasn't such a good idea relying on the ATI card to start with...

ORIGINAL REPLY FROM ATI CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Thank you for contacting AMD Global Customer Care for ATI Products.
In order to address your issue, we highly recommend that you have installed all the required updates (hotfixes) for MS Windows Vista.
NOTE: Please install these updates manually since these are not included in the automatic updates that you receive.
a) 737-30139: Microsoft Windows Vista Hotfixes for all RadeonT users
The Microsoft hotfixes that are listed below are recommended for people using a RadeonT based graphics card in Windows Vista.

Compatibility and Reliability:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938194
Performance and Reliability:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938979

DirectX 10 and Crossfire patch:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936710

Virtual Address Space Usage in Windows game development patch:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940105

The information in this article applies to the following configuration(s):
• RadeonT HD2900 series
• RadeonT HD2600 series
• RadeonT HD2400 series
• RadeonT X1950 series
• RadeonT X1900 series
• RadeonT X1800 series
• RadeonT X1650 series
• RadeonT X1600 series
• RadeonT X1550 series
• RadeonT X1300 series
• RadeonT X1050 series
• RadeonT X850 series
• RadeonT X800 series
• RadeonT X700 series
• RadeonT X600 series
• RadeonT X550 series
• RadeonT X300 series
• RadeonT 9800 series
• RadeonT 9700 series
• RadeonT 9650 series
• RadeonT 9600 series
• RadeonT 9550 series
• RadeonT 9500 series
• Windows Vista 32-bit Edition
• Windows Vista 64-bit Edition

Solution:
Make sure your PC is configured to install all Microsoft Vista updates available through Windows Update automatically.
Download and install the hotfixes listed at the top of this article (which are not available through Windows Update).
In addition, please ensure that you confirm that you system is compatible with MS Windows Vista - see the MS Windows Vista Hardware Compatiblity List.
https://winqual.microsoft.com/hcl/ (requires Internet Explorer 6 or higher)
Finally, ensure that you have updated your motherboard BIOS and chipset drivers (if available).
In you still experience these issues, please submit your comments through the Catalyst Crew Feedback Form for immediate consideration of your driver and software related issues for inclusion in future driver releases:
Catalyst Crew Feedback Form:
http://support.ati.com/ics/survey/survey.asp?deptID=894&surveyID=486&type=web
 
Is it too late to return the card? What brand is the card?
I personally don't care for ATI chipped cards but Powercolor and Sapphire have excellent customer service.
 
Last edited:
The card is MSI and I have contacted their customer support department as well. I'm more and more convinced that I should return the card - after all what's the point in keeping it if my media PC can't play back any blu-ray discs anymore...

I did some more testing with Nero Showtime and the blu-ray plugin and can't recommend this option either - at least not with this graphics card (although I'm not sure whether it's the card or Nero). Basically, Showtime doesn't play ANY of my original discs that have BD+ protection (with or without AnyDVD running). And it doesn't play any of my other original discs without AnyDVD running either so I guess that it doesn't recognise my system as HDCP compliant - although it is! What a mess!!!
 
FINALLY, I GOT IT WORKING!!!!!!!

After endless emails to various support teams (ATI, Cyberlink, MSI) and searching through various forums I got the answer from ATI: You must use the DVI to HDMI adapter supplied with the card in order to get blu-ray playback via HDCP working.

I was using a simple DVI to HDMI cable and spent hours trying to get it working. Now I use the supplied adapter and a HDMI to HDMI cable to my projector and HDCP works like a treat! The Cyberlink blu-ray advisor still doesn't know the graphics card but all my blu-ray discs now play with PowerDVD without any problems - great!

And I can finally recommend this graphics card because processor load is less than 15% when playing blu-ray discs with AVC codec - with my old card it was much closer to 90%. So I'm really pleased to have found a solution and that I didn't return the card too early.
 
Ok, sounds great!

How does this help us poor dumb schmucks with a standard monitor looking to simply play the content on our desktop? I am connected via DVI-DVI and all I get is a blank screen - no sound, nothing.

Though it is clear something is going on behind there.

Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
Ok, sounds great!

How does this help us poor dumb schmucks with a standard monitor looking to simply play the content on our desktop? I am connected via DVI-DVI and all I get is a blank screen - no sound, nothing.

Though it is clear something is going on behind there.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

More info about your particular problem would be helpful.
 
Here ya go - thanks!

System:

Asus Maximus Formula Motherboard
Intel QX9650 Processor
4GB RAM
Sapphire 3870 (single slot version)
Dell 3008WFP (HDCP - Connected via Dual-Link DVI)
LG GGW-H20L (BD/HD - BD Writer)
Raptor X (RAID) Boot Drives
Seagate 1TB (2) Additional Drives

Clean install of Vista (32-bit) with all updates
Catalyst 8.1 (downloaded and installed from ATI/AMD site)

PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra (from LG Drive packin)

When starting the BD/HD Checker - or when trying to play either an HD or BD disc from the drive - the entire screen goes blank - there is no audio. However, it is clear from the drive activity and keyboard interactions that the system is still humming away under there.

If I run the BD/HD Advisor (and the screen blanks out) if I wait for the activity to die down and then send the computer to sleep, when it wakes up, I get the report from the program. It shows that everything is fine except that it is unfamiliar with my graphics card. All other items are green and the 3870 is listed as unknown.

Any ideas? Anything would be helpful.

Thanks
 
That is a problem w/ATI software and perhaps includes some PowerDVD problems. Both seem to have some serious issues as of late.
I use Nvidia chipped graphics cards so I can't offer any resolutions.
However, I might be able to help you out...check your PM.
 
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