What are graphic "ARTIFACTS" Radeon 4850

[Madhatter4]

Ok Ive been using an ATI Radeon 4850 and from time to time I get graphic distortions and flickering textures in games. Sometimes I just restart the game and the issue is resolved, other times it does not go away. It is more prevalent in graphic intensive games and never occurs with normal windows apps. I have the newest ATI drivers and thought it might be a heat issue however I always run the Video card fan speeds at 100% and my temps are usually around 38c idle... anyone have any clue as to why this is happening?

 

[xc0mmiex]

did you overclock the card?
can you be slightly more specific on the distortions and in what games?

 

[Maziar]

+1^
Have u OC'd your VGA/CPU ?

 

[BuGeris]

Maybe 38 is too cold for your card.

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ it isn't, 38 is about what they idle at in a case with bad airflow.

so my guess would be that, you have bad airflow in your case, or at least around your graphics card.

Since my 4850 would idle at 34C, and that's with an i7 in an antec 300 (which has pretty poor airflow for a gaming case)

 

[jitpublisher]

Idle temps don't mean a thing, not a thing.
It is how hot the card gets when you are actually using it. I would say you have bad airflow in your case as well.
Either that, or you simply have a bad card.