No Artifacting in ATITool, But Artifacting In Games

[Lateralus14]

Hi, I upgraded to a built-by-ATI 9800 Pro a couple days ago, since I was getting artifacting with my 9600XT.

I'm still getting artifacting though. With ATITool I scanned for artifacts at stock speeds for three hours last night; ran flawlessly. Then I used Find Max Core and Max Mem to overclock it. The default speeds are 380/340, and I reached 410/350 with stock cooling. Artifact scanning detected no errors for half an hour at those clocks.

But when I go into a game, I start getting artifacting immediately. My GPU and CPU temps are still low right after I get into the game, so I doubt its either of those overheating. I can't get a picture of it though because they only appear for a slight instant, and I don't have quick enough reflexes to press the PrntScrn button before they disappear. I've tried just pressing the button over and over till eventually one appears in a screenshot, but that hasn't worked either. They must be appearing for only a few milliseconds. They aren't horrible, game-ruining artifacts, they they're definitely noticable. Brownish rectangles running the vertical length of the screen, or bluish lines running horizontally.

I'm not sure what the problem could be. I've used Memtest86+ to check my RAM for errors, but both modules checked out fine.

[YawAKooL]

Its I think becoz u play a OpenGL Game and ATI-Tool only checks for D3D errors. Correct me if Im wrong

[C&C Freak 2K]

Funny, I can't remember the last time I saw a game that consisted of a furry red box.

[Slayerstaps]

Funny, I can't remember the last time I saw a game that consisted of a furry red box.

Don't u play atitool then :p it's really fun to play :D
I thought it was a game you had to play :confused: correct me if i'm wrong :confused: ;)

[Frozen]

Its cause games stress your card more than ATItool.

[Lateralus14]

I used ATITool to clock it back to default and I still get artifacting, albeit a bit less than when it was overclocked.

I wish I had a way of determining the temp on my 9800 Pro, just to make sure. I really doubt its a heat problem though, because I tried opening my window all the way and blowing my room fan toward my case, and its 40 degrees outside. It was artifacting within 30 seconds of entering the game, hardly enough time for the GPU to get all that hot.

[Fistandantilis]

hello, whenever i am gaming to check my temps on my MSI r9800 i quickly shutdown, open my case and touch the card. first i touch the side without the fan and sink then the sink itself, if you can touch it and hold your finger there without needing to pull it away then your at a fair temp. but if when you touch the card or sink if you need to pull your hand away then that is rpolly too hot. I obviously didnt come up with this method myself but from what ive heard and what i know about my card it is a pretty failsafe test.

[C&C Freak 2K]

I bought a Thermaltake Hardcano II. Requires a spare 5" bay. It's a hard drive fan (more like a small intake fan) and twin temperature gauges. I put the probes in my CPU and GPU.

[bim27142]

I bought a Thermaltake Hardcano II. Requires a spare 5" bay. It's a hard drive fan (more like a small intake fan) and twin temperature gauges. I put the probes in my CPU and GPU.
...or just buy a thermocouple, much more cheaper... :)

[C&C Freak 2K]

much more cheaper... :)

Incorrect word useage. :)

The Hardcano was $12. Were your thermocouplers that much?

[bim27142]

Incorrect word useage. :)

The Hardcano was $12. Were your thermocouplers that much?
got it from a surplus shop, just about US$3 (im not from the USA)... it's just a simple probe then a 2 digit seven segment display for the temp...this i not for PC actually, its for other thing i guess but it worked fine and it is relatively acurate(real time monitoring - no software involved)...

[wazzledoozle]

Wow that Thermaltake Hardcano series looks really snazzy. Im gonna get one.

[C&C Freak 2K]

It's good as a temperature monitor, but I question how well it actually cools the hard drive. It's just a tiny fan...

If you get one, I'd suggest getting a filter for it, otherwise the hard drive you cool will get blasted with dust.

[Urlyin]

Hi, I upgraded to a built-by-ATI 9800 Pro a couple days ago, since I was getting artifacting with my 9600XT.

I'm still getting artifacting though. With ATITool I scanned for artifacts at stock speeds for three hours last night; ran flawlessly. Then I used Find Max Core and Max Mem to overclock it. The default speeds are 380/340, and I reached 410/350 with stock cooling. Artifact scanning detected no errors for half an hour at those clocks.

But when I go into a game, I start getting artifacting immediately. My GPU and CPU temps are still low right after I get into the game, so I doubt its either of those overheating. I can't get a picture of it though because they only appear for a slight instant, and I don't have quick enough reflexes to press the PrntScrn button before they disappear. I've tried just pressing the button over and over till eventually one appears in a screenshot, but that hasn't worked either. They must be appearing for only a few milliseconds. They aren't horrible, game-ruining artifacts, they they're definitely noticable. Brownish rectangles running the vertical length of the screen, or bluish lines running horizontally.

I'm not sure what the problem could be. I've used Memtest86+ to check my RAM for errors, but both modules checked out fine.

Lateralus14... some basic things to look for and try...
Uninstall drivers and use a tool like driver cleaner to clean them all out, reinstall
On my ASUS MOBO I get issues if I lower the AGP amperture in the BIOS below 64
When I set my memory in the BIOS higher than 400ddr I'll get artifacts in Aquamark only ...
Since you replaced the card, I would assume it's not in the Vid card
You may want to try uping the AGP VDDQ in the BIOS if you are able too, 1.60 should be okay
Test with fastwrites off
If you are running XP you can test it with msconfig and try selective start up by unchecking startup items to check if it's a application running in the back ground ...


let us know how you make out

[Lateralus14]

Oh, sorry about not updating this thread guys, I forgot about it.

I've solved the artifacting issues. My MSI motherboard comes with an awesome software overclocking setup, and it turns out the RAM overclocking was causing it. There are Normal, Fast, Turbo and Ultra-Turbo settings, which tighten the RAM timings which increase performance. I had it on Turbo, and it turns out my brand of RAM doesn't like such timings and was artifacting in response. I didn't know RAM could cause artifacting, but I turned it back to the Normal setting and the artifacting totally disappeared.

I still get very mild artifacting once every half-hour or so, but I've determined that this is because my stock CPU cooler is a royal POS. This Christmas I'm going to buy a new CPU cooler and use Arctic Silver 5 with it, so this should clear it right up.

Thanks for the help everyone.