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Flakes........?


patboy

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Has anyone seen the same problem as me, since few days I can see horizontal flakes on the screen like storm, when I'm only playing CMAK or CMBB ? :confused: (parameters are switched without snow ;) )

I'am worried about this oddity and need some help from CM community. Thanks Pat. :cool:

[ November 29, 2004, 07:14 AM: Message edited by: patboy ]

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I would agree with Emrys that this is most likely your videocard. Do you play any other 3D DirectX games outside of the CM series on your computer ? This could be a hardware error with your videocard (videoRAM most likely), but this is only a guess at this point. If you are overclocking your videocard you may want to clock it back down to the defaults.

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Has this problem always existed or is it recent ? Have you used this hardware setup before or is this combination fairly new ? Do you believe that this behavior is related to the recent patch(es) ?

The 'snow' that you're seeing may be an artifact of the way the hardware is interacting. I can't recall myself whether I've seen this before with ATI hardware in CM or not. It may be unavoidable with any 3D game.

I'll have to research this a bit further (though you can perform the same internet searches). But there is a distinct possibility that this is a hardware issue.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for your reply Schrullenhaft, this problem is recent, I think when I've tried to update my xp sp1 pack version, with sp2 pack(cant install)I've got this problem, but I'm not sure about, I've reinstalled some games from my children "dungeon siege" and "call of duty" they worked properly before on my computer and I've the same problem(parasite on the screen)now ! What do you think about? When I work on my computer like at this time I'm writing this message I've any problem. Could you indicate me the right driver I must use for my ATI radeon 9000 family 64Mb. (I've tried to install some but dont work properly if you dont have SP2).

I'm not sure if I'm clear in my explanation but I wish you happy new year. Cheers Pat.

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I'd suggest downloading both DirectX 9.0c and the Catalyst 4.12 driver. Even though the ATI site recommends that you have SP2 installed, I believe by installing DirectX 9.0c you should be OK regarding that requirement (since 9.0c is part of SP2).

After downloading these files run the setup for DirectX 9.0c and reboot when required. After rebooting go to the Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs control panel > uninstall the ATI Driver. You'll probably need to reboot after this. Once you're booted back up, make sure to turn off any anti-virus or any other utility that may be running and then attempt to install the Catalyst 4.12 driver. Hopefully this should install without problem and once you've rebooted checkout CM and see if the problem continues.

As I mentioned before this is most likely a hardware problem that won't be rectified by a driver update (but it may still be a possibility to fix with software).

I can't recall if I've seen this myself in the past or not. It may be a result of noise on the bus or other issues that you may not be able to correct without changing the motherboard or other components, etc.

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Thanks for info but I already have tried two times to install Catalyst 4.12 driver without succes. Catalyst 4.12 driver change the name of my videocard, and then, I can't run Windows.

The problem I see on the sreen dont come soon but five or ten minutes after (horizontal parasites)only when I use (it seems) my graphical accelerator 3D 'cause I have nothing on the screen when I work with others programs like photoshop and more. When I try to install some 3D games they dont work properly as before.

As you mentioned this could be a hardware problem, what can I do ? I thank you again for your help. Cheers Pat.

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This could be GPU or VRAM overheating. You may want to double-check your videocard's fan to make sure it is spinning sufficiently (no slowing and speeding up cycle, etc.). Running a 3D game can definitely push the GPU much harder than a 2D program, especially since a lot more circuitry is called up within the GPU while running 3D apps. Sometimes just certain games can cause this sort of overheating that other games won't. I know this sounds like suspicious logic, but I've seen it before.

Unfortunately I don't know what to tell you regarding videocard overheating. If your videocard's fan is going out, you would most likely have to replace the whole heatsink with an aftermarket one (such as some VGA heatsinks made by Vantec or others). However replacing a videocard heatsink can be much more problematic than a CPU heatsink. Depending on who the manufacturer of your videocard is and where you bought it, it may be possible to have it serviced/exchanged under warranty (but you'll be lacking a videocard until you get the replacement).

You can also attempt repairs yourself, but if you're not comfortable messing around with your hardware you may want to have a knowledgeable friend or a competent computer service dealer work on it.

Do you know why SP2 won't install on your computer ? Can you specifically tie the attempt to install SP2 on your computer with the start of the 'static snow' problem in CM ? Did you do anything to your hardware at that time ?

Also, making some changes in the CMOS/BIOS setup may affect this issue too (though there may be a slight speed sacrafice). Some of the settings you may want to experiment with would be "AGP Multiplier" setting it to 4X or less, depending on your motherboard. "AGP Fast Writes", this may also be turned off in newer Catalyst vesions (with the Display control panel > Settings tab > Advanced button > I forget which particular ATI tab, maybe VPU Recover).

[ January 07, 2005, 09:55 AM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]

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Philippe - generally, yes a computer that has been running longer will experience heat problems quicker than a computer that has just been booted cold. In this case, a 3D card can overheat fairly quickly, just like modern CPUs can. When the 3D circuitry of a card is 'turned on' (and this circuitry often comprises the bulk of the GPU die) the power/heat output jumps significantly.

The 'static snow' may also be due to overheating/defective VRAM or the corresponding memory controller (within the GPU). However when VRAM goes bad you get all kinds of corruption on the screen.

[ January 07, 2005, 03:45 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]

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You can ask your computer what the temperatures are. Almost all computers these days have sensors on the mainboard and in the CPU.

Better nVidia cards also have a sensor. My 5900XT has, although by 4400 and 5200 don't.

Under Linux you check NVidia's temperature with the program "nvidia-settings". Under Windows it is probably buried in the desktop preferences.

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Has anyone knows which better graphic card I can use for my Intel Pentium®4 CPU 2.40 GHz

256 MB RAM ?

Obviously, I would like have one with table emulation "FOG".

Thank you for your quick reply. Pat.

PS: Actually I've ATI Radeon 9000 Family 64 MB

*dust but not fog with CMAK

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Try to get a NVidia GeForce FX 5700 (with no letters, no LE or so), or the 5700 Ultra. 128 MB RAM is enough, these cards are not fast enough to make good use of 256 MB.

Here in the U.S. the FX 5900 XT can be had for $180, which would be less than 150 Euro. That is a very good card, substancially better than the 5700 (twice the memory bandwidth).

If you are willing to buy used, the 5900XT often comes cheap because it is so close to the 6x00 series cards. In fact I had to learn the hard way that it doesn't resell well. Well, there's always secondary computers...

The 6x00 series is much better for some but not all games than even the 5900XT.

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