Atikmpag.sys BSOD, related to HD4850?

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Stealthy Meatloaf

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Hey, all.

About a month and a half ago, I upgraded my PC. I installed a new mobo, CPU, and some new RAM into a new case. I also switched over my graphics card, which is a Radeon HD 4850, my HDD, my PSU, and everything else from the old PC. Here are my current specs:
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3
CPU - Phenom II X4 955
RAM - 4GB DDR3
GPU - Radeon HD 4850
PSU - 750W

I'm running this all on Vista 32, unfortunately. I hadn't bought an OS on it's own because Vista 64 was loaded onto the computer I was using before I upgraded, and it didn't come with any backup disks. (I wasn't aware that I needed to re-install the OS onto the new motherboard, and a Vista 32 bit disk was all I had laying around). I'm looking to upgrade to W7 64 very soon, though.

Anyway, I added my 750W PSU and the 4850 to my old computer about a year ago, and the card has worked fine (for the most part). When I upgraded a month and a half ago, everything worked perfectly for a week. But one day I put in my copy of FIFA 12, and after about an hour, my game froze up for a few seconds, then the screen went black, and then I got my first glimpse at the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. Because it was my first BSOD, I shrugged it off. I hadn't gotten it for 2 or 3 days after that, though it happened again on that third day. After about a half hour of playing, I got the BSOD again. It was strange because for the first few times, I was only getting it when I played FIFA 12, and not any other games (eg. Team Fortress 2, Borderlands)

After a week of encountering the BSOD in FIFA 12, I started to get it in other games as well. It happens in almost every game that was released in the past 5 years (It also ONLY happens in games). I'm now lucky if I get less than 3 a day.

At the top of the blue screen, it says that it failed to recover a display driver. At the bottom, it says "atikmpag.sys" followed by the code "0x00000116".

Come to think of it, my card did have some problems when it was in the old PC. Every so often when playing a game, it would freeze up, just like it does now, the screen would go black, and after about 10 seconds the game window would come back up. It was followed by the "A display driver has stopped but has recovered" message. This happened much less often, only after the computer's been on for many hours on end.

What could be causing the error? It has to be something to do with the GPU, right? Also, is there anything else you might need to know about my PC/the error to help me fix the problem?
 
Solution
atikmpag.sys is indeed GPU related and very often driver related. I've had a few playing BF3, which there are some known issues with that one (I also was getting them in RAGE until the second patch and some custom config files).

Sometimes doing a full driver reinstallation can fix it (make sure to uninstall, driver sweep, redownload the new drivers, and then install from scratch)
I agree on checking that the 4850 cooler is totally dust free. Easy way is to blow a compressed air cleaner through, better is to remove the shroud and see for yourself.

Other than that you can try a full driver sweep and reinstallation.

You might want to monitor your temps, again as rolli said. GPUZ works fine, MSI Afterburner too.
 

Stealthy Meatloaf

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My temps seem fine, I've never seen them higher than 55C, and I got everything dust-free when I transferred them. Like I said, it's been doing something similar ever since a month or so after I got it, but it was just an insignificant error. Maybe it's just time for a new card? I was planning on an ASUS EAH6950 anyway.
 

Stealthy Meatloaf

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I played 5 hours straight of MW3, and played some GTA IV today. Didn't get one blue screen. I have no clue what's causing it. My friend, who also owns a 4850, has been getting BSODs all week. His comes up with atikmpag.sys, too. Maybe it's the drivers? I believe the ATI drivers were updated around early October, when I started getting them.
 
atikmpag.sys is indeed GPU related and very often driver related. I've had a few playing BF3, which there are some known issues with that one (I also was getting them in RAGE until the second patch and some custom config files).

Sometimes doing a full driver reinstallation can fix it (make sure to uninstall, driver sweep, redownload the new drivers, and then install from scratch)
 
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Stealthy Meatloaf

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That's exactly what I did after I posted the last thing. Hopefully it fixed it because I haven't gotten anything yet, but who knows. It could always spring up in a few hours.

Skyrim's almost downloaded, so we will see what happens.
 
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