Striped Shadows and Bad LOD

[Arkahm]

Hi everyone.

I have an FX 8350
gigabyte 78lmt-usb3
GTX 1070 (suspected culprit)


I used to have a GTX 970.
My games all looked great when using this card, but I wanted to beef it up so I could run in higher res with better FPS. I bought a 1070. Now ALL my games have striped shadows on some surfaces, what appears to be extremely bad temporal aliasing, LOD issues and some other problems.

I have a longer version written below this short version:


My FPS is fine.


My 970 ran on DVI-I to VGA adapter.
My 1070 has been DVI-D, but I mostly use display port to achieve 140+ FPS.
I've changed cables (HDMI, display port, VGA)

I've DDU'd drivers
I've basically done everything but a factory reset.
I put in my old 970 and it was fine.

To me this says my 1070 is no good, but I want your opinions on it.

Should I suspect my GPU, or should I look at my mobo + GPU combination?


-------------------------


I have very bad Temporal Aliasing (sure) pixel shimmering (looks like anisotropic Aliasing or filtering is not working properly? Definition is clear but the Aliasing my God...) And ALL GAMES HAVE WEIRD STRIPED SHADOWS????

Fx 8350 (suspected culprit) gigabyte 78lmt-usb3 rev like 1 or 2 (suspected culprit) GTX EVGA 1070 (possible RMA?) 500gb Samsung SSD Some 750w psu but I think it's bronze (ew, but have tested others) vg278q

Very important note: PROBLEM DID NOT EXIST ON GTX 970. PROBLEM BEGAN WHEN UPGRADING TO 1070) HAVE DDU'D DRIVERS. VGA ADAPTER TO DVI-D WAS MY 970 SET UP. HAVE TRIED DVI-I AND DISPLAY PORT (need both for 144hz anyway) no fix.

Fps is relatively good on all games as intended (overwatch 155 for on medium / low for comp so less important and more understandable it doesn't AA normally but to fix must 2x dsr max or use resolution scaling in game beyond 150%, I don't remember this problem but that could be me I'm a drunk hiiiiyooo) back to the more relative stuff:

Important notes: Problem not monitor related (tested) Problem not cable related (tested) Problem not Nvidia settings related (extensive testing but an also an idiot)

Problem persists in all games (I am aware most games currently do not apply TAA) Games like The Forest and Fallout 4 (which do have TAA) not as bad, must run on 2x dsr or higher which of course is heavy load. Still get 40 + for so satisfactory.)

Overwatch, Ff14 (WORST OFFENDER), Conan (not the worst offender), battlefields, Skyrim (running 4x dsr as mega counter, this one is the most important to me ), Alien Isolation (again 4k to counter but laaag)

Random, less known / older games: Aion MW 2 (didn't have this issue back in the day)

Coincidental side notes: My games on my Xbox 360 have the same issues as my PC. This makes sense because durrr old, but it seems worse than it should. Most noticeable and IDENTICAL is the weird, blocky, striped shadows. PC or Xbox. The. Same.?????

This is a relatively popular discussion that most often ends with no answer, outside of the mythical "electrical" problem. I am planning on fully upgrading my PC to a ryzen system (heard they don't have this problem((s)).

I do not believe it is electrical because how? And my old GTX 970 worked flawlessly (gave it to my gf). Everything was so crisp on that card, I just wanted more rendering power to max 4x dsr and godrays, etc. I'm a visualphile so this is strife to me.

Mobo am3 not working well with the new GTX 1070 architecture difference from the 970??

Out of answers and tests to run aside swapping all components. (At one point before I sent the 970 I swapped back and it worked well).

Mobo, or GPU no good?

Thanks for participating all input hugely appreciated, by a large community of people with this problem. I'm sure most have you have seen that Skyrim loading screen.

 

[Arkahm]

Also, I legit see the same problems on my Xbox 360. Like, no word of a lie, I see the SAME block/striped shadows on some surfaces, I see the same grainy pixelation/lod.. the same aliasing.

I look up videos of other people playing the same game as me on xbox 360 and theirs is crystal clear. :S... Is it electrical?

 

[luckymatt42]

Any way you can post some screenshots? I've had a similar issue on the same card and just want to see exactly what you're talking about...it is kind of hard to describe.

 

[Arkahm]

I can see if I can find some when I get home. Until then I will use someone else's as an example.
I also have low draw distances on most games as well. most of these are skyrim, but rest assured I also have them in FF14, Metal Gear Solid 5, any game that has exteriors.

The same shadow stripes show up in both Armored Core: For Answer and Armored Core Verdict Day on my xbox as well. I've taken lots of screens at home, but screens don't seem to do it justice with my other problems, such as specular aliasing, grainy flickering and low draw...

Could my FX 8350/Mobo be bottlenecking my 1070?
I've gone through and adjusted many settings for days in NVCP. I've recently learned MFAA may be a problem but I'm fairly certain I've tried it both on and off.

http://wiki.step-project.com/images/5/55/FShadowBiasScale_%3D_-1.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab48/anuariman/Skyrim/TESV2012-04-2909-18-21-16.jpg
http://www.abload.de/img/shadstripesaku4m.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MTITBez.jpg


Here is a video I took on a whim, but YT compression cuts what we see in half. You can notice some aliasing issues on the ground, but the major issue is on trees/frames of buildings, etc... This one doesn't do it justice either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGAsmMGiRog

One legendary video shows a good example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlg4C0_3fUM

 

[Arkahm]

Here is an example of the temporal aliasing. This is the major concern I have. I did not have this problem on (to such a degree) on my 970. I've tried super sampling (2x/4x) and cranked AA in all aspects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxCqqkv5oE

 

[CelicaGT]

I can comment of FF14 if nothing else. Yes your 8350 is bottlenecking the 1070, that game thrashes CPU's particularly in cities, hunts and Eureka. As for the pixels "shimmering" and aliasing, that is classic FF14 with its shitty FXAA. If you indeed were using a VGA adapter it could have hidden some of this due to the analogue conversion. Also, be mindful of the shadows in that game, SE does use low res models in cities and any high population areas so be sure to get somewhere quiet yet graphically intense to tweak your settings. As for the rest, I would expect the only thing you changed which is the GPU, try and replicate your exact prior set up, right down to cables and adapters. If no change double check your NCP settings under "Change resolution", make sure to check "Use Nvidia settings" and select the highest desktop colour depth and output colour depth, output colour format should be RGB, output dynamic range should be Full. After all that if it's still shite it could very well be the GPU, but I find that somewhat unlikely with what you describe but just because I haven't seen it before doesn't mean anything really. Slight pre post edit regarding Skyrim, that shimmer? I've had that since my HD7870, across a GTX970 and now for the last two years on my GTX1080, all the same displays and displayport cables so your guess is as good as mine?

 

[luckymatt42]

As far as the bottlenecking question...that wouldn't usually cause visual "artifacts", you would just get lower fps (or fps that doesn't scale anymore with better graphics card).

 

[Arkahm]

Thanks so much for the input.

I know FF14 does have poor aliasing, I've accepted that. The striped shadows I've seen in FF14 were out in the desert, usually remote locations on terrain, much less buildings. I know FF's FXAA is pretty poor too. I can't expect too much from that game. That being said, what you know FF's graphics/filters to be is essentially what's happening in all my other games.

Regarding Skyrim, it never used to be this bad. I agree, it seems like the DVI to VGA adapter may be the missing link. I'm both surprised and not surprised; a lower res utility hiding aliasing/shimmering...

I just find it hard to believe that 'better' components result in a poorer experience... Nothing used to shimmer or crawl, now all the trees/rails/building lines do and the draw distance on everything seems much shorter.

Give me an old GPU then.... weird.


I've heard people mention swapping to a Ryzen build fixes this.

 

[Arkahm]

Additional, even the ground (rocks, paths, dirt, every game) shimmers and pixels seem to crawl; it's like a fine detail grain/grainy filter.

Skyrim
Fallout
The Forest
Far Cry
GTA V
Overwatch
etc, etc, etc....

 

[Arkahm]

Hi Celica. I am searching in my NVCP but I can't seem to find "Use nvidia settings"

https://i.imgur.com/SMRiHr3.png

 

[CelicaGT]

Hi Celica. I am searching in my NVCP but I can't seem to find "Use nvidia settings"

https://i.imgur.com/SMRiHr3.png

It should be on the "Change Resolution" tab under the "Display" expandable menu, scroll to the bottom. I believe this only appears when using Displayport, HDMI or DVI. I only use the first so I can't be sure on the other two.

(edit) looking at your ss it looks good to me, perhaps the "nvidia colour settings" only appears when you are using that setting under "Adjust Desktop Colour Settings" which I have done. I use it to fix the Gamma in FF14 and admittedly punch the Digital Vibrance up a hair as well, I know it's not accurate that way but when you are assaulted by punched up amoled phone screens...

 

[Arkahm]

Interesting, good to know.

I really think I am going to mark this up to it being a semi-faulty GPU; it seems to have a lot of trouble rendering things properly. I can work with it for a while yet as games all smoothly, but when it comes time to get immersed in something I am going to be taking this 1070 somewhere cold and dark.