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Wierd video distortion while gaming

R

runbird05

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 29, 2005
Messages
207
Alright, this is the first problem I've had with my new build. Installed XP last night and had most of my apps installed and running earlier today. Everything seemed to be fine, but when I finally installed BF2, I got a suprise. The movie played fine when it first loaded up, but once it went into the login screen the problem started; seeming to be in some relation to the mouse pointer, a bunch of different colored triangular rays would kind of shoot out in different directions from the center of the pointer...they also seemed to shoot towards the different menu buttons on the top of the screen, kind of connecting the menu buttons with the mouse pointer with a solid colored triangle. I could still somewhat make out the different menu buttons, and it would let me navigate them, but it was hard to see because these "rays" distorted everything quite a bit. Thinking it was just BF2, I tried out FarCry, and it also had serious distortion, only it started actually in the opening credits, whereas BF2's credits looked normal.

Now, I'm saying all of this kind of after the fact, but also incase it happens again; I've already started a fresh install of XP (tried uninstalling all nVidia drivers, display and chipset, tried to reinstall and screen would go blank after 10 or so seconds once loaded into windows, that's another story...). So, I was just wondering if anybody has any ideas that may come in handy as I install everything again (I don't care, I just want my system to run properly and be stable). I was using the chipset drivers off of my MSI utilities/drivers CD, but I did use the newest 77.72 drivers downloaded from nVidia for my 6800gt.

I know I probably jumped the gun on the reinstall, but I was kind of panicking and it's only another 1-2 hours.
 
Just finished my reinstallation of XP, everything (on the desktop level) is running fine again (I'm typing this on the problematic PC), but encountered the same type of problem in BF2 again. This time I took a couple of screen shots to hopefully get some better input:

my.php


my.php


my.php


Any idea what type of problem causes this distortion (driver, hardware?). Help appreciated.
 
Weird, never seen anything like that. My guess is that the card is fucked
 
Update the chipset drivers, they could have an issue, most likley they are very old.

After reading about the Farcry issue to, I would check into heat issues. Also, does it do this while you're playing the actual game and could you take a SS of that?
 
I haven't tried any other games, nor have I tried actually playing Farcry, but I did play BF2 on all low settings for like a minute, and it seemed to do alright, except one instance when I was shot by a tank and when the camera zoomed out to show my dead body a bunch of those triangles showed up everywhere, except they were white. I'll try to get more screenshots and such later, have to go to work right now. I also think I'm going to try throwing in an x600pro from my Dell to make sure it's something to do with the 6800gt and not something else.
 
Try another game / 3d app, like 3dmark01. BF2 isn't really a good indicator, in my opinion.
 
That is generally what happens when your gpu is overheating. Make sure you fan is working properly and if it is then I would take the fan/heatsink off and reset it with thermal paste.
 
Shane said:
That is generally what happens when your gpu is overheating. Make sure you fan is working properly and if it is then I would take the fan/heatsink off and reset it with thermal paste.
Click to expand...

He is better off rma'ing it rather than voiding his warranty
 
Well, I'm downloading the free version of 3dmark05 right now, but I'm pretty certain it's going to screw up in any 3d app if it did it in both Farcry and BF2, which I believe are two completely different 3d engines. I'll take screens and post 'em once I run it. In the mean time, I don't think I have temperature issues but I'm not sure. My fan apparently works fine, but my idle temp while just using Firefox is 70-71 C core and 47-48 C ambient. Do these seem higher than normal for a 6800gt?

Also, all of this stuff is less than 30 days old, so I'll for sure RMA it if I have to before I go fiddling with removing heatsinks (already did that on the aforementioned x600). Speaking of the x600, I'll probably give that a try in a bit to make sure it's just my nVidia card and not anything else in my system.
 
It's a wierd issue... its like certain draw operations are losing their place and resetting to the center of the screen for some reason. Could be a temp issue, but most likely it's just a defective GPU. Don't start pulling the HSF off or anything. If you can't fix it with drivers or what not I'd just get a replacement.
 
I've seen effects like that in BF2 when my card was overheating (due to a too high OC in my little shuttle). Make sure you have proper airflow and nothing is in the way of the card. I idle at around 66-68c and can push it to the 90s for games just fine.
 
I'm certain it's not a heat issue...the heatsink/fan works properly, or it atleast works somewhat (plus I've got two 120mm, exhaust + intake, flowing cool air through the case), and the artifacting starts pretty much right when I load the game, so it'd have to heat up pretty hot in like 10-20 seconds on the menu when the GPU isn't even really being stressed. I actually went through and played BF2 on decently high settings (compared to what I use on my x600pro) but it ran kind of choppy, plus the artifacting was still there but it would only flash a couple lines very quickly every couple of seconds...so it wasn't as bad in the actual game as it is on the menu.

I also ran 3dmark05, and for whatever reason I didn't notice artifacting in the Return to Proxycon test, but I did see it in moderation (like while playing BF2) during the Firefly Forest and Canyon Flight tests.

So after all of that, I popped in the x600pro I've been running on my Dell, loaded up the latest catalyst drivers, and low and behold, no artifacting while playing BF2, Farcry (for like 40 minutes, got a bit absorbed), or in a couple of 3dmark05 runs.

This leaves me all but certain that I've somehow managed to get a defective 6800gt (I've already had to RMA the RAM in the system I'm using, apparently I broke a mirror or walked under a ladder). I'll fiddle with it with some older drivers and such, possibly try using the 4 pin to PCIe adapter cable instead of using the PCIe cable straight from my PSU, but I doubt any of things things will solve my problem.

So, I guess I'm kind of pissed and a bit relieved at the same time...pissed that it's going to be another week before I can fully use my new PC, but relieved that it's not some other, harder to fix problem. All I have to do is ship it out to the Egg and wait for my shiny new one, all the while keeping my fingers crossed that it works. My experiences with this build do have me curious, how often do you have problems with defective hardware? I'm not talking frying things by OCing or anything, just shit that doesn't work straight out of the box. Is this somewhat common, or do I have some terrible luck? (my Dell has lost 2 Maxtor HDDs in the 9 months my family has owned it, add that to the list).

Oh, and here's one more dicked up screen for your amusement, this is about as crazy as it got:

my.php
 
I had a similar problem with my old 6800GT. It ended up being corrupted video memory.
 
Having overclocked many video cards... to me, it looks like a core heat issue.

I would suggest if you want to check and see if this may be the problem, underclock the core by 100mhz (or more?), and see if your problem goes away (lower core = lower temperature).

I would suggest that you should return the card in any case, because you can't modify the card without screwing your warantee.

Good luck!

-Skystalker
 
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