Artifacts appearing in game, most commonly with two or more programs running

[fitsu]

Originally Posted by tokyoduong

it would be visible but not always. Scan through it with a magnifying glass. I'm sure you'll know when you see a bad solder as it doesn't look like the others.

But on the other hand, what you're experiencing is most likely a driver issue with memory management. I have the same problem with my 7850 running multiple programs. I think the fact that you even mentioned that you are running multiple programs means that you already have suspected it.

One thing I don't get is, if it's a driver issue then wouldn't everyone who has this card be experiencing it? What would cause me to experience the issue yet somebody with the same drivers/gfx card to have it all working fine?

Also assuming it's a driver issue that must mean if I try it in another PC and the same issue occurs that's not 100% proof that the card is in fact faulty?

[tokyoduong]

Originally Posted by fitsu

One thing I don't get is, if it's a driver issue then wouldn't everyone who has this card be experiencing it? What would cause me to experience the issue yet somebody with the same drivers/gfx card to have it all working fine?

Also assuming it's a driver issue that must mean if I try it in another PC and the same issue occurs that's not 100% proof that the card is in fact faulty?

That's because most people don't try to game and run other programs at the same time. So naturally they wouldn't encounter these problems. You can't possibly assume that everyone else does the same thing you do or have the same set up.
Try it in another PC doesn't negate any possibility besides other parts could be at fault. The only way to really isolate it to being a faulty card is get another same exact card and put it in your pc using the same drivers. If same problems doesn't happen then it's your original card was faulty.

[fitsu]

Originally Posted by tokyoduong

That's because most people don't try to game and run other programs at the same time. So naturally they wouldn't encounter these problems. You can't possibly assume that everyone else does the same thing you do or have the same set up.
Try it in another PC doesn't negate any possibility besides other parts could be at fault. The only way to really isolate it to being a faulty card is get another same exact card and put it in your pc using the same drivers. If same problems doesn't happen then it's your original card was faulty.

I would say the majority of people buying parts like these will commonly open a youtube video while playing a game be it to listen to a song or simply view a video someone linked to them, atleast that's what everyone I know does. So based on that assumption what could cause them to not get the issue occur if it were a drivers error, or would this rule out the possibility of it being a driver error?

[fitsu]

Please don't spam my thread with off-topic stuff, i'm not bothered as to if it's common to open multiple applications or not i simply said what I said to ask the question "based on that assumption what could cause them to not get the issue occur if it were a drivers error, or would this rule out the possibility of it being a driver error?"

Also i've noticed that the graphics issue also appears within the alt tab box (when u hold alt tab and it gives a list of programs you can swap to) even when i'm running only 1 graphical application.

[Slizzo]

Originally Posted by fitsu

I would say the majority of people buying parts like these will commonly open a youtube video while playing a game be it to listen to a song or simply view a video someone linked to them, atleast that's what everyone I know does. So based on that assumption what could cause them to not get the issue occur if it were a drivers error, or would this rule out the possibility of it being a driver error?

I've never tried to have a video open at the same time when playing a game. When gaming, I'm doing only that, focusing my attention on the game and experiencing it as it was provided to me by the developer. Everyone I play with is the same as myself.

Isn't there a way to disable GPU acceleration for YouTube videos? If there is, see if that clears up issues for you.

[fitsu]

Originally Posted by Slizzo

I've never tried to have a video open at the same time when playing a game. When gaming, I'm doing only that, focusing my attention on the game and experiencing it as it was provided to me by the developer. Everyone I play with is the same as myself.

Isn't there a way to disable GPU acceleration for YouTube videos? If there is, see if that clears up issues for you.

I found an option that allowed me to use software rendering instead of GPU in Internet Explorer > Settings > Advanced. But that didn't help, maybe that setting doesn't carry over to chrome? Also please guys I was only using that to assist in the question I asked after don't make this thread about whether or not it's common to have multiple applications open, I even stated in the question "based on that assumption" i'm not claiming what I said to be fact. I just want to know if the thing that causes the issue was a common thing people did, yet the majority of them didn't suffer from the issue while doing it, then could it still be a driver issue and why do they not suffer from it while I do or would this mean it isn't a driver issue in which case is there anything other than faulty graphics card that it could be?

[tokyoduong]

Ok, I would try doing a clean install of grpahics driver.
test RAM(run memtest prewindows)
reinstall game
run game with nothing else running, and with certain programs running that may cause the problems.
swap graphics card.

Run different combinations to eliminate different possibilities. It's process of elimination. You gotta make your from most likely to least likely and start eliminating the possibilities.

Stop posting about how your friends systems does or does not have these problems. You have a completely different setup. I already said I do get some little artifacts here and there when I run multiple applications along with a game(eg. dual monitor stock monitoring, online classes, video chat with girlfriend, etc...). It's not enough to bother me to go through all that troubleshooting though.

[fitsu]

Originally Posted by tokyoduong

Ok, I would try doing a clean install of grpahics driver.
test RAM(run memtest prewindows)
reinstall game
run game with nothing else running, and with certain programs running that may cause the problems.
swap graphics card.

Run different combinations to eliminate different possibilities. It's process of elimination. You gotta make your from most likely to least likely and start eliminating the possibilities.

Stop posting about how your friends systems does or does not have these problems. You have a completely different setup. I already said I do get some little artifacts here and there when I run multiple applications along with a game(eg. dual monitor stock monitoring, online classes, video chat with girlfriend, etc...). It's not enough to bother me to go through all that troubleshooting though.

My original post says that i've already tried all of those... and that i'm going to be swapping the gfx card out soon as I can't right now. Clearly you've not read half the things i've written, and I never mentioned about any of my friends problems... Please stop replying on this thread as every post apart from your first one just seems like spam to me...

[Random Murderer]

Originally Posted by fitsu

is there anything other than faulty graphics card that it could be?

- Faulty hardware and/or an unstable overclock on CPU, RAM, or GPU. You've already stated that the CPU and RAM are at stock leaving just the GPU in question. You specified your card as "Gigabyte HD7970 1GHz Clock," does that mean it is a GHz Edition card and is at stock speeds or that you've overclocked it to 1GHz?
- Memory timings. The fact that you're running your RAM underclocked makes me think it could be unstable.
- Power Supply, either using a crappy one or one that can't supply enough power. Looking at the specs of your "Novatech powerstation black edition 750W," it could fall into both of these categories. I've never heard of NovaTech. That doesn't mean they're bad, it would just be nice to know the OEM. Four +12V rails at 18A each is a bit weak for a 7970 in a loaded system, especially if it turns out the PSU is from a bad OEM.
- Crappy drivers.
- User error.

There's really no way to nail down the exact cause without testing the card in another system, which has been mentioned countless times in this thread.
It would greatly help us if you could do two things:
1) Fill out your system specs in the User CP.
2) Stop being so combative and open your mind a bit. We're here to help, but it's impossible if you won't listen to what we're trying to tell you.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.
Oh, and welcome to TPU.

[tokyoduong]

Originally Posted by fitsu

PC Spec:

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
ASUS Sabertooth 990fx r2.0
Gigabyte HD7970 1GHz Clock
Novatech powerstation black edition 750W Silent ATX2 Modular
AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1090T 3.2GHz
Corsair CL9 8GB 1866 Ram (running at 1333)
120GB Extreme SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive (OS installed on this)
2TB Barracuda SATA 6Gb/s 64MB 7200RPM Hard Drive
Monitor #1 - BenQ G2450H (HDMI)
Monitor #2 - Philips 230C, CRT (DVI)
Nothing is overclocked

Other parts i've tried:

Corsair CL9 8GB 1866 Ram (Running at 1333), different cards
GA-990FXA-UD3
AMD FX 8350 Eight-Core Processor 4.00 GHz
Just the SSD alone

I recently built a new PC and i've been having a strange graphical issue, when i'm running more than one application at a time (such as a youtube video and Diablo 3) which ever application I opened second will have some visual issues appear on it at times. On Diablo 3 I get two small parallel white/black lines scattered around the screen, on a youtube video I get white lines moving diagonally across the screen, on World of Warcraft I get objects that look kind of like a cracked mirror scattered around the screen, on far cry 3 there has been large red squares when I look into the distance and on League of Legends I get black squares surrounding any object I hover my mouse over. This issues don't always appear instantly i'll usually need to play for a bit or change a setting, like in diablo 3 change from windows mode to fullscreen, yet once they have appeared they will always appear instantly when running two applications until I reset. I've found that if in Diablo 3 the shadows are set to medium the issue will go away for a while but eventually it'll reappear.

I've tried everything I can think of to fix this, i've updated the BIOS, tried only one monitor, updated Windows, updated firmware on my SSD, updated my gfx card drivers, tried different graphics card driver versions, turned down the clock on my gfx card, overclocked everything, checked temperatures and formatted my PC then tested with the bare minimum installed but the issue remains.

I've also run a FurMark 1920x1080 Burn-In 15min benchmark and a 15min ATITool Artifacts Scan, both ran through fine with 0 errors and temps never went above 80 degrees. So I really am just lost, does anyone have any ideas?

Heres are some screens of the error in diablo 3 and wow... I added the black circles with paint to try and point out some of the errors:

WoW - http://postimage.org/image/utuiua8u1/full/
Diablo 3 - http://postimage.org/image/so07zs5dl/full/

Originally Posted by fitsu

My original post says that i've already tried all of those... and that i'm going to be swapping the gfx card out soon as I can't right now. Clearly you've not read half the things i've written, and I never mentioned about any of my friends problems... Please stop replying on this thread as every post apart from your first one just seems like spam to me...

Clearly, you don't even know what you wrote. Nowhere in your post does it say you did a clean install. Nowhere does it say you've ran an extensive memtest to make sure you RAM wasn't a problem.

I don't think I need to explain why you should do a clean install(updating is not clean install). I don't think I need to explain the possibility of you having bad RAM on both sets because that happened to many people. Hell, the possibility of your MB not behaving the RAM is also there. The only sure way to know is run the memtest without windows because windows take up part of the RAM. Bad RAM at any speed does not guarantee 0 errors. The fact that you said you ran a burn test on your gpu with no errors should increase the possibilities of other parts being problematic. It could be your PSU not holding stable current on one of the rails. You have to eliminate these possibilities by testing thoroughly. What part of POE(process of elimination) don't you understand?

The only thing that's close to what I was saying was you ran youtube during a game. You've never mentioned trying different browser or even what browser you were using. You clearly don't know how to troubleshoot problems. Obviously that's why you're here and I'm trying to help while you're comparing how your friends' systems work but yours doesn't when you don't have identical systems.

Maybe i'm just helping a fool who doesn't know how to properly build or troubleshoot PCs but pay for high end hardware. Don't worry, I won't help you anymore.

[fitsu]

Originally Posted by Random Murderer

- Faulty hardware and/or an unstable overclock on CPU, RAM, or GPU. You've already stated that the CPU and RAM are at stock leaving just the GPU in question. You specified your card as "Gigabyte HD7970 1GHz Clock," does that mean it is a GHz Edition card and is at stock speeds or that you've overclocked it to 1GHz?
- Memory timings. The fact that you're running your RAM underclocked makes me think it could be unstable.
- Power Supply, either using a crappy one or one that can't supply enough power. Looking at the specs of your "Novatech powerstation black edition 750W," it could fall into both of these categories. I've never heard of NovaTech. That doesn't mean they're bad, it would just be nice to know the OEM. Four +12V rails at 18A each is a bit weak for a 7970 in a loaded system, especially if it turns out the PSU is from a bad OEM.
- Crappy drivers.
- User error.

There's really no way to nail down the exact cause without testing the card in another system, which has been mentioned countless times in this thread.
It would greatly help us if you could do two things:
1) Fill out your system specs in the User CP.
2) Stop being so combative and open your mind a bit. We're here to help, but it's impossible if you won't listen to what we're trying to tell you.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.
Oh, and welcome to TPU.

It's the GHz Edition, at stock.

Here are some specs for the PSU, I don't really know what they mean but I hope they can help . -

AC Input 100-240V ~ 10A 50/60Hz
DC Output +3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 +12V4 -12V +5Vsb
Max Load 28A 30A 18A 18A 18A 18A 0.8A 3A
Max Combined Wattage 180W 650W 9.6W 15W
Total Power 750W

Novatech is the websites own make, i've bought from them before and they've been pretty reliable. During furmark tests it was able to run the graphics card at 100% without any artifacts, they only occur when more than two applications are running at once even though the card only needs to run at like 30% to do so, I assume if it were a power issue then the artifacts would increase when the graphics card needs more power as apposed to what's happening to me now?

Oops, i didn't notice I had to set "show system spec" to yes, doh! Also i'm unsure as to what i've been combative about or what i've not listened to? The only thing people have recommended that i've not tried is trying my gfx card in a different machine, but i've given my reason as to why i've yet to try this and that I will asap and simply asked until then if there is anything else I can try that I haven't already.

[fitsu]

Originally Posted by tokyoduong

Clearly, you don't even know what you wrote. Nowhere in your post does it say you did a clean install. Nowhere does it say you've ran an extensive memtest to make sure you RAM wasn't a problem.

I don't think I need to explain why you should do a clean install(updating is not clean install). I don't think I need to explain the possibility of you having bad RAM on both sets because that happened to many people. Hell, the possibility of your MB not behaving the RAM is also there. The only sure way to know is run the memtest without windows because windows take up part of the RAM. Bad RAM at any speed does not guarantee 0 errors. The fact that you said you ran a burn test on your gpu with no errors should increase the possibilities of other parts being problematic. It could be your PSU not holding stable current on one of the rails. You have to eliminate these possibilities by testing thoroughly. What part of POE(process of elimination) don't you understand?

The only thing that's close to what I was saying was you ran youtube during a game. You've never mentioned trying different browser or even what browser you were using. You clearly don't know how to troubleshoot problems. Obviously that's why you're here and I'm trying to help while you're comparing how your friends' systems work but yours doesn't when you don't have identical systems.

Maybe i'm just helping a fool who doesn't know how to properly build or troubleshoot PCs but pay for high end hardware. Don't worry, I won't help you anymore.

I said in my OP "formatted my PC then tested with the bare minimum installed but the issue remains" can you get a much cleaner install? I also said "tried different graphics card driver versions" you can't put on older drivers without removing the current ones? I also said it happens when I run ANY two applications, I mention youtube due to it being the least graphically intensive thing so I don't see why I need to list browsers. Although I did forget to mention the other RAM I tried was from my old PC and is fully functional. Once again I never compared mine to my friends system.. I really don't know where you are getting that from, i'm here because while I wait for the chance to try my gfx card in another machine I wanted to see if there was anything else I could try, not to be insulted by somebody who hasn't read my post... This will be the last time I respond to you as I seem to be spamming my own thread now, which is rather stupid of me.

[tokyoduong]

Most RAM is very sensitive with its timing range and voltage. Check your RAM specs to make sure you are running with the correct voltage and timing. Also, some motherboards can be dumb and report incorrect readings. The only way to know is run memtest without being in windows with all the correct settings(loosen up the timing a bit).

Different RAMs run at different voltages. MBs do not know these specs automatically, you will have to manually set the timing and voltage yourself to ensure stability.

To monitor your voltages, there's software to do that that sometimes comes with your motherboard. Monitor voltage drops when you open multiple applications while gaming. I'm sure you can find these software with google.

Start with software first because that's easy to fix. If the browswer is causing problems maybe it's having a memory leak problem. Do a clean reinstall and update with latest version and see.

[drdeathx]

Until you try the card in another system, the thread is basically dead....

[fitsu]

Originally Posted by drdeathx

Until you try the card in another system, the thread is basically dead....

I figured as much, I'll be doing this tomorrow hopefully. I just figured it couldn't hurt to post up my issue in case I got lucky and someone replied with something along the lines of "Oh yeah, I had that same issue with that card do this and you'll be fine" heh... Live in hope

[Random Murderer]

Originally Posted by fitsu

It's the GHz Edition, at stock.

Here are some specs for the PSU, I don't really know what they mean but I hope they can help . -

AC Input 100-240V ~ 10A 50/60Hz
DC Output +3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 +12V4 -12V +5Vsb
Max Load 28A 30A 18A 18A 18A 18A 0.8A 3A
Max Combined Wattage 180W 650W 9.6W 15W
Total Power 750W

Novatech is the websites own make, i've bought from them before and they've been pretty reliable. During furmark tests it was able to run the graphics card at 100% without any artifacts, they only occur when more than two applications are running at once even though the card only needs to run at like 30% to do so, I assume if it were a power issue then the artifacts would increase when the graphics card needs more power as apposed to what's happening to me now?

Oops, i didn't notice I had to set "show system spec" to yes, doh! Also i'm unsure as to what i've been combative about or what i've not listened to? The only thing people have recommended that i've not tried is trying my gfx card in a different machine, but i've given my reason as to why i've yet to try this and that I will asap and simply asked until then if there is anything else I can try that I haven't already.

Right, I looked up your power supply and saw the specs, hence how I knew it had four +12V rails at 18A a piece.
I understand it is their in-house brand, just as Dynex is Best Buy's, but somebody had to manufacture it for them. The company that actually made it is known as the OEM. There are many out there that make great PSUs, many that make mediocre units, and some that will downright burn your house down. A lot of times the mediocre-made units are not really capable of providing their full rated power output, i.e. a 750W unit only able to output ~650W max.
To know who the OEM is for your PSU would be greatly helpful, unfortunately I haven't been able to turn up any definite results. There has been a great deal of discussion as to what they actually are, some have suggested rebadged OCZ units(which would be good), others have suggested CaseCom or PowerCool(which would be bad).

Originally Posted by drdeathx

Until you try the card in another system, the thread is basically dead....

Agreed. Standing by until then.