Small squares of random pixels static artifact on video card
Tags:
- Nvidia
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Power Supplies
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Graphics Cards
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Desktops
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Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
nvartifact
April 21, 2012 9:29:27 AM
Is this card defective, or am I only seeing a power supply, driver or other issue? Generally, how do you diagnose or reproduce such an issue (under Windows) for the repair technicians?
I'm using a compositing window manager (KWin) for my desktop (i.e., one which renders all windows to a texture and displaying that with optional zooming and panning effects). Block artifacts eventually appear on the desktop (actually on the texture, as they seem to 'stick' to a certain area of the desktop even when zooming out). Each appears to be a random bitmap of about 16x16 pixels large and each has a single color with transparency (i.e., each pixel is either lit 100% to the color for the block or transparent). Each block seems strictly aligned to a grid that has the same cell size as a single block. A block disappears after window content is refreshed (screen part gets overwritten).
The card is new and has never been overclocked. It has started to show these artifacts after the first or second week. It has not been used interactively in the first week (i.e., I have no data whether it produced these signs out of the box) as the computer was running burn-in tests.
As a quick test, replacing the card with an nVidia 9500 GT does make the artifacts disappear, but of course it is not a solution.
Using openSUSE 12.1 (x86_64) Asparagus;
Linux 3.1.9-1.4-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 27 08:55:10 UTC 2012 (efb5ff4) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux;
nvidia NVIDIA-SMI 2.285.05, Driver Version: 285.05.33;
GPU card: Gainward GTX-280 3GB.
http://postimage.org/image/5fegrb5fx/
![]()
I'm using a compositing window manager (KWin) for my desktop (i.e., one which renders all windows to a texture and displaying that with optional zooming and panning effects). Block artifacts eventually appear on the desktop (actually on the texture, as they seem to 'stick' to a certain area of the desktop even when zooming out). Each appears to be a random bitmap of about 16x16 pixels large and each has a single color with transparency (i.e., each pixel is either lit 100% to the color for the block or transparent). Each block seems strictly aligned to a grid that has the same cell size as a single block. A block disappears after window content is refreshed (screen part gets overwritten).
The card is new and has never been overclocked. It has started to show these artifacts after the first or second week. It has not been used interactively in the first week (i.e., I have no data whether it produced these signs out of the box) as the computer was running burn-in tests.
As a quick test, replacing the card with an nVidia 9500 GT does make the artifacts disappear, but of course it is not a solution.
Using openSUSE 12.1 (x86_64) Asparagus;
Linux 3.1.9-1.4-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 27 08:55:10 UTC 2012 (efb5ff4) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux;
nvidia NVIDIA-SMI 2.285.05, Driver Version: 285.05.33;
GPU card: Gainward GTX-280 3GB.
http://postimage.org/image/5fegrb5fx/

More about : small squares random pixels static artifact video card
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Reply to nvartifact
dormantreign
April 21, 2012 9:43:05 AM
nvartifact
April 21, 2012 9:59:57 AM
Thanks for your feedback. It has not been bought locally, so we have to pay long distance postal fees back and forth (especially if they don't agree that it's broken). Do you think a screenshot is enough proof, or would they need to reproduce it somehow? Do you have any idea how to reproduce under Windows (any recommended software)? I've already tried a few demoscene products on Linux, but I failed to locate the errors on those (I guess filtering and effects do wonders). Also asked someone to test in under 3Dmark on Windows, and it passed for an hour without error there (though I'm not sure if it's a really good validation test).
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Reply to nvartifact
nvartifact
April 26, 2012 8:44:55 AM
The card is on the way back. I'll keep you posted on the resolution. By the way, sorry for the typo, the card is actually a GTX-580.
I'm using a compositing window manager (KWin) for my desktop (i.e., one which renders all windows to a texture and displaying that with optional zooming and panning effects). Block artifacts eventually appear on the desktop (actually on the texture, as they seem to 'stick' to a certain area of the desktop even when zooming out). Each appears to be a random bitmap of about 16x16 pixels large and each has a single color with transparency (i.e., each pixel is either lit 100% to the color for the block or transparent). Each block seems strictly aligned to a grid that has the same cell size as a single block. A block disappears after window content is refreshed (screen part gets overwritten).
The card is new and has never been overclocked. It has started to show these artifacts after the first or second week. It has not been used interactively in the first week (i.e., I have no data whether it produced these signs out of the box) as the computer was running burn-in tests.
As a quick test, replacing the card with an nVidia 9500 GT does make the artifacts disappear, but of course it is not a solution.
Using openSUSE 12.1 (x86_64) Asparagus;
Linux 3.1.9-1.4-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 27 08:55:10 UTC 2012 (efb5ff4) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux;
nvidia NVIDIA-SMI 2.285.05, Driver Version: 285.05.33;
GPU card: Gainward GTX-280 3GB.
http://postimage.org/image/5fegrb5fx/
http://i41.tinypic.com/2afbwns.jpg
]http://imageupload.org/thumb/thumb_219718.jpg
nvartifact said:
Is this card defective, or am I only seeing a power supply, driver or other issue? Generally, how do you diagnose or reproduce such an issue (under Windows) for the repair technicians?I'm using a compositing window manager (KWin) for my desktop (i.e., one which renders all windows to a texture and displaying that with optional zooming and panning effects). Block artifacts eventually appear on the desktop (actually on the texture, as they seem to 'stick' to a certain area of the desktop even when zooming out). Each appears to be a random bitmap of about 16x16 pixels large and each has a single color with transparency (i.e., each pixel is either lit 100% to the color for the block or transparent). Each block seems strictly aligned to a grid that has the same cell size as a single block. A block disappears after window content is refreshed (screen part gets overwritten).
The card is new and has never been overclocked. It has started to show these artifacts after the first or second week. It has not been used interactively in the first week (i.e., I have no data whether it produced these signs out of the box) as the computer was running burn-in tests.
As a quick test, replacing the card with an nVidia 9500 GT does make the artifacts disappear, but of course it is not a solution.
Using openSUSE 12.1 (x86_64) Asparagus;
Linux 3.1.9-1.4-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 27 08:55:10 UTC 2012 (efb5ff4) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux;
nvidia NVIDIA-SMI 2.285.05, Driver Version: 285.05.33;
GPU card: Gainward GTX-280 3GB.
http://postimage.org/image/5fegrb5fx/
http://i41.tinypic.com/2afbwns.jpg
]http://imageupload.org/thumb/thumb_219718.jpg
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Reply to nvartifact
nvartifact
June 4, 2012 3:36:03 PM
Sorry for the late reply but we've just received the replacement card from far away (or at least we hope it's a new one). I'll examine the relevant new posts on the OpenSUSE forums and links and try to reflect on each one and start new guided research. I'll be still watching this place if you have any ideas.
Standard ESD handling precautions have been again followed when inserting the card.
The computer has just been started, was running mostly idle on a desktop - basically clicking on windows and doing text editing produced the artifact again on this new card in less than half an hour. Room HVAC was running. Overheating is thus not probable.
Chassis: Supermicro sc743tq-865b-sq black 4u rack
(from text: PSU 865W, AC cooling redundant, 80+ certified)
http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_parts.asp?PRID...
All 3 power cables inserted into the GPU.
We have ECC memory, so no memory errors are possible.
If nothing helps, we'll write OpenCL tests for memory and processing consistency.
Standard ESD handling precautions have been again followed when inserting the card.
The computer has just been started, was running mostly idle on a desktop - basically clicking on windows and doing text editing produced the artifact again on this new card in less than half an hour. Room HVAC was running. Overheating is thus not probable.
Chassis: Supermicro sc743tq-865b-sq black 4u rack
(from text: PSU 865W, AC cooling redundant, 80+ certified)
http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_parts.asp?PRID...
All 3 power cables inserted into the GPU.
We have ECC memory, so no memory errors are possible.
If nothing helps, we'll write OpenCL tests for memory and processing consistency.
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Reply to nvartifact
nvartifact
June 5, 2012 1:52:39 PM
Verdict: driver bug. The problem has been silently fixed in the new Nvidia beta driver version 302.07 released on the 2nd of May - a week after detecting and RMA'ing the card!
Do look out for that the regular download pages do not list this, so you need to click either the Unix archive or the "beta or older downloads" page to fetch it.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_amd64_display_archiv...
Can I mark this topic solved?
Do look out for that the regular download pages do not list this, so you need to click either the Unix archive or the "beta or older downloads" page to fetch it.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_amd64_display_archiv...
Can I mark this topic solved?
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Reply to nvartifact
mehdi_kingmax
October 1, 2013 6:07:35 AM
hi
my video card is sapphire hd 6870 but i have same problem when my card is under load the random pixels gone and no problems in gaming and graphic testing softwares but when my graphic temp become to 44 or lower random pixels appeares
what is problem?
my system is:
msi 870-g45
amd athlon ii x2 265
acbel 560 watt
2*2gig kingmax ram
my video card is sapphire hd 6870 but i have same problem when my card is under load the random pixels gone and no problems in gaming and graphic testing softwares but when my graphic temp become to 44 or lower random pixels appeares
what is problem?
my system is:
msi 870-g45
amd athlon ii x2 265
acbel 560 watt
2*2gig kingmax ram
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Reply to mehdi_kingmax
elfootman
September 30, 2014 8:27:36 PM
I know this is an old thread but I was facing the same issue, and this is one of the first posts to show when searching in google. Anyways I'm just going to post I how I fixed this exact same issue on my computer, maybe it will be useful for someone else.
I noticed this small squares would show mainly when gaming. I have an HD5870. The game logs showed some D3D errors, device not found, could not remove device and similar messages. Running the game in DirectX9 or DirectX11 seems to make no difference (All though googling around some ppl fixed their issue by forcing DX9). The issue had no connection on how stressed my machine was. But it always showed with some very specific games. No heat issues either.
Then I noticed that this graphic glitch, the small squares, started to show when I disabled one of my monitors. I realized my screen configuration was a bit unusual, my main screen is the screen labeled as screen 2 and it's connected through DVI. The other screen, not my main screen, the one I disabled, is being shown as screen number 1 in Windows (right click on desktop background in Win7 and select screen resolution), and is connected using HDMI.
I think this is the nail in the coffin at least in my case. As long as both screens are active, the issue will never show. I will try to set my main monitor to be screen 1, and play switching cables, and connection ports see if that allows me to completely get rid of the problem without having to have both screens active.
My 2c, hoping will help someone googling this error.
Peace!
I noticed this small squares would show mainly when gaming. I have an HD5870. The game logs showed some D3D errors, device not found, could not remove device and similar messages. Running the game in DirectX9 or DirectX11 seems to make no difference (All though googling around some ppl fixed their issue by forcing DX9). The issue had no connection on how stressed my machine was. But it always showed with some very specific games. No heat issues either.
Then I noticed that this graphic glitch, the small squares, started to show when I disabled one of my monitors. I realized my screen configuration was a bit unusual, my main screen is the screen labeled as screen 2 and it's connected through DVI. The other screen, not my main screen, the one I disabled, is being shown as screen number 1 in Windows (right click on desktop background in Win7 and select screen resolution), and is connected using HDMI.
I think this is the nail in the coffin at least in my case. As long as both screens are active, the issue will never show. I will try to set my main monitor to be screen 1, and play switching cables, and connection ports see if that allows me to completely get rid of the problem without having to have both screens active.
My 2c, hoping will help someone googling this error.
Peace!
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Reply to elfootman
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