No Zytrons In Range

I recently sent a ticket to AMD/ATI about a problem I was having with a recently purchased video card. Their website was extremely confusing, so the ticket went in looking something like this:

Type of Inquiry: PC support
Bus Type: PCI Express
Operating System: WINDOWS VISTA
Driver Version: Other
Other Driver Version: 2007.1220.2143.38732
Category: Solve a Problem
Topic: Display
Sub-topic: Games
Graphics Manufacturer: MSI
Vendor: Not Sure
Application: Other
Application Name: Arx Fatalis
Product: Other MSI (Uncertified)

Summary: Use Centered Timings doesn’t work
Details: Your menu above is really confusing. The version number from the ATI thing is the 2007.1220.etc, but it only gives options for like 8.1, 8.2? Also, my Radeon 2600xt isn’t listed under MSI, does that mean it’s “uncertified?” What does “uncertified” mean?

Anyway, when I turn on the “Use Centered Timings” option for my Dell 20″ widescreen DVI monitor, Arx Fatalis still fills the entire screen when it switches the monitor mode to 1280×1024 (the maximum it supports), distorting the image. What do I need to do to get “Use Centered Timings” working correctly?

I count four questions there. Here’s the response:

SOLUTION

Based on our experience, lockups and hangs issues are usually due to improper
system configuration, driver issues, faulty hardware, or a known issue between
a given application, driver and hardware in use.

Please click the link below for more information:

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=28022

If the information above does not resolve your issue, please respond to your
ticket in order to get assistance from our qualified support representatives.

Thank you for choosing AMD!

I love the confidently-written word “Solution”, complete with boldface and all-caps, placed directly above a block of text which isn’t even close to being a solution to my problem. Not only did it not answer my four questions, it doesn’t answer any questions relevant to my ticket. I’m sure some computer randomly selected this response based on some keyword in my submission, but damned if I can even figure out what keyword it is.

All I can say to AMD/ATI is:

BTW, “Use Centered Timings” actually only works with non-standard resolutions. If you set your monitor to a standard resolution, like 800×600 or 1280×1024, it lets the monitor make the decision on whether to letterbox or scale it. After I put that ticket in, I went to the monitor controls and found the option on my monitor, so the problem is actually resolved now. I wouldn’t mind knowing why ATI even has that option, if it doesn’t work most of the time, but I guess that’ll remain a mystery.