FrenchAffair

I am having a very odd problem with my video that I do not understand.
I recently started my computer up again after having it off for about 3 months. I installed a new game (Medieval II: total war), It started up fine I went into a battle and all of a sudden these odd lines were extending accost the game screen (though not impacting the menus). I exited out thinking it might have been a driver issue, I never had this before with any of the game I play. I updated the drivers but still the same thing. So I figured since it needed to be done anyway that I would format my computer. I did this and started compelatly from scratch. I updated all drivers, made sure had the latest version of directX and started up a new game (civilization IV). The game started up normaly, then after about 30 seconds of playing the same thing occurred.
Here are some screenshots since it is kind of hard to explain.

The game starts normaly, no issues


Then after about 20 seconds or so of play, this occurs. These lines start to fluctuate accost the screen and distort the entire thing


few more images of what happens. None of this is static, the lines will move when you move in game, it seems that the objects in the game effect the distortion. Though oddly none of the menus are affected. It is like this in every game.



This one here illustrates how the in game menus are not affected.


Nothing else on the computer is problem by this. Video play back is fine, I’ve watched movies, both downloaded and streamed. No other programs are affected (Photoshop, explorer, itunes…) it is only games, and only the portion of the game in which the actual “game” occurs, not the menus or such.

I have a Radeon 9800pro video card, running on an ADM Athlon 64 3000+, Gigabyte k8t800 motherboard and 1gb of memory.

I appreciate what ever help can be given to solve this issue, thank you.

1 g0t 0wn3d

Dust out your computer with compressed air (mostly around fans and heatsinks)

mattlock

This problem is likely the video card overheating. Follow Igotowned's advice and also verify that the video card fan is working. If you continue to get artifacts after cleaning your system then remove the side cover from the case and setup a housefan blowing directly into the PC.

Please post back with your results.

Matt

FrenchAffair

Thank you for the suggestions, how ever they have not worked. I did a detailed dusting of the computer, got all the dust possible out of it and vacuumed it up. This did not have any effect, I still encountered the same error. I then went to the next step that was suggested and took the side of my computer off and directed a huge house fan into the computer and put it on full. It is still there and the tempture of my computer has gone down 6 degrees C. All the fans in the computer are working, including the one on the video card. How ever I unfortunately still encounter the same problem.
Is there anything else that could be causing this problem?
I appreciate any suggestions and am willing to try anything to fix this issue. Thank you.

1 g0t 0wn3d

what are the temps and voltage?

FrenchAffair

The display on the outside of my computer says 20.1c. How would I find out what the voltage is?

koala

I had the same problem with a 9800 last year. It turned out to be a weak PSU and a dusty graphics card fan causing the card to overheat.

Run SensorsView and post back with all the temperatures and voltages, both at startup and while playing Civ4 (when the artifacts start appearing) so we can compare the 2.

Open the case and post back with the details from the PSU label (make/model, total watts, amps for +3.3V, +5V and +12V).

FrenchAffair

Ok, I ran the program.

When I started up the computer these were the readings.
CPU: 34c / 94f
SYS: 25c/77f
AUX: 30c/86f
HD0 29c/85f
HD1 28c/83f
Voltages
VcoreA: 1.47v
VcoreB: 2.54v
+3.3V: 3.23V
+5V: 4.09V
+12V: 12.10V
+5VSB: 4.65V
+VBAT: 0.00V

I then ran Civ IV and after about 40 seconds I got the problem, let it run for about a minuet then alt+tab out and these were what the readings were
CPU: 43c/110f
SYS: 25c/77f
AUX: 39c/103f
HD0 32c/90f
HD1 30c/88f
Voltages
VcoreA: 1.47v
VcoreB: 2.54v
+3.3V: 3.84V
+5V: 4.06V
+12V: 12.10V

The powersupply is an Aerocool AEROPOWER II+SE 550W
AC Input 115v/230v |50hz-60hz
+3.3v : 38a
+5v : 42a
+12v : 25a
-12v : 0.6a
-5v : 0.6a
5VSB 2.5

Now in inspecting the powersupply, on the back right under where I plug it in, just above the on/off switch there is a red tab, one side of it says 115 and the other 230. Currently it is on 115.

1 g0t 0wn3d

you 5v is alittle low

FrenchAffair

How would I fix that? I don't know much about computers, not even sure what all those numbers represent or mean.

Nutritious

Can you try the video card in a friend's computer?

chimpinator

You can try maxing out your fan speeds if it's a heat problem. Google an app called I8kfangui (it's weird i know, but very reliable). it's a neat little app that monitors temps and fan speeds adna llows you to push all fan speeds to the max. that cooled my gpu by 20 degrees c, give it a try urself!

koala

The +3.3V and +5V values are outside the accepted range of +-5%, suggesting a weak power supply unit. Nothing you can do about that except replace it.

The system temperatures are fine. I forgot that the 9800 doesn't have a heat sensor. It looks like the PSU is causing the graphics card to overheat, resulting in the artifacts.

If possible, try the graphics card in another computer, using the same drivers and a good quality PSU. If you get the same problem, replace the card. To see the kind of PSU you will need, enter your full system specs into this power calculator, and add 30% to the total to allow for PSU inefficiency.