Guys, I have an early 8790 with the 1440x900 screen. After buying it I must say I havent had a single problem with laptop until yesterday. 
I went to GameStop and picked up a copy of Civilization IV, not knowing that they are having issues with the ATI video cards. Installed the game it didnt work, so I followed there instructions on the web to get the ATI card to work, one of the steps req. removing the current ATI drivers you are using
so I did it, an the rest of the steps and finally got the game working.
Problem was everything else was broke! Media Player would lock and freeze the whole laptop and Realplayer wouldnt even play. So I uninstalled the Civ and took it back to the store, but now I have a broken 8790.
When I first got it I emulated Adams settings to boost the vid card, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what drivers I had used originally. So I came here an wow you guys have been having quite a few vid problems!
So I started reading here an following the advice in previous posts, which none of them worked.
Anywho thats the background to make this short heres a couple things you can do if you find yourself in a similar situation.
A) If it aint broke don't fix it, the 8790 does seem to have video issues so if your video is fine, leave it alone.
B) If you HAVE to upg - If running XP make sure your System Restore is active (mine wasn't) after u do the upgrade immediately test all your video applications. (ie Media Player, Real Player, Games, Photoshop etc.etc.) If everything is not working 100% goto system restore and restore your system to the way it was before.
C) If its to late and you are already having these problems,
Then be aware the 8790 is VERY sensitive to video drivers. Goto www.driverheaven.net I recommend the Omega Drivers, the version I got to work for me was rad_w2kxp_omega_2544.exe (Catalyst 4.5). The problem is different vers are working for everyone with a vid problem it seems. So you may have to do trial an error an work your way up to see what gives you the best results, It is critically important that you completely uninstall the non working drivers each time an reboot, between each trial. The Omegas also allow some fine tuning so once I got the apps working I was still getting some artifacts, but was able to tweak my setting with the software to resolve those issues.
Hope this helps out some, and if you have any questions ask it here an I will try to respond as fast as possible. Other than that my 8790 has been completely trouble free since purchase, I do clean and blow the dust out regularly but I am still very pleased with my purchase.
I went to GameStop and picked up a copy of Civilization IV, not knowing that they are having issues with the ATI video cards. Installed the game it didnt work, so I followed there instructions on the web to get the ATI card to work, one of the steps req. removing the current ATI drivers you are using
so I did it, an the rest of the steps and finally got the game working.Problem was everything else was broke! Media Player would lock and freeze the whole laptop and Realplayer wouldnt even play. So I uninstalled the Civ and took it back to the store, but now I have a broken 8790.
When I first got it I emulated Adams settings to boost the vid card, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what drivers I had used originally. So I came here an wow you guys have been having quite a few vid problems!
So I started reading here an following the advice in previous posts, which none of them worked.
Anywho thats the background to make this short heres a couple things you can do if you find yourself in a similar situation.
A) If it aint broke don't fix it, the 8790 does seem to have video issues so if your video is fine, leave it alone.
B) If you HAVE to upg - If running XP make sure your System Restore is active (mine wasn't) after u do the upgrade immediately test all your video applications. (ie Media Player, Real Player, Games, Photoshop etc.etc.) If everything is not working 100% goto system restore and restore your system to the way it was before.
C) If its to late and you are already having these problems,
Then be aware the 8790 is VERY sensitive to video drivers. Goto www.driverheaven.net I recommend the Omega Drivers, the version I got to work for me was rad_w2kxp_omega_2544.exe (Catalyst 4.5). The problem is different vers are working for everyone with a vid problem it seems. So you may have to do trial an error an work your way up to see what gives you the best results, It is critically important that you completely uninstall the non working drivers each time an reboot, between each trial. The Omegas also allow some fine tuning so once I got the apps working I was still getting some artifacts, but was able to tweak my setting with the software to resolve those issues.Hope this helps out some, and if you have any questions ask it here an I will try to respond as fast as possible. Other than that my 8790 has been completely trouble free since purchase, I do clean and blow the dust out regularly but I am still very pleased with my purchase.
but a fun game (if it'll run).
