GTX280 Artifacting in Crysis

[BababooeyHTJ]

I was playing a bit of Crysis today. I installed it a while back and never got around to playing it for some reason, I have in the past. Anyways I noticed some mild artifacting, just a dot here and there. So I did some stress testing and tried out the new GPUTool. Error detection seems pretty good and it's pretty stressful and I pased that. I then updated my driver to 185.85, I was on 182.50, and that didn't make a difference. When I turned off AA it went away. I don't know what to make of that. One other odd thing that happened was during the first light mission it stayed night time, I have never seen that before and I don't know if it's related. I'm not seeing any artifacting in any other games and I'm just not sure what to make of this.

Thanks

 

[erocker]

Backup your save game files and reinstall Crysis

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Thanks, I just checked the file version and I guess that I never patched it and I'm getting errors when trying to do so. I'll try that out. I was pretty scared for a second there, I thought I had a hardware problem going on. I haven't played a really stressful game in a while.

 

[Retro*]

Hey Babs,
No way a good setup like that is going to artifact playing Crysis
I just recently tried GPUTool as well. Even though I have been tweaking my GTX280 overclocks for months, when I tried the "Find Max" feature on all three clocks, it helped me to re-think my settings. Based on it's findings, I lowered the core and shaders just a bit but was able to raise the memory clocks quite a bit higher than I had been able to before.
I haven't had any issues with Crysis or Warhead, so far the HR-03GTX and mods are still working well with the 280. How is it going for you?

 

[ShiBDiB]

Hey Babs,
No way a good setup like that is going to artifact playing Crysis
I just recently tried GPUTool as well. Even though I have been tweaking my GTX280 overclocks for months, when I tried the "Find Max" feature on all three clocks, it helped me to re-think my settings. Based on it's findings, I lowered the core and shaders just a bit but was able to raise the memory clocks quite a bit higher than I had been able to before.
I haven't had any issues with Crysis or Warhead, so far the HR-03GTX and mods are still working well with the 280. How is it going for you?

find max is bugged dont go by it, it has never really worked correctly.

and artifacting can happen on any system, either with a bugged install, or a peice of hardware failing. In this case it looks like the easier to solve of the 2

 

[Retro*]

O Rly?

 

[ShiBDiB]

i find its better to adjust each freehand and bench then reset to stock. the bonus u get from oc'ing a gpu for 24/7 is so minimal its not worth risking a card over

 

[a_ump]

i find its better to adjust each freehand and bench then reset to stock. the bonus u get from oc'ing a gpu for 24/7 is so minimal its not worth risking a card over

+1, i learned the hard way, lost my 8800GT to oc'ing, now i've been stuck with my 7800GTX for almost half a year(foster kid, no funds), i've been having to play at 1280x768 for most games, high to max details usually, but only 8xaf and no aa. It blows , got a job at kurger bing to fix replace it though

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Hey Babs,
No way a good setup like that is going to artifact playing Crysis
I just recently tried GPUTool as well. Even though I have been tweaking my GTX280 overclocks for months, when I tried the "Find Max" feature on all three clocks, it helped me to re-think my settings. Based on it's findings, I lowered the core and shaders just a bit but was able to raise the memory clocks quite a bit higher than I had been able to before.
I haven't had any issues with Crysis or Warhead, so far the HR-03GTX and mods are still working well with the 280. How is it going for you?

It was just a corrupted install, I was pretty nervous for a minute there. Other than that the HR-03 has been working out great, the vrms are a little warm for my likeing but nothing too bad. The card that I got back from the rma dosen't clock too well on the memory. It tops out at 1246mhz but I usually run it at 1225. My old 280 could push a little over 1300mhz but the core clocks much better. It tops out at a little over 750mhz and even during hot days never tops 56c unless I run furmark but that dosen't hit much more.

 

[eidairaman1]

im really surprised they didn't give you a 285, I accidently Killed a Radeon 9700 Pro AIW and ATI gave me a 9800 Pro AIW. Also you shouldnt expect VRMs to stay cool when your overclocking.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

im really surprised they didn't give you a 285, I accidently Killed a Radeon 9700 Pro AIW and ATI gave me a 9800 Pro AIW. Also you shouldnt expect VRMs to stay cool when your overclocking.

I'm happy they gave me a NIB card, but the rma was a couple of months back. You have got to love Evga.

My vrms are cooled with just some enzotech mos c1s but they do a surprisingly good job since they see a lot of airflow. Those volterra vrms run hot, and I mean hot. I wish that the vrm layout on these reference 280s was better.

 

[Retro*]

It was just a corrupted install, I was pretty nervous for a minute there. Other than that the HR-03 has been working out great, the vrms are a little warm for my likeing but nothing too bad. The card that I got back from the rma dosen't clock too well on the memory. It tops out at 1246mhz but I usually run it at 1225. My old 280 could push a little over 1300mhz but the core clocks much better. It tops out at a little over 750mhz and even during hot days never tops 56c unless I run furmark but that dosen't hit much more.

I'm happy they gave me a NIB card, but the rma was a couple of months back. You have got to love Evga.

My vrms are cooled with just some enzotech mos c1s but they do a surprisingly good job since they see a lot of airflow. Those volterra vrms run hot, and I mean hot. I wish that the vrm layout on these reference 280s was better.

Fortunately Crysis just needed a re-install. Same deal with my temp results on the gpu and vrm's, of course with almost the same cooler setups on the 280's they should be similar. The Enzo C1's are going to have to do for me, I have looked at trying the stock plate cut-out, as well as the custom plates like the Swiftech GTX200, but that will have to wait until the next card comes along, maybe it won't be necessary then.
Interesting results on your clocks, my memory is fine now at 1385, but quite a bit lower clocks on the core than yours at 735, I generally run it at 730. Shader is usually at 1540, unlinked.
I'm also re-installing Crysis now, not due to any artifacts, but when I try to adjust the game settings it tends to lock up on me! This is after a fresh W7 64-Bit install with the latest 1.2 and 1.2.1 patches installed on Crysis.

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Fortunately Crysis just needed a re-install. Same deal with my temp results on the gpu and vrm's, of course with almost the same cooler setups on the 280's they should be similar. The Enzo C1's are going to have to do for me, I have looked at trying the stock plate cut-out, as well as the custom plates like the Swiftech GTX200, but that will have to wait until the next card comes along, maybe it won't be necessary then.
Interesting results on your clocks, my memory is fine now at 1385, but quite a bit lower clocks on the core than yours at 735, I generally run it at 730. Shader is usually at 1540, unlinked.
I'm also re-installing Crysis now, not due to any artifacts, but when I try to adjust the game settings it tends to lock up on me! This is after a fresh W7 64-Bit install with the latest 1.2 and 1.2.1 patches installed on Crysis.

Nice memory clocks other than the shader that thing clocks like a binned GTX285. I was thinking about cutting out those little "tabs" that make contact on the vrms on the vrm plate from the HR-03 and sticking some Enzos through and attaching the enzos to the vrm plate with Artic silver adhesive and maybe a coat of spray paint. It should work pretty well but like you said I'm not even sure that it's worth the effort.

 

[Retro*]

Nice memory clocks other than the shader that thing clocks like a binned GTX285. I was thinking about cutting out those little "tabs" that make contact on the vrms on the vrm plate from the HR-03 and sticking some Enzos through and attaching the enzos to the vrm plate with Artic silver adhesive and maybe a coat of spray paint. It should work pretty well but like you said I'm not even sure that it's worth the effort.

Thanks! I just got Crysis fixed, I re-installed, tested the settings adjustments with the original v.1.0, then patched it to v.1.2., no more freezing when adjusting the settings. I think I will skip the v.1.2.1 update this time though.
That is a good idea you have for modding the TR plate with the Enzo sinks, I think you mentioned it in OnBoard's thread as well, which is still going strong. It should work to spread out the heat dissipation further and also it would really anchor down those Enzo sinks!
It would involve some work but not as much as the guy in OnBoard's thread who wants to make a custom vrm plate out of copper
Anyhow it's a neat idea but if you don't do it the Enzo's will still do a pretty good job on their own regardless.

 

[denice25]

Backup your save game files and reinstall Crysis

very nice share!!!

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

Thanks! I just got Crysis fixed, I re-installed, tested the settings adjustments with the original v.1.0, then patched it to v.1.2., no more freezing when adjusting the settings. I think I will skip the v.1.2.1 update this time though.
That is a good idea you have for modding the TR plate with the Enzo sinks, I think you mentioned it in OnBoard's thread as well, which is still going strong. It should work to spread out the heat dissipation further and also it would really anchor down those Enzo sinks!
It would involve some work but not as much as the guy in OnBoard's thread who wants to make a custom vrm plate out of copper
Anyhow it's a neat idea but if you don't do it the Enzo's will still do a pretty good job on their own regardless.

Yeah I don't think that it's really worth the effort unless I could pull off being able to use thermal paste. I went and touched the enzos while running that gpu tool and while they were running hot the sinks didn't feel too warm. I think that the thermal pads aren't tranfering heat too efficently and that thermal adheasive might be the way to go. I would rather not do anything permanent but I did hear that a 50/50 mix of super glue and thermal paste works pretty well. I may try that out since it would be cheap and easy to do.

 

[eidairaman1]

Yeah I don't think that it's really worth the effort unless I could pull off being able to use thermal paste. I went and touched the enzos while running that gpu tool and while they were running hot the sinks didn't feel too warm. I think that the thermal pads aren't tranfering heat too efficently and that thermal adheasive might be the way to go. I would rather not do anything permanent but I did hear that a 50/50 mix of super glue and thermal paste works pretty well. I may try that out since it would be cheap and easy to do.

50/50 Thermalepoxy with Thermal Compound, semipermenant bond. allows you to remove it without tearing the chips off the board

 

[BababooeyHTJ]

50/50 Thermalepoxy with Thermal Compound, semipermenant bond. allows you to remove it without tearing the chips off the board

Thank you sir, that sounds like a great idea. Better thermal conductivity and still not permanent. Do you think that this would be too strong for vrms? They do have a smaller surface area though so it may be perfect. The only thing that worries me is using Artic Silver adhesive on vrms but they do claim that it is somehow non conductive but is capacitive, I don't know how that works.

 

[eidairaman1]

ok AS5 Mixed with AS5 Epoxy should be your best deal, just make sure its even, Ive used it on Mobility Graphics cards to attach Ramsinks, i still could get the sinks off without doing too much to them.

 

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

I was having Artifacting on Crysis as well (Warhead to be specific).. and yeah, it was heat related. Artifacing were gone once I liquid cooled the GPU. Other than that, underclocking to stock clocks will do.

Also, if you bios modded the voltages, try reverting it back to stock. This can also tend to give the "garbage then freeze" issue (Plants vs Zombies, LostPlanet, Empire Total War, to name a few).