9600XT Artifact Problems

mbrown · Jan 11, 2005, 09:01 PM

This problem's been bothering me ever since I got this card a few months ago. It runs most of my older games fine with no apparent problems, but with every game I play that uses DirectX 9 has these ungodly artifacts and other random garbage popping up and flickering on the screen.

Here are a couple of examples from HL2:
http://sweb.uky.edu/~mlbrow1/hl2-1.jpg
http://sweb.uky.edu/~mlbrow1/hl2-2.jpg

And some from FarCry:
http://sweb.uky.edu/~mlbrow1/FarCry0004.jpg
http://sweb.uky.edu/~mlbrow1/FarCry0008.jpg
http://sweb.uky.edu/~mlbrow1/FarCry0009.jpg

I'd wonder whether it was a physical problem with the board, but this only happens with DX9 games. Also, I'd managed to stop the artifacting with one of the recent Omega Drivers, but 1) the drivers would apparently stop working after one reboot, and 2) I've since reformatted, reinstalled XP and installed SP2 and no driver (Omega, Catalyst, or Unian so far) has fixed the problem. The best I've managed is to decrease the artifacting a little bit.

If anyone can help me figure out this problem, I would be most grateful.

agenthex · Jan 11, 2005, 09:12 PM

That, my friend, is what happens when you have your RAM frequency way too high. If your RAM is running at stock speed, it could be damaged. I'd recommend underclocking the RAM (look up the stock speeds for your card online) or run even slower. Increase voltage to your card (this will increase heat, so you must have more than a stock cooler and preferably some RAM cooling). Your RAM is either getting too hot, can't handle the speed, or it's bad to begin with.

mbrown · Jan 11, 2005, 10:46 PM

Just tried underclocking the memory via Radlinker, and it didn't work.

But would a hardware problem only effect those certain games. I'm no computer expert, but I'd think a physical problem with the card would affect any game that used that much power/resources, not just DX9s.

Also, would a power supply issue have anything to do with the problem? I'm pretty sure the one I've got is only 350 watts or so, but I've heard the higher-end ATIs need at least 450.

No_Style · Jan 12, 2005, 10:46 PM

350 Watts is not a problem, if the PSU is a quality one.

If you can try the card with a different system to see if it's the card or something else on your system.

mbrown · Jan 15, 2005, 12:12 PM

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a second system to test the card.

No_Style · Jan 16, 2005, 11:19 AM

No? Not even a friend's PC? If you don't have second PC, how about trying a different video card in there?

mbrown · Jan 18, 2005, 06:26 PM

None of my friends in the area have PCs. And I don't have an extra video card to test in this machine either.

No_Style · Jan 18, 2005, 07:28 PM

Question: How much did you underclock the memory by with RadLinker?

To save huge amounts of hassle, see if you can get the card replaced. I tried to think of some economical means of testing it, but underclocking with RadLinker is the only one you could do and it yielded no real results.

pir8nyc · Jan 18, 2005, 07:33 PM

malfunctioning at stock speed is a good reason to RMA IMHO

mbrown · Jan 18, 2005, 08:46 PM

Underclocked by about 50% with Rad (was running at around 200 MHz, I think, and I lowered it to as little as 100). Unfortunately, I can't recall offhand where I ordered the card, so I'm not sure about any return options (I don't have the packaging with me either, so I don't know if their having a return policy would help).

Strange thing, though: I just finished playing the Halo demo, and it ran perfectly fine. This why I'm so hesitant (well, that and the whole "replacing the card thing

) to consider this a hardware problem--if it was the same problem on every game or all the time, I could believe it (my last card started artifacting with *every* game as it started to wear out), but this only seems to affect certain games under certain conditions.

And if it was a hardware problem, by the way, why or how could it work fine under that one set of drivers?

No_Style · Jan 18, 2005, 09:02 PM

Go to Futuremark.com and download 3DMark03 or 05 and run those to see if the errors appear.

Also get the Catalyst 5.1s and try them out with your games. Be sure to install your chipset drivers for your motherboard if you haven't already done so.

I'm just reaching out and grabbing as many possible solutions as I can right now.

mbrown · Jan 18, 2005, 10:18 PM

Weird. Ran the '03 3D Mark. There was BAD artifacting and texture corruption with the Game and CPU demos using the flight and fantasy games, but everything else ran fine (albeit slowly on my default settings). Strangely, the flight game ran fine during the Sound Test with no graphics hiccups whatsoever.

(This is with the most recent Catalyst drivers and whichever version of the VIA drivers that came with my motherboard, BTW.)

No_Style · Jan 18, 2005, 10:33 PM

Try using the latest drivers from VIA Arena. They're called Hyperion drivers. Give those a try.

mbrown · Jan 18, 2005, 10:58 PM

No apparent effect. Still getting artifacts.

No_Style · Jan 18, 2005, 11:02 PM

The most drastic thing you can do is do a fresh install and see if that helps, but I'm thinking something is borked on that card. But I'm curious as to why it's only DX9 stuff. Try re-installing DX9.0c?

mbrown · Jan 18, 2005, 11:13 PM

Actually, I'd thought of the reinstall already. I did a complete reinstall of XP, taking the liberty of installing SP2 this time, about a month ago. It didn't help, and since the Omega Drivers that used to (sort of) fix the problem don't work with this install, it sort of made things worse.

And that's why the Halo thing confused me. I was under the impression it was a DX9 game, and it ran fine. I wonder if it's as simple as an issue between DX9s 9.0b (Halo's required version) and 9.0c (what I have installed, and presumably what these other games require)...

No_Style · Jan 18, 2005, 11:32 PM

Hmm.. I'll think about this some more and get back to you tomorrow.

mbrown · Jan 22, 2005, 09:44 PM

The plot thickens. I was trying a couple of other games earlier today (Hostile Waters and Singles), and while both games were DX8 games, they were having artifact and graphical glitch problems.

Just when I think I have all the answers, my card changes the questions

mbrown · Feb 1, 2005, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_Style

350 Watts is not a problem, if the PSU is a quality one.

If you can try the card with a different system to see if it's the card or something else on your system.

Now that I've opened my case for the first time in forever, I realize my previous error. Turns out my power supply is apparently only 300 Watts (and is a Deer brand PSU, if that counts as "quality").

Also, could these problems also be cause by incorrect motherboard settings or a faulty board? Since I've had similar problems with both this video card and my previous one (which worked fine up until I upgraded my motherboard, processor, and RAM last year), I can't help but think it's more than a coincidence, and that this is an issue with something in my rig other than the video cards...

Yousaif · Feb 2, 2005, 01:39 AM

I just built a new rig and put the 9600XT in it. When I was considering what to put in the box I went with a 400W PSU just to make sure I had enough juice to operate everything I plan to add to it.

Currently I am only running a single Maxtor 250GB 7,200 RPM drive and one Asus 16XDVD-ROM with a AMD 2700+ and 3 case fans. I know I have plenty of power for now, but when I add the second HD (at least, Lol) and the DVD burner, I may be pushing the top end of my PSU limits.

I would try a different PSU to see if that helps, and make sure you have adequate cooling airflow in the case.

If you aren't running air-cooling, I apologize, but I didn't see any actual system specs in your original post.

-Saif

mbrown · Feb 2, 2005, 08:15 AM

In addition to the fans that came with the various parts (CPU, PSU, and video card), I'm only running two extra fans: A standard case-mounted fan and a PCI-mounted exhaust fan. I only installed the PCI one recently, though, so it shouldn't have been contributing to the problem.

As for my specs, I'm running an ASUS A7V 600-x board, an Athlon XP 2600+, one IBM 40 GB hard drive, one Acer 16X DVD drive, and a Sony 52X CD-RW.

redsolar · Feb 2, 2005, 10:50 AM

All this looks more like a defective pixel pipeline to me. Just to check, is the fan spinning on the card? How high are case temperatures?

With omega drivers, try experimenting with fast writes on/off as well. 9600 series are sometimes picky one way or the other. Also, try experimenting with AGP settings. Try scaling it down a notch, if you currently run at 8x, try 4x, and so on.

Though it sounds to me that return/exchange is your best bet in the end. From what you are saying, you have tried quite a few things to narrow it down to a manufacturing defect.

mbrown · Feb 2, 2005, 12:54 PM

The fan is running, looks like, and according to Motherboard Monitor, the temps are currently 49 degrees Celsius for the pcoessor and 34 for the case.