Drivers & Software

[tfollmer]

Acer 7551G-7606 with HD 6470M, no Intel HD Graphics.  Previously upgraded to Win 10 (year ago maybe) and got horizontal screen flicker, known issue as I understand it, so reverted back to Win 7.  Now with Win 7 end of life, thinking of trying Win 10 again on new SSD.  According to AMD site, driver I need is contained in AMD Catalyst 15.7.1 Windows 10 64 bit.  Also saw in one thread I could choose AMD HD 7400 driver to install (wrongly labeled or something) and it would actually revert to HD 6470 driver after re-start.

So looking for advice.  Anyone tell me if I will have screen flicker after moving to Win 10 64 bit with HD 6470M in my Acer 7551G-7606?  Or should I just stay with Win 7 even though end of life (love Win 7, best OS MSFT ever came up with).  TIA.

Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD Phenom II N970 64 °C
Caspian 45nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz (7-7-7-20)
Motherboard
Acer Aspire 7551 (Socket S1G4) 57 °C
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1600x900@60Hz)
ATI AMD Radeon HD 6470M (Acer Incorporated [ALI]) 61 °C
Storage
465GB Seagate ST9500325AS ATA Device (SATA ) 41 °C
Optical Drives
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7585H ATA Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

Graphics
Monitor
Name Generic PnP Monitor on AMD Radeon HD 6470M
Current Resolution 1600x900 pixels
Work Resolution 1600x860 pixels
State Enabled, Primary
Monitor Width 1600
Monitor Height 900
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0

ATI AMD Radeon HD 6470M
Manufacturer ATI
Model AMD Radeon HD 6470M
GPU Seymour
Device ID 1002-6760
Subvendor Acer Incorporated [ALI] (1025)
Current Performance Level Level 0
Current GPU Clock 100 MHz
Current Memory Clock 150 MHz
Current Shader Clock 150 MHz
Voltage 0.900 V
Die Size 67 mm²
Release Date 2010
DirectX Support 11.0
DirectX Shader Model 5.0
OpenGL Support 4.2
GPU Clock 750.0 MHz
Temperature 61 °C
Core Voltage 1.100 V
Driver version 8.783.2.0
BIOS Version BR39097.001
ROPs 32
Pixel Fillrate 24.0 GPixels/s
Count of performance levels : 3
Level 1 - "Perf Level 0"
GPU Clock 100 MHz
Shader Clock 150 MHz
Level 2 - "Perf Level 1"
GPU Clock 400 MHz
Shader Clock 800 MHz
Level 3 - "Perf Level 2"
GPU Clock 750 MHz
Shader Clock 800 MHz

[kingfish]

One issue I see moving from 7 to 10 is graphics support. The 6470 is in Legacy status already (meaning no more updates) and Microsoft seems to be having issues with graphics cards every new "Update" requiring software patches from AMD/Nvidia/etc. And Legacy graphics get no patches/updates. Probably Microsoft will offer a basic driver through Windows Update but without the AMD control panel/options.

I'm in the same boat as you....time is running out for Win7 and forced in to Win10.

But you might as well give Win10 a shot..again. What have you got to lose? Let us know how it goes.

[tfollmer]

Thanks for your response. I think what I've got to lose, is the time spent installing Win 10 if I find out I have the screen flicker issue I had previously and can't find a fix for it. I really don't understand if AMD says the HD 6470M is supported in Win 10 with their driver, why it would not be.

I will wait for other responses before deciding how to proceed and let the forum know how frustrated I become - LOL.

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[tfollmer]

Well moved to Win 10 without much problem although my Documents and Downloads Folders did not move over (thanks MSFT), but I had them mostly backed up.  Still have some minor screen flicker.  Interesting I have a HD 6470M display adapter in my Acer but the driver installed with Win 10 is a HD 7400M.  Not sure if installing the HD 6470M driver will fix the flicker or not.  Also was having very long boot time and shut down time with Win 7, that appears fixed with Win 10.  I guess I will stay with Win 10 due to end of life on Win 7 until my motherboard goes or some other thing renders my laptop dead.

[tfollmer]

Well I downloaded a driver update for the HD 7400M using Driver Hub and it eliminated the screen flicker issue totally.  Only issue I have now is AMD Catalyst Control Center keeps notifying me there is "no AMD driver installed or the driver is not functioning properly.  Please download and install the proper driver."  Can't figure out how to turn off notifications in the stupid Catalyst Control Center or if I even need it or can remove it from my system?  Think removing it will delete all AMD drivers, which I really don't want to do (although Driver Hub came up with 6 other driver updates which I have not yet installed).  Any advice appreciated but I am HAPPY.