I Need Tech Support! :0
DiscoZombie
Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
<div class="IPBDescription">craazy graphics glitches...</div> lately I've been having nothing but trouble with my Radeon 9600... games I used to be able to play beautifully are giving me horrible graphical glitches and it seems there's nothing I can do about it... HL2 and KotOR in specific are pretty much unplayable... both games crash most of the time I try to play em, and when they don't crash, they look horrible, at random...
<img src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/cliffjeff/kotor.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
that's a scene from the beginning of KOTOR. you can see some polygons are more distorted than others - and some things look completely normal. during char creation, as I cycle through possible player portraits, some look normal and some look like the screenshot, completely at random.
<img src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/cliffjeff/d1_canals_010004.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
this is what HL2's 'jpeg' command took of a scene in the early game. oddly enough, the jpeg looks even worse than the problem in-game; what I saw when I was playing was just a messed up man and messed up wall, not a blue and red swashed screen... and again, like KOTOR, completely at random - some things look normal, some look completely FUBAR.
I tried everything I could possibly think of. Tried every resolution and setting combo I possibly could in the games' configs and in ATI's control panel. I ran driver cleaner and installed the Omega drivers instead of the official ones. same problem. re-driver cleanered and re-installed ATI drivers. problem still there. Is my card simply fried?
edit: I should mention some games seem to look fine - even 3D ones. Doom 3 for instance - I played that for a while with no problem.
<img src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/cliffjeff/kotor.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
that's a scene from the beginning of KOTOR. you can see some polygons are more distorted than others - and some things look completely normal. during char creation, as I cycle through possible player portraits, some look normal and some look like the screenshot, completely at random.
<img src='http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/cliffjeff/d1_canals_010004.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
this is what HL2's 'jpeg' command took of a scene in the early game. oddly enough, the jpeg looks even worse than the problem in-game; what I saw when I was playing was just a messed up man and messed up wall, not a blue and red swashed screen... and again, like KOTOR, completely at random - some things look normal, some look completely FUBAR.
I tried everything I could possibly think of. Tried every resolution and setting combo I possibly could in the games' configs and in ATI's control panel. I ran driver cleaner and installed the Omega drivers instead of the official ones. same problem. re-driver cleanered and re-installed ATI drivers. problem still there. Is my card simply fried?
edit: I should mention some games seem to look fine - even 3D ones. Doom 3 for instance - I played that for a while with no problem.
Comments
On a serious note: Temperature check? How old is the card? Try another card?
How do the games crash?
To windows? Lock up? Bluescreen?
<img src='http://www.hosting.nsagames.com/obst/pics/bluescreen.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I'll open up the machine and check the fan now.
edit: the card's fan was running and the air blown out of it didn't feel excessively hot... but I don't know whether it would or not if it was overheating because I've never felt an overheating card. =p
Maybe it's a memory or CPU problem. Strange things can happen when the CPU starts misbehaving. Have you tried another gfxcard? Been infested lately? You may have some corrupt files. If all else fails, format! Remove everything inside, get a can of compressed air and blast your computer clean, reinsert everything and reinstall.
Maybe it's a memory or CPU problem. Strange things can happen when the CPU starts misbehaving. Have you tried another gfxcard? Been infested lately? You may have some corrupt files. If all else fails, format! Remove everything inside, get a can of compressed air and blast your computer clean, reinsert everything and reinstall. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
nope, never wanted to risk overclocking because I figured something like this would happen <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
haven't tried another graphics card 'cause I don't have one handy; I'm kinda due to upgrade anyway so next $300 or so I come into, that's where it's going...
it IS awful dusty in my machine, I should blow it clean...
it could be a memory or CPU issue for all I know; wish I knew how to pinpoint it... my CPU and motherboard temps have been low the whole time though...
Test it. Borrow a friends card, pop it in, and see if everything runs fine. If it does, then it IS the card. If not, then I'm clueless.
P.S. - I accept no liability for your computer turning rogue and eating your friends video card. Thought it probrably won't happen.
I'll open up the machine and check the fan now. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
<a href='http://www.lavalys.com/' target='_blank'>This program</a> is pretty neat. it tells lots of things about your computer.
I think it may be the CPU, not the graphics card, that is overheating... could that cause graphical distortions?
anyway, my mobo came with temp and fan speed monitoring software, and it's been telling me lately that the fan is doing wacky things at random... sometimes it slows down gradually, sometimes it then stays at about half speed, then goes back up to normal, sometimes it suddenly drops off and says it's going at -9000 RPMs or so and then it jumps to like +10000 RPMs and then goes back to normal... and I took it with a grain of salt til now because I never actually noticed the CPU temperature monitor overheating or anything...
I was playing planetside, though, and the game froze... I waited a few minutes, before doing a hard reboot on the computer... and during power-up, my BIOS told me the CPU was overheating :x
now, I don't overclock or anything... does this just sound like a faulty CPU fan, or could it be the chip itself, or something else entirely? :x also, this whole cpu fan/overheating thing could just be a coincidence, I have no idea. I do know that games still do crash when the CPU isn't overheating (according to Asus Probe); in fact, aside from that one warning during boot, I haven't actually caught it overheating at all...
edit: meant to attach a screenshot of the fan monitor...