A screenshot to run by you techies.
By
American_Angel,
Posted on: 2010-04-06 20:36 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
possible video card. if you haven't cleaned up your comp lately that might be a factor also. try a disc clean up and defrag before taking it to the shop just to test quick. also, make sure all of your drivers are up to date if you haven't yet.
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And that you've used Driver Cleaner or some-such to get rid of any extraneous bits of previous driver versions still hanging around on the hard drive.
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Originally Posted by Sharker_Quint
also, make sure all of your drivers are up to date if you haven't yet.
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I believe this is a memory issue, related to the ram on your video card and in your machine.
My guess is you are running on 1 gb or less of ram in your machine.
Also, something I do...I reformat my computer every 4-6 months.
It takes some work to do it, what with backing up my info and reinstalling programs, but it pays off in the long run, because the computer runs like new.
Even the best "cleaners" don't get everything. Shoot, windows updates alone can slow your system down, unfortunately. Nothing you can do about the updates, but reformating helps a LOT.
It also allows you to download and reinstall the game client in it's most recent form...over time, the game updates do tend to leave unused code on your machine.
WARNING:
Be careful when reformatting your machine. Always back up all of your important info (including emails if you download them), and make sure before hand that you know you can get all the important software and drivers still.
Try upgrading your video and ram first...it might solve the issues.
Network connection can also be the issue. If you are not using high speed access, lag results cause that same visual problem as well. I know people that play on broadband, but are wireless...which is really slow. Use a hard wire connection for your gaming computer.
RESTORE DISKS:
If you bought an eMachine, Dell or such, they usually come with a system restore disk. This will reformat your machine and install the drivers that were on hte machine when you bought it. You would still need to update the drivers, but you would get the software that originally came on the machine.
I prefer to use a hard driver partition program such as partition magic, then to install Windows directly. I still use WinXP, as I built my own computer and am too poor to buy Win 7 so far 
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It auto defrags everynight.|
Originally Posted by Sharker_Quint
possible video card. if you haven't cleaned up your comp lately that might be a factor also. try a disc clean up and defrag before taking it to the shop just to test quick. also, make sure all of your drivers are up to date if you haven't yet.
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Originally Posted by Human_Being
And that you've used Driver Cleaner or some-such to get rid of any extraneous bits of previous driver versions still hanging around on the hard drive.
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Originally Posted by American_Angel
I believe this is a memory issue, related to the ram on your video card and in your machine.
My guess is you are running on 1 gb or less of ram in your machine. Also, something I do...I reformat my computer every 4-6 months. It takes some work to do it, what with backing up my info and reinstalling programs, but it pays off in the long run, because the computer runs like new. Even the best "cleaners" don't get everything. Shoot, windows updates alone can slow your system down, unfortunately. Nothing you can do about the updates, but reformating helps a LOT. It also allows you to download and reinstall the game client in it's most recent form...over time, the game updates do tend to leave unused code on your machine. |
It was reformatted less than 2 months ago.
I've tested all the hardware and it all comes out normal.
I run a very tight ship with this machine. It's a gaming only machine. No email, and typically only web surfing to trusted sites. I have antispyware, antivirus, anti-anything and I auto scan, update, defrag, etc. Of the 1.5 Terabytes on the machine only 60-70 gigs are used and that is games only.
This has been a weird one.
Thanks for your thoughts.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
it happens all the time if you run in the lowest graphics possible actually.
i use to get actual words pop up on the dreck map while farming it cause my old computer was dual screened and when you popped between them that was what happened
it was like a sneak peek at how they actually make the floor and areas around it.almost like a tile
the color shapes around the statues ive also seen when you run that low all the time..question! were you atl / tabbing to your desktop alot when it happened? and are you running an ati card?
usually to fix it to make it go away you should be able to just move your slider up to another lvl and then save it..then go back in and readjust it back to where you usually keep it.but if your atl tabbing itll most likely happen again..ive had that werid stuff happen for years now.
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Actually running at maxed (or almost maxed) settings. And that normally wouldn't concern me either, except it was also happening during a period where I'm suffering massive instability while gaming. (Freeze ups, CTD, uberlag (non server)) Can't play more than 5 minutes before a freeze or DC.
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Originally Posted by Severe
it happens all the time if you run in the lowest graphics possible actually.
i use to get actual words pop up on the dreck map while farming it cause my old computer was dual screened and when you popped between them that was what happened it was like a sneak peek at how they actually make the floor and areas around it.almost like a tile the color shapes around the statues ive also seen when you run that low all the time..question! were you atl / tabbing to your desktop alot when it happened? and are you running an ati card? usually to fix it to make it go away you should be able to just move your slider up to another lvl and then save it..then go back in and readjust it back to where you usually keep it.but if your atl tabbing itll most likely happen again..ive had that werid stuff happen for years now. |
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
do you run maxed while dual boxing as well?
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When I dual box I typically don't change the settings. And sometimes I physically dual box and use my old comp. But I don't really dual box much, unless it's for a transfer or we need another debuffer for a really tough baddy.|
Originally Posted by Severe
do you run maxed while dual boxing as well?
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Edit for stress- the pic in my OP was from a single instance of Coh/v running. No dual boxing, etc.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
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The situations you are describing should NOT happen under ANY settings unless your video card or system is not up to the task (or unless the game file containing the low res image is missing or corrupted).|
Originally Posted by Severe
it happens all the time if you run in the lowest graphics possible actually.
i use to get actual words pop up on the dreck map while farming it cause my old computer was dual screened and when you popped between them that was what happened it was like a sneak peek at how they actually make the floor and areas around it.almost like a tile the color shapes around the statues ive also seen when you run that low all the time..question! were you atl / tabbing to your desktop alot when it happened? and are you running an ati card? usually to fix it to make it go away you should be able to just move your slider up to another lvl and then save it..then go back in and readjust it back to where you usually keep it.but if your atl tabbing itll most likely happen again..ive had that werid stuff happen for years now. |
That is NOT normal. If you are used to such a thing, then I'd guess you are running the lowest settings because you have a video card that can't handle the game properly, in which case THAT is your problem.. not the settings.
MM, I'm betting your video card is on its way out. How old is the card? When was the last time you physically held the fan on it still while blowing it and its heatsink out with compressed air?
Based on the screenshot and your statement "It's gotten progressively worse and today its pretty much impossible to stay on more than a few minutes" I'm betting fried memory chip on video card or dying GPU.
Be well, people of CoH.
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Bill, relatively new (less than a year). It's been handled fairly recently; I had a problem with the OS a few months back and took it to the "shop" i.e. the person who built it for me and I'm pretty sure they did that. I have blown out the case a time or two (recently)....haven't physically done what you described, but I try to keep the case tumbleweed free. So I can't say with 100% certainty that the exact procedure has been done, but I do know he gave the card a once over, so I assume it is relatively clean.
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Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
MM, I'm betting your video card is on its way out. How old is the card? When was the last time you physically held the fan on it still while blowing it and its heatsink out with compressed air?
Based on the screenshot and your statement "It's gotten progressively worse and today its pretty much impossible to stay on more than a few minutes" I'm betting fried memory chip on video card or dying GPU. |
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
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Agreed.|
Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
Based on the screenshot and your statement "It's gotten progressively worse and today its pretty much impossible to stay on more than a few minutes" I'm betting fried memory chip on video card or dying GPU.
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This may be fixable, assuming that it is due to heat, but in all likelihood you will need a new graphics card.
What we can only assume is happening is that some data is being corrupted in your RAM, either due to a GPU error or a bad chunk of RAM; this leads to a single artefact in the game, rather than consistent artefacts that would be seen if all the RAM was playing up.
Give the card a clean, use GPU-Z to check out what temperature it's running at. If you cannot fix the issue by cleaning it, then I'm confident we can help you pick a new GPU at the right price.
On a related note, I recall one man whose GPU heatsink got so hot that it partially melted; the fan was actually dangling off the graphics card, held on only by the little power cable.
One other thing. I'm pretty sure you haven't actually told us what your graphics card is.
Necrobond - 50 BS/Inv Scrapper made in I1
Rickar - 50 Bots/FF Mastermind
Anti-Muon - 42 Warshade
Ivory Sicarius - 45 Crab Spider
Aber ja, nat�rlich Hans nass ist, er steht unter einem Wasserfall.
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This was sadly rather common way back when on ati 9800s.
| On a related note, I recall one man whose GPU heatsink got so hot that it partially melted; the fan was actually dangling off the graphics card, held on only by the little power cable. |
Be well, people of CoH.
Well, I wanted to stay fairly simple, but I might as well give you specs, in case something jumps out at anyone.
(This is from another post on another games beta forum, so some of the things may be more up to date now than this. I trimmed it down to the bare essentials.)
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System Information
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Time of this report: 1/17/2010, 11:58:19
Machine name: DX58OS-I7-293
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTEL_
System Model: DX58SO__
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 940 @ 2.93GHz (8 CPUs)
Memory: 3316MB RAM
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
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Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTX 280
Display Memory: 1024.0 MB
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Sound Devices
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Description: Realtek HD Audio output
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
First of all you are defragging too often, this can actually damage the hard drive when done on a regular basis. You only need to defrag every three months or so. Secondly you haven't told us yet what type of graphics card you have, make / model. The problem that you are seeing could be down to slight overheating but I would expect to see more anomalies if this were the case. Coupled with the instability it points more to a memory issue, perhaps video memory. when the problem appears try to minimise the game and then open it up again as this forces a flush of the video memory; if the problem has gone away then that is what's wrong and you need a new card.
Another way to check the card is to simply run one of the newer games with top notch graphics and ramp all the settings to full detail, if anything is wrong with it then it should fail pretty quickly.
Next run a diagnostic on the hard drive to make sure that it's up to snuff.
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First: I run SmartDefrag, and it just runs on it's default schedule. /shrug|
Originally Posted by Stuka
First of all you are defragging too often, this can actually damage the hard drive when done on a regular basis. You only need to defrag every three months or so. Secondly you haven't told us yet what type of graphics card you have, make / model. The problem that you are seeing could be down to slight overheating but I would expect to see more anomalies if this were the case. Coupled with the instability it points more to a memory issue, perhaps video memory. when the problem appears try to minimise the game and then open it up again as this forces a flush of the video memory; if the problem has gone away then that is what's wrong and you need a new card.
Another way to check the card is to simply run one of the newer games with top notch graphics and ramp all the settings to full detail, if anything is wrong with it then it should fail pretty quickly. Next run a diagnostic on the hard drive to make sure that it's up to snuff. |
Second: look above you.
Third: ran some diagnostics recently and HD seems fine.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
A 280? Aw man, I really hope that isn't the problem... D:
Necrobond - 50 BS/Inv Scrapper made in I1
Rickar - 50 Bots/FF Mastermind
Anti-Muon - 42 Warshade
Ivory Sicarius - 45 Crab Spider
Aber ja, nat�rlich Hans nass ist, er steht unter einem Wasserfall.
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Yeah, my fingers are crossed. Swapping it out this afternoon to see if the problem persists.
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Originally Posted by Necrotron
A 280? Aw man, I really hope that isn't the problem... D:
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@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
I started getting those just before my last card's fan died on me 
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I'm going blind |
Originally Posted by MentalMaden
Second: look above you.
Third: ran some diagnostics recently and HD seems fine. |
alter smartdefrags settings, every day is way too often.
280 is a nice card, should take anything that CoH throws at it without even noticing. On the upside if it is faulty then it should still be under the manufacturers warranty, they are very rarely less than 3 years these days. To be honest though I am not convinced it's the card. When you updated the drivers did you make sure to get rid of anything left by the old ones as this can cause problems.
Next did you use the driver version previous to the current one for any length of time because they had a fault in the fan control commands which was causing peoples cards to get fried. The driver that had the problem was the 196.75 and if the card has been overheating because of them I would seriously consider contacting Nvidia as it was their fault but I don't know how far you would get with that.
Do you have problems with any other software?
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Originally Posted by Stuka
I'm going blind
alter smartdefrags settings, every day is way too often. 280 is a nice card, should take anything that CoH throws at it without even noticing. On the upside if it is faulty then it should still be under the manufacturers warranty, they are very rarely less than 3 years these days. To be honest though I am not convinced it's the card. When you updated the drivers did you make sure to get rid of anything left by the old ones as this can cause problems. Next did you use the driver version previous to the current one for any length of time because they had a fault in the fan control commands which was causing peoples cards to get fried. The driver that had the problem was the 196.75 and if the card has been overheating because of them I would seriously consider contacting Nvidia as it was their fault but I don't know how far you would get with that. Do you have problems with any other software? |
Luckily I found out about the fan issue on that one driver update before I'd heard it was available, so no I never even downloaded it. The next and latest driver fixed that problem.
Just games...everything else seems to be running fine.
I'm not 100% convinced it's the vid card either, that was the only crash that had a video anomaly like that one, so I figured I'd screencap it while I was still able to and bring it here to get feedback.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
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Unfortunately the fact that you are having problems with other games does point at the card. Try an oldish 2D game and see if you have problems with that, you shouldn't as they do not push the card very hard or make use of the 3D capabilities. The next step is to swap the card out for a known good one if you can get hold of one and see if it fixes the problem.
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Originally Posted by MentalMaden
Luckily I found out about the fan issue on that one driver update before I'd heard it was available, so no I never even downloaded it. The next and latest driver fixed that problem.
Just games...everything else seems to be running fine. I'm not 100% convinced it's the vid card either, that was the only crash that had a video anomaly like that one, so I figured I'd screencap it while I was still able to and bring it here to get feedback. |
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That is being done (or has already been done) as we speak. I'll know more later this morning.
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Originally Posted by Stuka
Unfortunately the fact that you are having problems with other games does point at the card. Try an oldish 2D game and see if you have problems with that, you shouldn't as they do not push the card very hard or make use of the 3D capabilities. The next step is to swap the card out for a known good one if you can get hold of one and see if it fixes the problem.
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@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
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Same here. These were the exact issues I was seeing before my vid blew up.
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Originally Posted by Reiska
I started getting those just before my last card's fan died on me
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I've been having gradually increasing instability just while gaming over the past week. It's gotten progressively worse and today its pretty much impossible to stay on more than a few minutes. Tonight in between freezings I ran across this. The comp is going into "the shop" tomorrow. Without going really deeply into this particular machine, one simple question (since I did see this tonight): is this an indication the video card is having issues or is that too simple and it could be a number of things?
Thanks for your comments.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff