Random Sparkles in Game?

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 06:55 PM

I was playing WoW just a minute ago and noticed some random sparkly/shiny things embedded in some of the background. I am playing on a 24" monitor and use an XFX 6950. I am playing with all settings on ultra, except shadows, which is at the high setting. Here is a screenshot of the unknown sparkles.

Here is a screenshot of my GPU-Z. I'm not sure if that helps.

DRDNA · Jan 18, 2011, 07:00 PM

try going in to the CCC and setting the slider to Quality and then test again with out setting any special CCC settings.

Black Panther · Jan 18, 2011, 07:00 PM

Have you been watching Twilight recently?

Kidding apart... can you post a photo? (A photo is preferable to a screenshot since the latter won't show any possible artifacts / defects in graphic rendering...)

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:03 PM

Trying that quality thing in CCC right now.

Do you mean a standard photo as in a picture from a digital camera?

edit: putting the bar all the way to quality did nothing in game it seems.

Black Panther · Jan 18, 2011, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaspera

Do you mean a standard photo as in a picture from a digital camera?

Yes.

If you try both screenshots and camera shots - if the sparkles don't show in the former but show in the latter it might be a problem with your graphics card (ie hardware problem). If it also shows in screenshots it's more likely to be a settings/driver problem (ie software issue).

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:10 PM

It is showing in a photo too. Should I upload the photo or will it not look sparkly to you?

I did update my video card driver to 10.12 the other day I thought, as recommended by TPU users, but GPU-Z claims I'm still running 10.11.

JrRacinFan · Jan 18, 2011, 07:13 PM

Sounds to me like your card is overheating. See if you still get them with side panel off.

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Sounds to me like your card is overheating. See if you still get them with side panel off.

My card is a tad warm at 58C when in game according to AIDA64, but to me, that's not hot enough to mess things up. I've had much hotter cards in the past.

edit: Even idling at 40C, I still see those dumb sparkles.

JrRacinFan · Jan 18, 2011, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaspera

My card is a tad warm at 58C when in game according to AIDA64, but to me, that's not hot enough to mess things up. I've had much hotter cards in the past.

edit: Even idling at 40C, I still see those dumb sparkles.

How can you idle but yet see them when you're in game, that wouldn't be idle. How are you attaining your temps?

Launch GPUz let it run with the setting "refresh in background" and set it to log MAX temp.

bbmarley · Jan 18, 2011, 07:17 PM

lol you are right next to jc daily
the daily could be people use stardust no.2 on others what makes sparkles around them for x amount of time lol

58c is fine for tempt to

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:18 PM

I closed the game to see the idle temperature. Also, running the game in windowed fullscreen enables me to still see the AIDA64 sidebar with GPU/CPU/mobo/hdd temps.

It's not stardust. The sparkles are on buildings (not people) and in pictures outside of WoW.

JrRacinFan · Jan 18, 2011, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaspera

I closed the game to see the idle temperature

That's not idle temperature.

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

That's not idle temperature.

So having nothing but google chrome (with two tabs) open is not idle? Explain to me what idle temperature means then please.

edit: Did you think I meant the game was minimized? Nothing was running except google chrome.

JrRacinFan · Jan 18, 2011, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

That's not idle temperature.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaspera

So having nothing but google chrome (with two tabs) open is not idle? Explain to me what idle temperature means then please.

Ok I will quit being so abrasive. I am sorry. How long are you at desktop before the temps start "evening" out? That's where I am going at with it. What I mean is say you are at desktop for 2 seconds and it's reading 40C or 3 minutes reading 40C. I'd assume the 40C @ 3 minutes is idle, not the 2 seconds.

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Ok I will quit being so abrasive. I am sorry. How long are you at desktop before the temps start "evening" out?

1) Logging temperatures with the GPU-Z method you requested got me a minimum of 39C and a maximum of 58C.
2) Once I close the game completely, it takes maybe 10 seconds to see the temperature drop down to about 41C. After that, it fluctuates between 40 and 41 based on AIDA64 and GPU-Z infinitely.

Black Panther · Jan 18, 2011, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Sounds to me like your card is overheating. See if you still get them with side panel off.

+1

if as you say the sparkles are visible in both screenshot and digital photograph it's a problem with the card itself, and not with software or game settings.

Edit: though definitely the GPU of the card (where you quote the temperatures) is not overheating. It might still be a vram issue though..

GREASEMONKEY · Jan 18, 2011, 07:29 PM

I had an issue somthing like you describe once before,Swapped out the dvi cable for a different one and it took care of the problem.It had shiny little pixies around different random edges regardless of desktop or in game.

erocker · Jan 18, 2011, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaspera

It is showing in a photo too. Should I upload the photo or will it not look sparkly to you?

I don't see any sparkles in the screenshot.

Quote:

I did update my video card driver to 10.12 the other day I thought, as recommended by TPU users, but GPU-Z claims I'm still running 10.11.

Whatever problems you are having may be related to a bad driver install. Use this guide and completely remove your drivers: How To: Reinstall Video Drivers (Quick Guide) -be sure to do everything.

Reinstall the latest drivers and check for "sparkles" again. If you run into any issues, feel free to PM me.

*Glad it's fixed with a cable swap. It isn't a bad idea to follow the reinstall guide anyways. I do it every time I update drivers.

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY

I had an issue somthing like you describe once before,Swapped out the dvi cable for a different one and it took care of the problem.It had shiny little pixies around different random edges regardless of desktop or in game.

I use HDMI. Going to swap cables to see if that fixes it.

edit: Switching cables made my sparkles go away!!!! It also sounds like my sound quality improved (using monitor speakers at the moment).

JrRacinFan · Jan 18, 2011, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaspera

I use HDMI. Going to swap cables to see if that fixes it.

edit: Switching cables made my sparkles go away!!!!

Happy gaming man!

Like I said, I am sorry if I sounded cruel. Didn't mean it like that.

@Greasemonkey

Good stuff!

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JrRacinFan

Happy gaming man!

Like I said, I am sorry if I sounded cruel. Didn't mean it like that.

@Greasemonkey

Good stuff!

Not a problem. I'm definitely not a tech genius. But I do know how to see a min and max number.

Is 10.12 the most recent AMD video card driver?

Black Panther · Jan 18, 2011, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zaspera

Is 10.12 the most recent AMD video card driver?

Yes. The 10.12 is the latest driver.

Btw, it'd really help if you upload an in-game picture showing the sparkly graphics. Perhaps not me but there are people here who would recognise artifacting (card trouble) immediately.

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Panther

Yes. The 10.12 is the latest driver.

Btw, it'd really help if you upload an in-game picture showing the sparkly graphics. Perhaps not me but there are people here who would recognise artifacting (card trouble) immediately.

I did upload a picture in my first post.

Bo$$ · Jan 18, 2011, 07:58 PM

maybe im blind but where exactly are the sparkles??

unless you are talking about those hugeass swords near the middle of the screen

Zaspera · Jan 18, 2011, 07:59 PM

They were in the wall. When I took the picture and looked at it outside the game, I could still see them. I can't anymore though, so I'm sure nobody else could ever see them.

Jan 18, 2011, 06:55 PM	#1
Zaspera Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Mapleville, RI Posts: 500 (0.58/day) Thanks: 54 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts System Specs	I was playing WoW just a minute ago and noticed some random sparkly/shiny things embedded in some of the background. I am playing on a 24" monitor and use an XFX 6950. I am playing with all settings on ultra, except shadows, which is at the high setting. Here is a screenshot of the unknown sparkles. Here is a screenshot of my GPU-Z. I'm not sure if that helps. Last edited by Black Panther; Jan 18, 2011 at 09:08 PM. Reason: merged consecutive posts & made in-game picture show up

System Name:	HAF Gamer
Processor:	Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition
Motherboard:	Asrock 970 Extreme3
Cooling:	CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory:	8GB Crucial Ballistix 1600mhz (2x4GB)
Video Card:	PNY GTX 680 1006MHz
Hard Disk:	Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM 3GB/s
Optical Drive:	Samsung 24x DVD Burner
CRT/LCD Model:	22" LG EW224T LED
Case:	Cooler Master HAF 922
Sound Card:	Onboard (for now)
PSU:	OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Jan 18, 2011, 07:00 PM	#2
DRDNA Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: New York Posts: 4,122 (1.56/day) Thanks: 612 Thanked 494 Times in 424 Posts System Specs	try going in to the CCC and setting the slider to Quality and then test again with out setting any special CCC settings. __________________ Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58/ i7-920CO@4.2GHZ 24/7 <> CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600.<> ThermalTake ToughPower 1200 WATT PSU 2X ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB DDR5 <> Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System 320GBx4 Perpendicular RAID-0/BLU-RAY/HD-DVD Reader / DVD±R/±RW Writer LG 50" 50PK550 1080p 600Hz Plasma/WestingHouse 37 inch @1920X1080/Windows 7 Pro/64

System Name:	http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=73751
Processor:	i7-920 CO@4.2GHZ
Motherboard:	Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58
Cooling:	Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System
Memory:	CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
Video Card:	2X ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB DDR5 PCI-Express
Hard Disk:	(RAID-0) with 4 Identical Hard Drives (1.28TB (320GBx4)
Optical Drive:	LG BLU-RAY/HD-DVD Reader / DVD±R/±RW Writer
CRT/LCD Model:	LG 50" 50PK550 1080p 600Hz Plasma/37 Inch WestingHouse @1920x1080
Case:	Thermaltake M9 (I hate it its like trying to live in a 1 inch box)
PSU:	ThermalTake ToughPower 1200 Watt
Software:	Windows 7 professional 64

Jan 18, 2011, 07:00 PM	#3
Black Panther Senior Moderator™ Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 7,044 (3.23/day) Thanks: 2,165 Thanked 1,836 Times in 1,102 Posts System Specs	Have you been watching Twilight recently? Kidding apart... can you post a photo? (A photo is preferable to a screenshot since the latter won't show any possible artifacts / defects in graphic rendering...) __________________ *My Great White Bengal build* Join the techPowerUp! Official Group on Facebook.

System Name:	BlackPanther -- Great White Bengal
Processor:	E8400 @ 4Ghz 1.28V -- i7 930 @ 4Ghz
Motherboard:	Asus P5B -- Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
Cooling:	Zalman CNPS9500 LED -- Scythe Yasya
Memory:	2x2048 DDR2 Apacer 890Mhz -- 3 x 2048 DDR3 Mushkin black line
Video Card:	Sapphire OC 5970 --Zotac 670 4GB
Hard Disk:	Intel 160GB SSD, eSata Seagate 250GB -- 240GB SSD Sandisk Extreme
Optical Drive:	LG DVD-RAM -- Sony BWU-500S-WW
CRT/LCD Model:	22" 1680x1050 LG Flatron -- 27" 2560x1440 Dell U2711
Case:	Aeroengine Jr -- NZXT Switch 810 White
Sound Card:	X-Fi Xtreme Music 5.1 -- Onboard sound & Z5500 Speakers
PSU:	Corsair HX850W Modular -- NZXT HALE90 850W PSU
Software:	Windows 7 x64 on both systems

Jan 18, 2011, 07:03 PM	#4
Zaspera Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Mapleville, RI Posts: 500 (0.58/day) Thanks: 54 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts System Specs	Trying that quality thing in CCC right now. Do you mean a standard photo as in a picture from a digital camera? edit: putting the bar all the way to quality did nothing in game it seems.

Jan 18, 2011, 07:10 PM	#6
Zaspera Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Mapleville, RI Posts: 500 (0.58/day) Thanks: 54 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts System Specs	It is showing in a photo too. Should I upload the photo or will it not look sparkly to you? I did update my video card driver to 10.12 the other day I thought, as recommended by TPU users, but GPU-Z claims I'm still running 10.11.

Jan 18, 2011, 07:13 PM	#7
JrRacinFan Served 5k and counting ... Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Youngstown, OH Posts: 16,121 (7.15/day) Thanks: 4,149 Thanked 4,552 Times in 4,027 Posts System Specs	Sounds to me like your card is overheating. See if you still get them with side panel off. __________________ Graphics Artists United™ Request Thread Low Cache CPU Club Solaris Utility DVD 3.0 DanishDevil's Logitech Soundroom TPU Video Gallery Sciencemark Revisited

System Name:	Mine; Hers; Our HTPC; NAS Box
Processor:	i7 2600k : i3 2120 : Celeron G440 : P4 2.6Ghz Nwood
Motherboard:	Asrock Z68 Extreme4 : Asus P8P67 Pro : Asrock H61M/U3S3 : Dell
Cooling:	CM 212+ w/ scythe jyuni : Stock : Stock :Stock
Memory:	2x4GB Ripjawx 1866 cl9 : 2x2GB Corsair 1600 cl9 : 2x2GB Ridgebacks 1066 cl5 : 768MB PC3200
Video Card:	Palit GTX560Ti 2Gb : XFX HD5770 : Integrated : Integrated
Hard Disk:	2x 750GB Raid 0 + Maxtor 500GB : WD Black 1TB+Corsair Nova 2 64GB : Toshiba 750GB : Leftover ATA133
Optical Drive:	Lite-On DVD-RW : Samsung DVD-RW : None : None
CRT/LCD Model:	AOC 21" : AOC 20" : Philips 42" HDTV : Headless
Case:	Rocketfish : CM HAF 912 : Bgears Cube Style case : Dell
Sound Card:	X-Fi Xtremegamer : Onboard : Onboard : Onboard
PSU:	Tt 750W Modular : Antec 500W Earthwatts : Corsair CX430 : Dell's OEM

Jan 18, 2011, 07:17 PM	#10
bbmarley Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 369 (0.21/day) Thanks: 56 Thanked 71 Times in 57 Posts System Specs	lol you are right next to jc daily the daily could be people use stardust no.2 on others what makes sparkles around them for x amount of time lol 58c is fine for tempt to

Processor:	2500k
Motherboard:	Asrock Extreme3 Gen3
Cooling:	CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory:	8G Corsair Vengence
Video Card:	X2 ATI 6950 2G CrossfireX VTX3D / MSI TF2
Hard Disk:	OCZ Agility3 / F1 1tb
CRT/LCD Model:	Hazro HZ27WC / x3 BenQ G2222HDL Eyefinity - 5760x1080
Case:	Fractal Design Define XL
Sound Card:	Onboard / Edifier RT1600
PSU:	Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 700W

Jan 18, 2011, 07:18 PM	#11
Zaspera Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Mapleville, RI Posts: 500 (0.58/day) Thanks: 54 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts System Specs	I closed the game to see the idle temperature. Also, running the game in windowed fullscreen enables me to still see the AIDA64 sidebar with GPU/CPU/mobo/hdd temps. It's not stardust. The sparkles are on buildings (not people) and in pictures outside of WoW.

Jan 18, 2011, 07:29 PM	#17
GREASEMONKEY Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Pacific N.W. Posts: 573 (0.23/day) Thanks: 2,098 Thanked 425 Times in 217 Posts System Specs	I had an issue somthing like you describe once before,Swapped out the dvi cable for a different one and it took care of the problem.It had shiny little pixies around different random edges regardless of desktop or in game. __________________ http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=60283

System Name:	SYS-1//SYS-2//SYS-3//SYS-4
Processor:	AMD FX-8150@4.0//AMD FX-8120@4.0//AMD X6 1090T @ 3.8//AMD X6 1090T @3.6
Motherboard:	Biostar TA990FXE//Biostar TA990FXE//MSI 890GXM-G65//ASUS M489GTD-Pro
Cooling:	ZEROtherm Nirvana//Corsair H-50//AMD PII Cooler//AMD CL Water Cooler
Memory:	MUSHKIN PC3-10700(4X4g)//Mushkin PC3 10700(2X4G)//Geil PC-3 10700F(2x2G)//XMS-PC3 107004(4x4G)
Video Card:	2-XFX 6850 BE's X-Fire//XFX HD7950-3g//1-XFX 6850//2-XFX HD-7870 X-Fire
Hard Disk:	Corsair ForceIII GS-240 SSD//Corsair ForceIII GS-360SSD//WD Blk 750G 64mb//WD Blk 640G 64mb
Optical Drive:	Samsung dvd rw x2//Samsung dvd rw//Samsung dvd rw//Samsung dvd rw
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung 214T 21.3" LCD//BENQ G2400WD 24" LCD
Case:	SIGMA LUNA//NZXT GAMMA //Silverstone SG-01//Thermaltake Armor JR.
Sound Card:	X-FI Fatality Pro//X-FI Xtreme Gamer//X-FI Titanium PCI-E//Sound Blaster Z
PSU:	Corsair HX620W//Corsair HX620//Corsair HX520//Corsair HX620
Software:	Win 7 Ult-64//Vista Premium-64//Win 7 Ult-64//Vista Ult-64

Processor:	Intel i7 3770K @ 4.6ghz 1.256v
Motherboard:	Asus Maximus V Formula
Cooling:	Water
Memory:	2x4gb Patriot Viper 2133mhz 10-11-10-25 2T 1.55v
Video Card:	Sapphire HD 7970 1125/1575 1.14v
Hard Disk:	Crucial M4 128Gb / Corsair Force 3 120Gb / Samsung 240Gb / 2Tb Seagate
Optical Drive:	None
CRT/LCD Model:	Acheiva Shimian 27" IPS 2560x1440
Case:	Corsair 500R White
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	NZXT Hale90 1Kw
Software:	Windows 8 x64

Jan 18, 2011, 07:58 PM	#24
Bo$$ Join Date: May 2009 Location: London, UK Posts: 3,666 (2.49/day) Thanks: 444 Thanked 770 Times in 679 Posts System Specs	maybe im blind but where exactly are the sparkles?? unless you are talking about those hugeass swords near the middle of the screen __________________ Live in the UK? Join the UK TPU Group! Caution! This is Sparta! Im Looking For... Im Selling

System Name:	Storm \| Server
Processor:	Intel i5 2500k \| Dual Xeon E5320 1.86GHZ
Motherboard:	Gigabyte Z68X-UD4 \| HP XW6400
Cooling:	GeLID Tranquilo \| Custom Water
Memory:	Corsair Vengence 2x4GB RED 1600MHZ\| FBDIMM 4gb 667mhz
Video Card:	Gigabyte GTX 570 WindforceX3 OC \| 2x MSI Twin Frozr III 6950
Hard Disk:	2x WD5001AALS RAID 0 \| Western Digital 500GB Caviar Blue
Optical Drive:	22x Samsung DVD +/-RW/W \| 20x LG DVD +/-RW/W
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus VE276Q
Case:	NZXT M59 \| CM 690 II
Sound Card:	Creative Audigy 2 w/Otone Stilo 5.1 and Creative Fatal1ty headset
PSU:	ThermalTake Toughpower 850w \| Cheiftec A135 850w
Software:	Windows 7 SP1 X64 \| Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

Jan 18, 2011, 07:59 PM	#25
Zaspera Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Mapleville, RI Posts: 500 (0.58/day) Thanks: 54 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts System Specs	They were in the wall. When I took the picture and looked at it outside the game, I could still see them. I can't anymore though, so I'm sure nobody else could ever see them.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Razer and Valve to Codevelop New Game Title Equipped with a Dedicated Game Controller	malware	News	26	Apr 2, 2009 06:43 PM
is this game any good Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance PC Game THQ	trt740	Games	9	Jul 16, 2008 06:08 PM
7900 gt random freeze and random crash	psychomage343	Graphics Cards	0	Apr 7, 2007 11:55 PM
Random Game Freezing.	rapty	General Hardware	26	Nov 9, 2005 03:19 PM