Hey everyone.
I have a problem. I upgraded to an ATI RADEON 9800 (produced by Powercolor) and I get these weird flashy dots appearing on the solid textures. I didnt have it b4 on my gf4. Does anyone know what the problem is? I have tried reinstalling, new drivers and beating my pc to bits with a cricket bat.
I need help before this ends up costing me a fortune.
In|Grid
White sparkles are usually caused by overheating of the GPU core or (to a lesser extent) video memory. This, in turn, is usually cased by overclocking of the core. Are you overclocking it? If so, reduce the core frequency (all the way back to default speeds, if needed). If not then there might be a problem with the GPU cooler. Is the fan spinning? Is the heatsink securely in place? Does it actually make contact with the GPU? Is there any thermal paste applied between core and heatsink?
You might want to try to remove the heatsink, cleaning it and applying some Arctic Silver (or some other high-quality thermal paste). Again, make sure the HSF surface is actually touching the core. The Radeon 9800 cores have a metal shim around them that in some cases are taller than the core itself. If you’re using a heatink with a flat surface, there won’t be any contact between the heatsink and the core. Google for “radeon” and “shim” to find some examples.
HTH.
Indeed, please give more information, Is this ocuring to every game? in windows? when booting? If so return your card 
Thx for the speedy response.
I am not overclocking it as it is a brand new card. Not that i know how to overclock it. Anyway, the card works fine in Unreal Tourny2004 and Neverwinter Nights, but plays up when I run Unreal 2 and Wolf ET. I have since formatted my HD and reinstalled the software and drivers, but I still have the same problem.
God knows what my computer temperature is, I dont think it is too high, the card is warm with use certainly but it isn’t hot as such. I can email pictures of what I mean, but I dont have anywhere to put them up so as they can be seen in this forum.
If you think you can help and want to see the pics, email me at: monkey@ache.co.uk
Thanks so far guys,
In|Grid
take the side door off the case and try running it like that.
Dont go taking the heatsink off because you’ll kill your warranty by doing that.
Make sure the card aint in a tight squeeze between other cards and keep the inside of the system clean from dust etc obviously.
Is it only the same official drivers but different versions youve tried? Theres a few other ATI drivers kicking about the net at places… I dunno them cos I dont use ATI tho. :]
Tip Uninstall all the drivers which comes with the Powercolor package
Then download the newest drivers from www.ati.com , also don’t forget the tip to open up your system case.
edit just noticed it was u ingrid lmfao… and i told u the prob on msn hehe.
For all the rest of you… Dell was only nice enuf to put a 250watt psu into his system and a 9800 needs a good bit of power to run correctly. Theses white dot’s normaly seen by to much heat can also becaused by poor powersupplys not feading enuf juce to run a power hungy card 
