Minor Artifacts on games

[SteelReserve]

I have recently build a computer a month ago, and ever since I have been experiencing some minor artifacts in games only. At first it didnt happen to often and not every game.
They are tiny flickering colored squares. They usually appear in the same spot no matter how I move/rotate the screen. It has gotten bit worse since I had built my comp.
I have a xfx radeon hd 4850 (non-overclocked).
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing theses artifacts? I just want to know if it is a common type of artifacts and if there is a simple solution before I go into to much detail on my system and every posible way to try to solve it, thanks.

 

[stridervm]

1 - Too much video overclocking.

2 - Video run running at too high a temperature.

3 - Too much processor overclocking.

4 - Bad drivers.

 

[outlw6669]

Welcome to the forums!

Please post your full system specs including any overclocks and your PSU's brand, wattage and +12v amperage.
Also, please post your idle/load temps for your CPU and GPU (use Realtemp or Coretemp for the CPU and GPUz for the GPU).

Do the flickering pixels appear in every game or just a specific one?
If they appear in every game it sounds like you either have a heat issue or your GPU's RAM is clocked to high.
Try lowering your RAM speed in the Catalyst Control Center (under the 'Overdrive' tab I believe) and trying the games again.
Post back the results.

 

[hunter315]

not overclocked at all? download and run furmark, if you get artifacting call up XFX and get a replacement. You did register your card within the first 30 days right?

Artifacts are sometimes caused by a few external causes so please post the full system specs so we can try to rule those out too.

 

[SteelReserve]

1.) I have not overclocked
2.) It didnt happen often but it does happen in multiple games, also the same thing in 3dmark06. (flickering squars running across the bottom part of the monitor while games are played, and this include the same artifacts.)
3.)I have tried a few different drivers, an the new current one had the flickering squars in cod5, plus blue patches on texters( the blue patches could be driver problem though.)
4.)I have seen something resembling my artifacts on youtube, and someone said it could possible be a shader issue?

Here are my specs all bought from newegg, all details can be found at the website:

xfx radeon HD 4850 512mb ( I think I may have registered it)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

GeIL Black Dragon 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model GB22GB8500C5DC - Retail

AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX245OCGQBOX - Retail

ECS IC780M-A AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Rosewill RP550-2 550W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply - Retail

Rosewill R5730-P BK 120mm Fan Pre-Installed on the Top and 80mm Slim Fan Cooling HDD,ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

When I build the computer there were a few (I would think minor) guesswork with the case wiring for front panel ports (2 seperate front usb wires with one that had an extra ground, an hd audio wire and an ac97 wire). I pluged the hd one in on audio slot; should it have been ac97, and could that be a power issue causing artifacts there? And I am pretty sure I got the usb wires right. There were not enought instructions on how to install this stuff properly.

Also note that the artifacts were rare and minor the first few weeks, now its almost constant, but fps/everything else looks good.

I also think I may have a power problem, because When configuring some wires the back of the case shocked me twice (not static, but very minor and its not happening anymore).

As far as the tests/programs you guys referred, I will have to get back to you on that as soon as I can.

Sorry to go into to much detail, but I figue this could be a number of things, and I want to rule everything I can out before I gota rma a video card and be without a computer for a month or more. Thanks for the replies!

 

[SteelReserve]

The temps seem fine on GPUZ. Idol is 51c and load temp was 64. I updated to the brand new 9.10 ati drivers. and I am still seeing blue patches all over textures in CoDwaw. So far the little sqare flashing artifacts are not appearing, but could just be temp. This is starting to really aggrivate me. Can someone pleae give me advice on what to do?

 

[SteelReserve]

Bump.

Can somebody please help me?

 

[SteelReserve]

anyone?

 

[SamuelL421]

Hate to tell you this, but in my experience what your describing is a bad video card. Had the same thing happen in past with old cards that had been overclocked their whole lives.

Try to totally wipe the drivers (might want to try an ATI driver cleaner program) and reinstall going back to some slightly older ones (circa the time your card was released) or retry the drivers that came with your card.

If that fails maybe try to contact XFX or if check if XFX has its own tech support forums.

No luck, pull the XFX card and try another video card in the same slot, there is a 1 in a million chance there is a hardware conflict/problem somewhere besides your video card.

Still a problem? Return the card if you still can and try to get your money back.

good luck with it.