*re-posting as links in previous mail were duff! - sorry*

Just had this happen when playing Half Life Episode 1, and the evil graphics glitches seems to have spread to many of the games I'd previously been playing (Civ 4, Lego racers for my kid, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory). Is my graphics card simply fooked? Alex from Half-Life 2 aint as pretty as she used to be - see screenshot from Episode 1 showing Alex looking well strange




Screenshot from Civ 4 - check the map and glitches on the landscape - these are very similar to glitches all over other games.


Wolfenstein Enemy Territory screenshot


I've tried everything I can think of - Firstly updated to latest ATI Radeon drivers (though mine were previously only 2 months old). Deleted .NET, all video drivers (using Driver Cleaner SW), and reinstalled with latest versions. Also tried same with old versions (2 yr old ATI and also old Omega drivers) as well as the very latest Omega drivers. Reinstalled mobo device drivers. Still all the same
My artifact testers say there's no artifacts, so do I just have a dead card? Are there some settings I need to look out for as changing resolution and graphics details seems to make no difference.
Have downloaded the full install version of DirectX 9.0c and installed with no effect though strangely dxdiag (from the Run prompt) does show directdraw, direct3d and AGP accelleration as not supported on all except the Omega drivers.

All was working fine before. I have a feeling the VGA card has fried? Is this likely...

FYI I have a Shuttle SN45 with
Radeon 9700Pro
1Gb DDR400
Athlon 2500XP Barton
#Nothing overclocked or anything fancy...
No viruses, spyware, etc. Machine no hotter than normal...

Any help apreciated!
Thx
Joolz

 

looks to me like its overheated.....

do you play games to long periods?

if so its always best to ADD some extra coolong to your standard g/c`s cooling!

HTH

Darren

 

This happens when the machine is booted up from cold as well
Or are you saying it's overheated to the point of busting itself permanently?

My system runs fairly hot, but it's a Shuttle so can't do a great deal (though there is a fan directly on VPU)

Joolz

 

yeah once they have been overheated to the point of failiure... THATS IT! :-(

unfortunatly.

Darren

 

Have you not got a spare card or a mate with a spare which you can swap around just to check?

Simon

 

Unfortunately not - I gave my old Radeon away only about a month ago D'oh!
That'll teach me for having a clearout! All points to knackered card to me as well. Anyone in Reading area got a spare Radeon I could try temporarily just to check?

Worth asking before taking the plunge on a new hot card. Wouldn't want to upgrade and find I still have the same problem coz of some knackered RAM or processor or something.

Thx
Joolz

 

I may have a radeon 9600 pro stashed in the loft - will take a look tomorrow as got a few old cards lying around that I never bothered to flog on ebay. Whereabouts in Reading are you? Im south of the M4 nr Wokingham.

Simon

 

Cheers. You have PM.

 

Ho hum

My Shuttle killed the OE fan on my 9800 Pro so I replaced it with a Vantec A4C Iceberq Copper VGA Cooler. This died yesterday and I nipped down to Maplins and bought one from stock. Nice blue LED but a bit noisier than OE.

Lots of coppery bits to stick on the various chips and it should be fine for a bit of overclocking so I am told.

 

Had similar failure on my 9800 pro. Replaced it under warranty but the fan was on all the time with new one.

Eventually replaced case with a Thermaltake (after a few months), but was too late. Card artifacts badly just like the pics in the 1st thread. Boffin guys at BT labs tell me this is typical of GC that has been overheated a few too many times!!

Have tried spare lower spec Nvidia and ok, so just waiting for pay-day now!

blubs

 

Well it appears deep fried card seems to be the problem with mine

What I'll do is pick up another 9700/9800 from ebay for 30-40 notes, just to tide me over. Then I'll save my pennies for a proper upgrade. This move to SFF Shuttles seemed good at the time but it's far too restrictive for someone that tinkers around like me and the compromises you have to make to allow for the heat build-up in the small cases are not good.

Depending on the card I get, I may well carve out a hole in the side of the case for a fat fan to get some more air in. It's running temps of 57C/50C now, and that's just on idle surfing as I can't play games with the graphics looking like they do - it's giving me a headache!

Great advice guys.
Joolz

 

Quick update - Got hold of a cheap 9800pro and installed and running just fine (well, better than before of course!) wihtout any change to confi, using the currently installed Omega drivers. So it definitely appears the old card is busted. Machine is in fact running at similar temps to before on idle, but doesn't increase so much during hard 3D gameplay. Will keep an eye on things and add more fans if necessary.

Cheers all!
Joolz