Artifacting/Crashing While Watching Videos, 4870

Zarithas · 12-26-2008, 05:24 PM

I have a VisionTek ATI Radeon 4870, 512 GDDR5. I bought it on June 28, 2008.

I at first thought it was an overheating issue, but my temperatures in CCC show that it never goes above 45 degrees Celsius. I have the fan manually set to 50%.

I don't think it could be an overheating issue. My heat simply is not going to temperatures that could cause it to artifact like it does, unless my heat sensors are way off. (Both CCC and GPU-Z are displaying the same thing; low temperatures.) I also don't think it's a power-related issue. My power supply is a 750W Rosewill. I suppose it's possible that my house and room is not getting enough power, but that seems really unlikely, and it wouldn't just affect the video card and cause it to artifact; I'd think a power shortage would affect other things, too.

Basically, I'll be watching a video in Zoom Player, and half-way through it or earlier, the screen will artifact like crazy. It always does the same thing every time. First, my cursor will turn into 2 cursors, with little lines going through them. Soon, everything starts turning all artifact-y, with colors messing up and lines appearing everywhere. If I'm not quick enough to press the shut down button, the screen will just hang. I'll then lose the signal. Usually I'm quick enough to shut it down, though.

Either way, it requires me to restart my computer each time.

It would happen pretty rarely with my old monitor, which was at a 1280x1024 resolution. I recently upgraded to a 1920x1200 monitor, and now it's happening much more fun. The 2 past days, it's happened quite a lot. It's getting to be a serious problem.

For reference, my new monitor is a G2400WD. 24", 1920x1200 resolution, DVI, 60 Hz refresh rate.

I also happened to upgrade to the 8.12 drivers when I got the new monitor. I'm not sure if the driver upgrade is related to this, or if it's just that the resolution is higher and it now has to render more.

It would also sometimes happen in games, but I haven't played many games lately. I've mainly just watched videos.

It has never happened when I wasn't doing anything graphically intensive. If I'm just browsing the internet or leaving it idle, it will never, ever artifact in any way. It's only when I start up a game, or in this case, watch a full-screen video.

So, what's the problem? My temperatures are not getting that high. I also find it strange that it's doing this just from videos. I guess it's possible that my card has simply become defective, but I want to try everything possible before I RMA it. I couldn't stand waiting weeks without a video card.

I see that there's a little option in the CCC called "Reduce DVI frequency on high-resolution displays." I'm not quite sure exactly what it does, but I know I'm on a high-resolution display. Do you think that would apply to my situation, or what?

I'd appreciate any and all advice. Thanks.

12-26-2008, 05:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Zarithas Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1 OS: Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP1	Artifacting/Crashing While Watching Videos, 4870 I have a VisionTek ATI Radeon 4870, 512 GDDR5. I bought it on June 28, 2008. I at first thought it was an overheating issue, but my temperatures in CCC show that it never goes above 45 degrees Celsius. I have the fan manually set to 50%. I don't think it could be an overheating issue. My heat simply is not going to temperatures that could cause it to artifact like it does, unless my heat sensors are way off. (Both CCC and GPU-Z are displaying the same thing; low temperatures.) I also don't think it's a power-related issue. My power supply is a 750W Rosewill. I suppose it's possible that my house and room is not getting enough power, but that seems really unlikely, and it wouldn't just affect the video card and cause it to artifact; I'd think a power shortage would affect other things, too. Basically, I'll be watching a video in Zoom Player, and half-way through it or earlier, the screen will artifact like crazy. It always does the same thing every time. First, my cursor will turn into 2 cursors, with little lines going through them. Soon, everything starts turning all artifact-y, with colors messing up and lines appearing everywhere. If I'm not quick enough to press the shut down button, the screen will just hang. I'll then lose the signal. Usually I'm quick enough to shut it down, though. Either way, it requires me to restart my computer each time. It would happen pretty rarely with my old monitor, which was at a 1280x1024 resolution. I recently upgraded to a 1920x1200 monitor, and now it's happening much more fun. The 2 past days, it's happened quite a lot. It's getting to be a serious problem. For reference, my new monitor is a G2400WD. 24", 1920x1200 resolution, DVI, 60 Hz refresh rate. I also happened to upgrade to the 8.12 drivers when I got the new monitor. I'm not sure if the driver upgrade is related to this, or if it's just that the resolution is higher and it now has to render more. It would also sometimes happen in games, but I haven't played many games lately. I've mainly just watched videos. It has never happened when I wasn't doing anything graphically intensive. If I'm just browsing the internet or leaving it idle, it will never, ever artifact in any way. It's only when I start up a game, or in this case, watch a full-screen video. So, what's the problem? My temperatures are not getting that high. I also find it strange that it's doing this just from videos. I guess it's possible that my card has simply become defective, but I want to try everything possible before I RMA it. I couldn't stand waiting weeks without a video card. I see that there's a little option in the CCC called "Reduce DVI frequency on high-resolution displays." I'm not quite sure exactly what it does, but I know I'm on a high-resolution display. Do you think that would apply to my situation, or what? I'd appreciate any and all advice. Thanks. Last edited by Zarithas; 12-26-2008 at 05:42 PM.