Laptop artifacting in Atitool - is it dying?

[Derek12]

I have an Acer Aspire 5630 which have a Nvidia Geforce Go 7300 with 128MB dedicated video memory.

I instaled and ran Atitool and about 5 minutes of run, crazy yellow lines appeared on the 3D window, so this means the GPU is failing? I have the latest Nvidia drivers released for this GPU

Many thanks for your help

[erocker]

ATi Tool most likely doesn't mesh well with the newer drivers since ATi tool hasn't been updated for quite some time. If you really must use some sort of artifacting tool, use FurMark.

Some advice: Don't run it too long, it's a laptop and has limited cooling. Programs such as these really heat up the GPU and can cause damage with insufficient cooling.

[Mathragh]

Ohnoes, that doesnt sound good, I was playing some game on my laptop(with a mobility 4650), and it started artifacting out of nowhere aswell.

I decided to test it further with ATI tool, which also gave alot of artifacts, and ended up with catalyst resetting the graphics driver.
An hour later, my laptop wouldnt boot anymore, and my graphics was dead O.O

Gotta use a friends laptop now, which coincidentally also has a 7300 Go. Doesnt give me artifacts though, and lets me overclock the graphics quite a bit without causing artifacts.

Generally, artifacts mean something is clocked too high(most of the time the memory) or is dying, or some timings are off.

If you're not into overclocking that laptop, I'm afraid its probably dying, but perhaps someone else has a different explaination.

I hope that you still have some kind of warranty, like I luckily still had.

[xBruce88x]

if you can remove all the back panels and blow out all the dust. if you're feeling adventurous, take the laptop's case apart and clean all the dust out, if you want to get real crazy get some good thermal past and apply it on the gpu (or new thermal pad, whichever the laptop uses). make sure there's at least 1/3 inch of clearance (~1/2cm) under the laptop for good ventilation. as a last resort you could underclock/volt the gpu a tad. one of those cooling pads might help.

[Wrigleyvillain]

It's not dying. It's overheating. It's a laptop. Go easy on the poor thing. If you absolutely must run a 3D bench try '01 or something.

[Derek12]

First of all, thanks

Originally Posted by erocker

ATi Tool most likely doesn't mesh well with the newer drivers since ATi tool hasn't been updated for quite some time. If you really must use some sort of artifacting tool, use FurMark.

Some advice: Don't run it too long, it's a laptop and has limited cooling. Programs such as these really heat up the GPU and can cause damage with insufficient cooling.

This driver is a bit old (compared to the actual ones), also I ran it on a GF 9500GT using the latest driver (266.58) and didn't artifacted...

Yeah I ran for 5 minutes and when started to artifacts I closed it but didn't seemed to overheat because the fan wasn't running in full speed and the laptop wasn't hot to touch... but I cannot open GPUZ while the test is running because Atitool hangs when I open GPUZ, strange...

Originally Posted by Mathragh

Ohnoes, that doesnt sound good, I was playing some game on my laptop(with a mobility 4650), and it started artifacting out of nowhere aswell.

I decided to test it further with ATI tool, which also gave alot of artifacts, and ended up with catalyst resetting the graphics driver.
An hour later, my laptop wouldnt boot anymore, and my graphics was dead O.O

Gotta use a friends laptop now, which coincidentally also has a 7300 Go. Doesnt give me artifacts though, and lets me overclock the graphics quite a bit without causing artifacts.

Generally, artifacts mean something is clocked too high(most of the time the memory) or is dying, or some timings are off.

If you're not into overclocking that laptop, I'm afraid its probably dying, but perhaps someone else has a different explaination.

I hope that you still have some kind of warranty, like I luckily still had.

The laptop is an old one (have 3-4 years old) so I think the warranty expired and isn't overclocked, though doesn't seem to artifact *yet* in games/3dmark06 nor windows (the games were ran for 10 minutes to avoid overheating)

Originally Posted by xBruce88x

if you can remove all the back panels and blow out all the dust. if you're feeling adventurous, take the laptop's case apart and clean all the dust out, if you want to get real crazy get some good thermal past and apply it on the gpu (or new thermal pad, whichever the laptop uses). make sure there's at least 1/3 inch of clearance (~1/2cm) under the laptop for good ventilation. as a last resort you could underclock/volt the gpu a tad. one of those cooling pads might help.

I will try that and comment if the artifacts stopped, I want to think that isn't dying

Originally Posted by Wrigleyvillain

It's not dying. It's overheating. It's a laptop. Go easy on the poor thing. If you absolutely must run a 3D bench try '01 or something.

I hope you're right!
I ran 06 for a few minutes and even wanted to run vantage though it didn't run because the display res wasn't supported!

[Wrigleyvillain]

Yeah everything is too packed in there and may be dusty to boot. I'd lay off.

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by Wrigleyvillain

Yeah everything is too packed in there and may be dusty to boot. I'd lay off.

I am running Atitool again and doesn't seem to artifacts now. though doesn't seem to overheat... the GPU temperature rises to reach 56 º but then the laptop fan kicks on and reduces to 45 then the fan stops and GPU temp rises again to 56 then the fan kicks on again..... do you think it's overheating?
Many thanks

[sliderider]

Try blowing into the vents but be prepared to move away quick when you do or you may find yourself with a faceful of dust and fluff. I had that happen to me once and my laptop ran a lot cooler once the dust stopped coming out.

[Mathragh]

Originally Posted by Derek12

I am running Atitool again and doesn't seem to artifacts now. though doesn't seem to overheat... the GPU temperature rises to reach 56 º but then the laptop fan kicks on and reduces to 45 then the fan stops and GPU temp rises again to 56 then the fan kicks on again..... do you think it's overheating?
Many thanks

Those temps are perfectly fine.

As a matter of fact, they're below the average for graphics cards

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by sliderider

Try blowing into the vents but be prepared to move away quick when you do or you may find yourself with a faceful of dust and fluff. I had that happen to me once and my laptop ran a lot cooler once the dust stopped coming out.

I tried with an air can but the temps didn't changed I think they are fine though

Originally Posted by Mathragh

Those temps are perfectly fine.

As a matter of fact, they're below the average for graphics cards

Then the problem isn't overheat

Must I assume the GPU is dying (and therefore the laptop itself)??

I have tested the following games/benchmarks anyway:::

3Dmark06 no artifacts
Warrock I saw some flicker but I don't know if it's a game or GPU fault/feature
Crysis Warhead (it was unplayable 0,5 - 1 fps but not artifacts.
Battlefield 2 (artifacts caused by driver)
Resident evil 5 benchmark (no artifacts)
Lost planet 2 benchmark (very low fps but no artifacts)
Age of empires 3 (no artifacts)
Empire earth II (no artifacts)
GTA San Andreas (no artifacts)
Just Cause (no artifacts)
Furmark (no artifacts)
But Atitool artifacts badly in SOME cases...

[Mathragh]

Hmm, well the artifacts in ATItool in your pic look kinda weird.
Normally artifacts appear at random and all over the place.

This could be a software bug afterall, especially since its basically only happening in ATItool itself, and no other 3d Programs.

Afraid I dont know anything else you could try, so i guess its just a weird bug in ATItool.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is actually looking good for you

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by Mathragh

Hmm, well the artifacts in ATItool in your pic look kinda weird.
Normally artifacts appear at random and all over the place.

This could be a software bug afterall, especially since its basically only happening in ATItool itself, and no other 3d Programs.

Afraid I dont know anything else you could try, so i guess its just a weird bug in ATItool.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is actually looking good for you

Many thanks I hope that you're right and is only a Atitool bug
Meanwhile, another screenshot of a more severe artifacting and GPUZ

[Derek12]

I underclocked the GPU and memory to minimum(I didn't know that under- or overclock the gpu and VRAM was possible in a laptop) and Im running atitool to see if stops artifacting or not..

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Derek12

I tried with an air can but the temps didn't changed I think they are fine though


Then the problem isn't overheat

Must I assume the GPU is dying (and therefore the laptop itself)??

I have tested the following games/benchmarks anyway:::

3Dmark06 no artifacts
Warrock I saw some flicker but I don't know if it's a game or GPU fault/feature
Crysis Warhead (it was unplayable 0,5 - 1 fps but not artifacts.
Battlefield 2 (artifacts caused by driver)
Resident evil 5 benchmark (no artifacts)
Lost planet 2 benchmark (very low fps but no artifacts)
Age of empires 3 (no artifacts)
Empire earth II (no artifacts)
GTA San Andreas (no artifacts)
Just Cause (no artifacts)
Furmark (no artifacts)
But Atitool artifacts badly in SOME cases...
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/580/66112644.png

If there were no furmark issues its fine the games you are tyring to play for the most part can't be played well on a desktop 7600gt which is leaps and bounds faster than a 7300go if you are wanting to play all of them you will need a new laptop.

[erocker]

ATi tool hasn't been updated in years. Don't bother using it. Use furmark or kombustor if you really want to scan for artifacts.

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by cdawall

If there were no furmark issues its fine the games you are tyring to play for the most part can't be played well on a desktop 7600gt which is leaps and bounds faster than a 7300go if you are wanting to play all of them you will need a new laptop.

No I won't use the laptop for gaming I was checking its GPU with those games and benchmarks, the laptop will be used for homework and Internet but I want to make sure the GFX is fine and doesn't seem to be.

Now with the card underclocked doesn't seem to artifact at the moment so this will mean a faulty GFX??

Originally Posted by erocker

ATi tool hasn't been updated in years. Don't bother using it. Use furmark or kombustor if you really want to scan for artifacts.

Yeah but it's rougly the same "era" the laptop GPU so then it should be fine, right? the only new thing it's the OS but I will try XP if continues to artifacts...
I tried Furmark and Kombustor and don't *seem* to artifact but it's difficult to stare 1 or 2 hours to see artifacts because those don't warn unlike Atitool (with beeps, and the message) and artifacts can appear and dissapear...

Many thanks

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by Derek12

No I won't use the laptop for gaming I was checking its GPU with those games and benchmarks, the laptop will be used for homework and Internet but I want to make sure the GFX is fine and doesn't seem to be.

Now with the card underclocked doesn't seem to artifact at the moment so this will mean a faulty GFX??


Yeah but it's rougly the same "era" the laptop GPU so then it should be fine, right? the only new thing it's the OS but I will try XP if continues to artifacts...
I tried Furmark and Kombustor and don't *seem* to artifact but it's difficult to stare 1 or 2 hours to see artifacts because those don't warn unlike Atitool (with beeps, and the message) and artifacts can appear and dissapear...

Many thanks

if it is just used for homework and internet why not just leave it alone. its not throwing crazy artifacts in furmark so it is fine.

as for atitool is the driver from the same error? if not there is your huge screen glitch not the GPU having issues

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by cdawall

if it is just used for homework and internet why not just leave it alone. its not throwing crazy artifacts in furmark so it is fine.

Because I'm afraid the GPU will die, I have understand that artifacts first begin in games and later they appear even on desktop and later the computer won't boot maybe I'm paranoid...

as for atitool is the driver from the same error? if not there is your huge screen glitch not the GPU having issues

[/QUOTE]
I don't understand well what your saying here, but the Atitool artifacts appeared on screenshots like I posted so I don't think it's a display issue....

[cdawall]

actually they are a screen glitch normal atitool artifacts are not in a straight line across that window.

[DonInKansas]

It works in EVERYTHING but an outdated benchmark program and you're worried?

Unistall ATITool, go about your life, profit.

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by cdawall

actually they are a screen glitch normal atitool artifacts are not in a straight line across that window.

But if they appeared in the screenshot how it's a screen fault, I don't understand. Besides the message of "Delta of XX in XX pixels (XX avg)"... and the beeping...

Originally Posted by DonInKansas

It works in EVERYTHING but an outdated benchmark program and you're worried?

Unistall ATITool, go about your life, profit.

I have read that it's very sensitive detecting artifacts and a faulty card could only artifact on Atitool.
But anyway I have uninstalled it. I will try one hour of furmark and OCCT again. And Unigine Heaven Many thanks.

[cdawall]

are you trying to kill this poor laptop i mean wtf? if its not failing from all of the other crap you are putting it through why would you intentionally try and kill it with more OCCT and furmark the laptop is fine just give up already holy crap.

[Derek12]

Originally Posted by cdawall

are you trying to kill this poor laptop i mean wtf? if its not failing from all of the other crap you are putting it through why would you intentionally try and kill it with more OCCT and furmark the laptop is fine just give up already holy crap.

WTF are you saying, this laptop was given to me beacuse was dead and I made a clear cmos and it resurrected and I am simply testing its GPU after passed memtest and prime95 and I don't want to kill it because I can afford repairs or new laptop so I don't understand that BS of that I'm trying to kill it. The 1st gpu test was memtest and failed so then I passed the rest of that.

[Wrigleyvillain]

I think you answered your own question; it was not dead at all just need a CMOS clear. However, keep running ATI Tool etc on it and that may no longer be the case.