Sounds like something is messed up in Windows itself if CCC won't load.

Have you tried using driver cleaner or another old driver uninstaller program to get rid of the leftovers that old drivers used to have after uninstalling?

Back in the day, I had a 4870x2 (bought 2 refurbs on clearance). One was faulty and since I was wanting to run them in Crossfire, I contacted the mfg and they RMAd both of them and replaced them with a pair of 6870 cards. A single 6870 was a bit faster than a single 4870x2, used a lot less power and ran a whole lot cooler.

What power supply are you using and how old is it?

cyclone3d wrote on 2026-01-26, 14:10:

Sounds like something is messed up in Windows itself if CCC won't load. […]
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Sounds like something is messed up in Windows itself if CCC won't load.

Have you tried using driver cleaner or another old driver uninstaller program to get rid of the leftovers that old drivers used to have after uninstalling?

Back in the day, I had a 4870x2 (bought 2 refurbs on clearance). One was faulty and since I was wanting to run them in Crossfire, I contacted the mfg and they RMAd both of them and replaced them with a pair of 6870 cards. A single 6870 was a bit faster than a single 4870x2, used a lot less power and ran a whole lot cooler.

What power supply are you using and how old is it?

I'm using Display Driver Uninstaller to get rid of drivers between cards swap. CCC is now giving me problems only with the 6970. the 9.12 version does work with the 4870. I tested a 11 version, but it would give me tons of artifacts.
It also used to (sometimes) work with 12.1 before. It's a bit hit or miss if it gets installed correctly. Maybe Radeon were starting to drop the ball for WinXP support when the 6970 came around.

In Unigine my 6970 gets me more than double the performances of an HD4870, so it would be more of a curiosity than a card I would keep in that system (unless some games don't like the more modern 6970 or 560ti).

The PSU is a Corsair RM750x, with a white label. It should have a few years on it's back, but I've tested it in a couple of systems under stress and it's a solid performer.

Any ideas about the powercolor 4870 bios?

You can get different bios files from Techpowerup's site. Have you checked for any other physical damage to the PCB?

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2026-01-26, 20:30:

You can get different bios files from Techpowerup's site. Have you checked for any other physical damage to the PCB?

Yeah, I saw all those BIOS files, tested a couple of them (only verified uploads, not the unverified ones) : One has the same OCd clocks, no change in behaviour, the other sligly lower clocks on core and memory, which causes heavy artifacts (maybe the BIOS isn't compatible with my memory?)

For visual inspection, I disassembled the card entirely and repasted it. Except from the slight bend (can be seen from the pictures) where the fan connector is located, the PCB appears fine and dandy.
The only way to make it work is to use either Catalist Control Center or MSI Afterburner to downclock the card to stock reference clocks: 750mhz on core solves the issues with driver crashing, while 900mhz on memory fixes the flickering issues.

That's why, instead of keep trying the BIOS lottery from techpowerup, I was asking if it would be even possible to customize a BIOS to use only those ATI reference clocks that makes the card stable. Because, if the card runs stable at those settings, maybe isn't dead (yet).

cyclone3d wrote on 2026-01-26, 14:10:

Sounds like something is messed up in Windows itself if CCC won't load.

You'll never guess... But I was FINALLY able to fix CCC by following this 15 years old guide. I was forced to because now CCC wasn't starting even with the HD4870.