Bad artifacting in games.

[Wasteblade]

Hi, I recently upgraded my hardware for my computers and was really happy with the setup. That lasted about as long as it took me to install Assassin's Creed III and start playing it. 10 or so minutes into playing, I get textures stretching all over the screen and I could not play the game at all. I tried it on GTA IV. There was less artifacting, but there was still some. I upgraded the following: motherboard, processor, graphics card, and RAM. My PC consists of the following.

CPU:AMD FX-4170 Zambezi 4.2GHz (4.3GHz Turbo)
MOBO:MSI 990FXA-GD80V2 AM3+ AMD 990FX
GPU:EVGA 02G-P4-2663-KR GeForce GTX 660 FTW Signature 2 2GB 192-bit
HD:Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM
RAM:G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin
PSU:Corsair TX950W PSU

I have never come across this problem and I have no idea what to do. All of the parts above are still eligible for RMA from Newegg. I read into it and found a few causes?

1) Graphics card is OC'd over it's potential.
2) Graphics card is defective. (Got it last week.)
3) Processor might be defective. (Got it last week.)
4) PSU might be dying.

Temperature for the GPU seems to be running at 70, but I'm not sure about the processor since I have no program to read it. It seems it's running a bit hot though. I have two front fans, two top fans, one side fan, and one rear fan. CPU has a heatsink + fan combo on it.

I'm lost. Can someone help me out?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Most likely either the graphics card is overclocked too much or it's defective. If it's overclocked then drop it back to stock clocks and see if that fixes it. If not RMA it. It pretty much has to be the GPU.

Why do you have a 950w power supply for a GTX 660? A 450w unit would have been fine for that build. You would need about 5 GTX 660s to need 950 watts.

Use Coretemp, Realtemp or Speccy to check CPU temps.

 

[Wasteblade]

Most likely either the graphics card is overclocked too much or it's defective. If it's overclocked then drop it back to stock clocks and see if that fixes it. If not RMA it. It pretty much has to be the GPU.

Why do you have a 950w power supply for a GTX 660? A 450w unit would have been fine for that build. You would need about 5 GTX 660s to need 950 watts.

Use Coretemp, Realtemp or Speccy to check CPU temps.

I used to run tri-sli in a previous set up, but eventually just upgraded to a good single card and I just kept the power supply. I haven't had a problem with it. With the un-overclocking. I did drop them back to stock and it did not fix it. I'm wondering if I should just return it and get an unoverclocked card for the same price and overclock it myself. It just seems stupid that I bought an overclocked card that is overclocked more than its able to handle.

 

[Wasteblade]

Also, since I got the motherboard last week, could updating it fix the problem? I noticed it's outdated when it comes to the bios and some of the other drivers.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The card is just factory overclocked it's not overclocked by you? It should run at whatever the factory set speeds are then with no problems.

Going overkill on a PSU does not hurt anything but your bank account

It's not a bad idea to update everything as far as BIOS and especially drivers go but this sounds like a graphics card problem to me.

A few things to try before returning the card.

Uninstall the Nvidia driver and reinstall or maybe even try a different version.

I assume you are using a DVI port? Try the other one. Also try a different cable if you have one.

Try the card in another PCI-E slot since you have one.

Try a different PCI-E power cable from the PSU.

I have had 5 EVGA cards in a row and when I finally get around to getting a GTX 670 it will also be EVGA. Even the best brands sometimes have a lemon though.

 

[Wasteblade]

The card is just factory overclocked it's not overclocked by you? It should run at whatever the factory set speeds are then with no problems.

Going overkill on a PSU does not hurt anything but your bank account

It's not a bad idea to update everything as far as BIOS and especially drivers go but this sounds like a graphics card problem to me.

A few things to try before returning the card.

Uninstall the Nvidia driver and reinstall or maybe even try a different version.

I assume you are using a DVI port? Try the other one. Also try a different cable if you have one.

Try the card in another PCI-E slot since you have one.

Try a different PCI-E power cable from the PSU.

I have had 5 EVGA cards in a row and when I finally get around to getting a GTX 670 it will also be EVGA. Even the best brands sometimes have a lemon though.

Yeah, it was overclocked by the factory. It's the FTW edition. I updated the BIOS, but no luck. Right now I'm installing some temperature programs. Maybe I'll find something there. I'm using the HDMI output, don't have any other cables at the moment to check that :/. I'll try a different slot and power cord and I'll report back. The only cards I ever owned were BFG Tech and MSI. This is my first EVGA, so it's kind of a bummer I'm having these problems. I'm still wondering whether to check get one that has not been overclocked.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The factory does not overclock to any levels that would cause problems. The only reason to buy a stock card is to save money and overclock it yourself. The factory overclocked models have the same warranty.

With EVGA you not only get quality but they have the best warranty and customer service in the business. They also have great forums. They have the only wrranty I know of that covers overclocking, overvolting and aftermarket coolers. You just have to put the stock cooler back on to send the card back.

When a card artifacts in pretty much all gaming situations it's usually a VRAM problem. It happens with any brand.

Use HWMonitor to check both CPU and GPU temps.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[Wasteblade]

I switched slots and it seems to be working fine for the most part. Haven't seen any artifacting yet. I'm assuming I should probably RMA the board instead of the card if it continues to work perfectly fine, right?

 

[Wasteblade]

Nevermind, it seems like when it reaches 72 degrees Celcius, it starts to artifact. Looks like it is the card and not the motherboard. I guess I'll be sending it in tomorrow then for a replacement.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Well at least you figured out the problem. Newegg returns are usually painless. They will usually send you a new card and you can wait until you have it to return the old one if you give them a credit card number so you will not be without a working computer.

 

[Wasteblade]

I'm glad I figured it out. Thank you. You helped me more the EVGA did. They didn't tell me to try different 6-pin plug or switch slots, he told me that the RAM was to blame. I really appreciate it. Saved me a lot of time, headaches, phone calls and RMA's.

 

[Wasteblade]

Best answer selected by Wasteblade.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Sure thing. Glad I could help.