Bootcamp - Windows 8.1 - Mac Pro (Late 2013) -- ATI Driver Crash

Question

Hi All,
I have a open case with Apple as well on this but i can not seem to locate any information on this issue on the web at all.
Case: 601052633
Basically, we received a new Late 2013 Mac Pro, and out of the box proceeded to install bootcamp and windows 8.1.
After the install and the bootcamp drivers are installed the screen starts to display lines and the ATi drivers eventually crash.
If we uninstall the ATI drivers the screen is returned to normal and windows uses the generic drivers, however the graphics performance is degraded.
If we install the latest ATI drivers (downloaded directly from the ATI webpage) the display issues reoccur.
If left to run its path the screen becomes unreadble and eventually the system bluescreens.
To recap all the things I have done:
Straight out of the box we started the boot camp install. We use the latest Windows 8.1 Media.
Once the process is completed the PC reboots as normal and we install windows on the “BOOTCAMP” partition.
Windows installs without issue and when the bootcamp drivers window pop’s up it starts its install. At the “Chipset” drivers install the window starts to flicker, this appears to be normal but afterwards the screen shows “lines” on it. (these lines can be seen on image below)
Once windows is booted the lines remain and progressively gets worse. Image below shows the ATI Criver crash and the blue screen. This takes 2-5 seconds. And depends on how much you move on the screen.
Screen capture (shown Below) shows the issues, even with screen capture the issue is recorded.
If we uninstall the ATI display drivers the issue disappears.
Process of tests:
Install Bootcamp windows 8.1 on Mac pro 2013 out of the box – Issue recorded
Remove Bootcamp and update firmware on Mac.
Install Bootcamp windows 8.1 on Mac Pro 2013 – Same issue.
Updated ATI Drivers using ATI drivers off ATI website – Same issue
Uninstalled ATI Drivers – 2 Generic Microsoft video cards detected – issue removed but video performance degraded.
Updated Bootcamp Drivers – ATI drivers reinstalled – Issue returned
Removed bootcamp, restored system to factory settings via web install.
Installed Bootcamp windows 8 on Mac Pro 2013 – Same issues
Removed bootcamp restored System to default
Tried installing windows 7 – not supported
Installed Windows 8.1 and ran screen captures and diagnostics.
We have also tried using different display ports, Different display adaptors, Different monitors.
Mac OS is not affected.
Note Mac is “out of the box”, Windows is a next next next install. No changes or software is installed.
Any support would be appreciated.
Cheers
Steffen.
It Manager.

Answer 1

I had this exact same issue and had been hunting it down since i first received my Mac Pro back in May 2014. I researched the problem all over the place but I have no idea why i did not find this post, or in fact why Apple techs did not find this post either.
Bottom line: In my case I have pretty much proved this was a problem with the AMD FirePro D300 video card/s. They basically can't cope with Windows graphics needs.
I have a new Mac with D500 cards, and now the problem is almost completely gone. I can recreate if i run certain situations and a screen saver. Upon refresh, there is a chance the card will crash, but showing a slightly different outcome.
Having read the prior posts, the D700 may also have the same issue??
Longer story and background: I am not exactly an expert, but i did try many different things and probably spent in excess of 200 hours onto tech support and installing, reinstalling, trying different monitors, trying different software. Eventually i was so frustrated and in tears with this issue.
The major problem over all this time was the constant response from Apple that this was not an Apple issue since the Mac OS was not showing any issues.
I was at the time a new Mac convert, my brother had purchased the 'awesome' machine for me as a birthday gift, with the goal that we could play a specific game together. My disappointment in Apples inability to recognize or even attempt to recognize that this was related to the hardware in the Mac itself was constant and ongoing.
My final visit to the Apple store to again visit the 'Genius' bar came up yet again with the most senior tech in the store telling me that there were no problems identified with the hardware and that this was not their issue. Totally frustrating. I was rather hoping, in the good tradition of true geeks, that this would have been a challenge to hunt down. I was pretty sure they trusted me that this was not a standard Windows issue, and thus was hoping they would switch out individual pieces of components (video cards being my first choice) to see if that the problem repeated. Nope, didn't want to do it.
My response was to threaten with legal action - not something i enjoyed doing, plus that i would NEVER buy an Apple product again. Since I was a new business client, this may have had an impact.
This wonderful Manager at the store agreed that he wanted to take the hardware out of the equation and see if I still had the issue. So he, amazingly, agreed to refund in full for the machine and I could order a new one.
As i was convinced this was hardware related, since I had the Quad core, D300's, 12 gig machine and my brother had the top of the range six processor, D500s, 16gig memory machine which did NOT have this issue, running identical software, when i reordered the Mac Pro, I bumped it up to the D500s (still Quad core) and 16gig of memory (also had the 1TB drive partitioned 40/60 in bootcamps favor).
I tentatively installed windows after a couple of days of normal Apple usage (software updates included).
I then hammered the system with the same software and installs.
Its been up and running for perhaps 2-3 weeks now, and I have not seen the issue at all, other then when i had screen saver running and 4 instances of the game running (Everquest for those of you who are interested - but the software is almost irrelevant, since i have had this issue using internet explorer or Chrome).
So..  I urge Apple to review this issue with the D300s and either remove them from the configuration options or resolve the issue. One of the powerful selling things for this wonderful machine is its ability to run Windows in native mode. I like it because I also want to get into App Development, so the dual option boot option is just what i wanted.
Responding to us poor Windows installers with 'not my problem' simply isn't good enough and should never have been something i had heard.
All good now, I am happy with the end result, but I would like Apple to recognize this IS AN ISSUE THEY NEED TO ADDRESS.
I apologize if my technical knowledge is not a strong as it might need to be in relaying this information to you guys, but hopefully it all makes sense.
Paul