Fish Scale video artifacts

[rumpi]

I RMAed my BFG 8800 and they sent me back a GTX 260, which I thought was kinda sweet. However, I get occasional artifacts on my games and desktop. I usually get them on my desktop after exiting a game even though I don't have artifacts in the game itself.

Any ideas what I can do. I am using Windows 7 64bit and have the latest Nvidia drivers. BFG has gone bust so no chance of another RMA. It only happens occasionally so its not to big of a deal, but it sure is irritating.

I have a pic up on Photobucket, gonna try to link it here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/frontsidebus/artifacts.jpg

 

[BFG10K]

That looks like bad VRAM. Does it happen in safe mode or in the BIOS screen?

 

[rumpi]

I have not noticed it in the bios or in safe mode, but I haven't ever booted in to it so it may show up there. I had the artifacts all over my desk top and usually have to reboot to get rid of them but I did get them to go away by changing the refresh rate of my LCD from 60 to 75. I haven't tried playing a game yet to see if they return.

 

[FalseChristian]

I have not noticed it in the bios or in safe mode, but I haven't ever booted in to it so it may show up there. I had the artifacts all over my desk top and usually have to reboot to get rid of them but I did get them to go away by changing the refresh rate of my LCD from 60 to 75. I haven't tried playing a game yet to see if they return.

Well, It's not your VRAM as the artifacts would occur no matter what resolution or refresh-rate you used. It's just a driver issue as the drivers are pretty immature at this point. The next drivers should eliminate your problems (I hope).

 

[tviceman]

Try a different cable and/or plug-in in the back of your monitor. Could be faulty wiring.

 

[rumpi]

thx for the replies. I will try new cables and drivers when they come out

 

[slash196]

thx for the replies. I will try new cables and drivers when they come out

It can't be the cables, a physical display problem wouldn't show up on a screenshot. If it's an occasional problem 99 percent it's the drivers. Try a different version, either a newer beta or an older version, see if that helps.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Download and install GPU-Z. What are your temps when this is going on? What about when it's normal?

As a last resort, you can try removing the heatsink and reapplying thermal paste / pads to everything. There's a chance that one of the memory ICs isn't getting good contact with the heatsink or something, causing this problem. Just because the GPU temps look good doesn't mean something else on the card isn't overheating.

 

[BFG10K]

I have not noticed it in the bios or in safe mode, but I haven't ever booted in to it so it may show up there. I had the artifacts all over my desk top and usually have to reboot to get rid of them but I did get them to go away by changing the refresh rate of my LCD from 60 to 75. I haven't tried playing a game yet to see if they return.

The next time you boot the system, leave it sitting in the BIOS screen for 10-15 minutes. If the artifacts come back, it’s a hardware problem.

 

[BFG10K]

Well, It's not your VRAM as the artifacts would occur no matter what resolution or refresh-rate you used. It's just a driver issue as the drivers are pretty immature at this point. The next drivers should eliminate your problems (I hope).

Not true; depending on the settings, the VRAM could be getting mapped differently, so different settings may not touch the faulty area(s).

 

[Face2Face]

It's the Vram. Had the same thing happen to my 9800 GTX. I was able to RMA through XFX no problems --And I bought it used for $50.00. Gotta love XFX

 

[rumpi]

I hope it isnt the VRAM. If it is then I got screwed by BFG when I RMAed the card.