• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Doom3 artifacting on 9800XT

P

PlayMoreWithClaymore

n00b
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
5
I recently purchased Doom3 and noticed heavy artifacting. I don't have anything overclocked in my system, everything is running@stock speeds. I was thinking that maybe it might be a hardware problem and checked to see if the artifacting appeared on my other games. I played FarCry, CounterStrike, and Unreal T2004 with no problems. I have version 4.8 Catalyst drivers and thinking about rolling back to 4.7 since my friend with the same video card had no problems playing Doom3. There's about half a dozen people in my shop with Doom3 and they have yet to report any problems. Most of them are using Nvidia though.

Pentium 4 3.0ghz
Abit AI7
1gig of Kingston HyperX
ATI 9800XT
 
check that the heatsink on the 9800XT is clear of dust and any other blockages. I had a similar problem when i had my XT and found it was just dust in the HSF causing it to heat up.

If it is clogged get a can of air and spray it thru until its clear. Also if you have anything in the PCI slots below try shifting them down a bit so as to clean up air flow a bit.
 
Yeah, artifacts in Doom3 are usually the result of the core overheating. A friend of mine had the same problem, so you have two options. Either buy a custom HSF for your card, or simply underclock the core speeds slighty - until the artifacts go away.
 
Thanks for the reply, I just received the video card a week ago. It's hard to believe that during that time it accumulated that much dust. If it is a heat problem, are there any good VGA coolers..?? Here are my VGA temps:
60C idle
72C under load
Are those temps too high..?? :confused:
 
PlayMoreWithClaymore said:
Oh, I forgot to mention one thing...are white little speckles all over the screen constitute as artifacting..??
Click to expand...

yeah for sure.

The temps sound ok to me actually. Mine used to idle at 71*C :rolleyes:

Try taking the card out just check the HSF, reseat it in the slot and reseat the power connecter. See if that helps.

If not then try installing the drivers. Report back and we'll see if we can help anymore

EDIT:

I notice you say you only got it a week ago. Perhaps its a duff card and Doom 3 is the only thing that has taxed it enough to make the problem apparent???
 
If my 9800XT is a duff card, then I'm glad I (or actually SyphonFilter) caught the problem early versus a year later. But all my other games are running perfectly fine (e.g. Farcry, UT2004 etc). I get higher CPU temps playing FarCry than playing Doom3, which is only a 3-4 F difference. Should I upgrade my stock VGA cooler and if so what's the best one out there..?? I heard that ThermalTake has some nice ones.
 
but that might invalidate your warranty and then if it is a duff card you can't get a new one :(
 
PlayMoreWithClaymore said:
If my 9800XT is a duff card, then I'm glad I (or actually SyphonFilter) caught the problem early versus a year later. But all my other games are running perfectly fine (e.g. Farcry, UT2004 etc). I get higher CPU temps playing FarCry than playing Doom3, which is only a 3-4 F difference. Should I upgrade my stock VGA cooler and if so what's the best one out there..?? I heard that ThermalTake has some nice ones.
Click to expand...

Try all the stuff i suggested first. You dont wanna RMA the card just to find the replacement does the same thing and its just a dodgy driver or incorrectly seated thing. If things persist then I would RMA the card. Its a PITA I know. The fact of the matter is that if you are not overclocking and your case is well ventilated then there should be no need to get an after market cooler.
 
yah like posted above, try different drivers. look to see if the hs is on there properly. dont take the hs off though, this will void the warrenty. If u cant figure anything out RMA it then. If u can try it another computer also, just to see.
 
I experienced the same problem (with the same temps 68C/~72-74C) on my 9800xt playing doom 3. The artifacting is a result of the heat. Upgrading the cooling solution fixed the problem for me.

I purchased a Thermaltake Giant 3 and a Zalman ZMHP80-D and chose the Zalman over the Thermaltake.

If you want to read about it, it's here.
 
PlayMoreWithClaymore said:
Oh, I forgot to mention one thing...are white little speckles all over the screen constitute as artifacting..??
Click to expand...
i had the same problem while overclocking my core, Core will warrant white "snow" everywhere, while when i oc'd my memory to high i would get weird "tearing and ripping" of textures

I tested this using "ATI-Tool"
 
Last night I did a lil tweaking...took out the video card, used compress air to clean any dust(there were barely any), installed it back onto the mobo and made sure it had a snug fit. Initially the video card was running off the same power line as the hard drive then I switched it to the floppy drive. I booted up the computer, ran Doom3 and there was a lot less artifacting. But as time progressed and the heat started building up, more artifacting showed up but not a lot. I should have taken screen shots but I will upon request. I'll have to wait till I go home to roll back the drivers to 4.7 to see if it will alleviate any problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top