Graphics in games starting to get coloured shapes appear

1080 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Padders, Mar 16, 2011

Padders

Discussion Starter · Mar 15, 2011

Hi all,

Ok its sort of hard to explain and screen shotting is just as hard because it happens so fast. Basically I have shapes quickly flicker on and off my screen in the game Rift however it can be all sorts of shapes like a black line that flashes on screen as well for example. This is a representation that I made:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/padders/RIFTSS.jpg

This has happened ever since playing Rift so I thought it might be a game-related problem however I have now noticed, after playing starcraft II perfectly for the last few months, it is starting to happen here too.

My graphics card is a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250. All drivers up to date. All steps followed in the 'follow these steps' post.

A factor that may have caused the problem may have been my boyfriend removing my card to play it in his computer as he was in the process of getting a replacement. When he played rift on his computer using my card the same image flashes occured.

The image flashes occur on all graphic settings but are more predominant when settings are higher or, in starcraft, when it gets more 'busy'.

Have you heard of this problem before? Could it be a connection problem or might he have damaged the card when swapping it between computers?

I also play Warcraft but havent yet noticed the image flashes except maybe once or twice but that might have just been the game not the problem resurfacing.

Thankyou for your advice

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gcavan

· #2 · Mar 15, 2011

Those are what are commonly call 'artifacts'. Basically, it is 'noise' being introduced into the video signal. Most often caused by failed or failing video RAM. No real way to correct it short of replacing the card. Note that an underlying cause is often a low quality and/or underpowered power supply.

PS: Video artifacts can also be an indication that your graphics card is being overclocked too aggressively.

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Padders

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 15, 2011 (Edited)

So I can't blame my boyfriend then? Darn! I thought it was way too co-incidental that it started so immediately after he fiddled with it.

Thankyou very much for your fast reply, I'll have to start saving some $$!

At least at the moment its not game-play ruining, just starting to make me twitch a little when they flash away every minute or so.

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gcavan

· #4 · Mar 15, 2011 (Edited)

Of course you can blame him and you probably should! And if he's smart, he'll accept the blame without question. :wink:

PS: You might want to monitor the system voltages and the temperatures of both cpu and graphics.

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Amd_Man

· #5 · Mar 15, 2011

If he used a PSU that was underpowered, or low quality for your card that could have caused it if it wasn't happening before he used it. What make and wattage PSU are you using?

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gcavan

· #6 · Mar 15, 2011

Also, there is always a chance of ESD damage when handling the card without first taking precautions

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Padders

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 16, 2011 (Edited)

gcavan said:
And if he's smart, he'll accept the blame without question.

Ahahaaha too right!!! And I told him I remember learning something about ESD but he just said he'd touch it around the edges. Im going to 100% bet no precautions were taken.

I just looked up the order form for my computer which I still had in the back of my inbox and it says "Power supply 550W Huntkey Vista (with 140cm super silent fan)" is this the right info?

I believe my boyfriends computer would have similar or better PSU as my computer I asked to be capable of gaming whilst he paid three times as much to make it REALLY capable. However he did end up having problems with his graphics card which we think was overheating and cause games not to open. Since replacing the card last week he hasnt had any problems, but now its my card starting to go on me!

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