WoW Graphics seem SD after latest AMD HD 6xxx driver

[Spectre Night]

As the title says, after installing the latest driver I noticed graphics in WoW seemed blurry and poor, now I'm starting to think they're not even in HD anymore.

Hours later I got Windows 8.1 and installed that since my old Win7 install disc is MIA. Installed latest AMD driver, installed WoW, issue persisted. So now I've tried rolling back to a driver released several months ago (April), still persisted, though I believe that may be because I did not uninstall the previous driver before rolling back.

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System Information
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Time of this report: 10/17/2014, 23:10:55
Machine name: SPECTRENIGHT
Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600) (9600.winblue_gdr.140221-1952)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7641
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8192MB RAM
Page File: 1709MB used, 8401MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.03.9600.16384 64bit Unicode


My GPU is an AMD HD Sapphire 6950, no driver was installed at the time of the DxDiag.

 

[gity69]

What resolution is set in the graphics option in the game? What is the rest of your specs and the actual model of your video card? What is your default desktop resolution? What is the native res for your monitor? Have you seen this behavior with any other programs?

 

[Spectre Night]

What resolution is set in the graphics option in the game? What is the rest of your specs and the actual model of your video card? What is your default desktop resolution? What is the native res for your monitor? Have you seen this behavior with any other programs?

I play WoW in windowed fullscreen, so it was at my monitors native 1950x1080.

Like an idiot I didn't think to check at the time to see if it happened in other games, so after I install an older driver I'll reinstall steam and get a quick game to check.

Posted specs, sorry for not getting that earlier.

 

[gity69]

Well you definitely have plenty of power for WoW. So as you say it must have something to do with the driver. Also make sure that the game has the proper resolution set in the options. Driver installations can sometime reset or change the defaults that programs launch with, especially older titles such as WoW. I will check back shortly to see what happens with the new driver.

 

[Spectre Night]

Well you definitely have plenty of power for WoW. So as you say it must have something to do with the driver. Also make sure that the game has the proper resolution set in the options. Driver installations can sometime reset or change the defaults that programs launch with, especially older titles such as WoW. I will check back shortly to see what happens with the new driver.

Installed it once, seemed to work until I restarted and got an incompatibility error.

Take 2, installed a second time, worked, of course my main monitor was scaled down by about 5% which I fixed again in CCC (found that fix online somewhere for Win8.1)

As for WoW's resolution, it was unchanged as far as I saw, like I said I play window'd fullscreen, though I did try fullscreen and setting it to my resolution in case that was the issue but it didn't fix anything.

13.251-131206a-166389C-ATI is now my current driver version according to CCC's software information.

Currently installing Skyrim so I can test it after I retest Warcraft.

Edit: Oh defaults that programs launch with, misread that. Wouldn't that still show a change on the listed resolution ingame though? If not, how would I check for a change?

 

[Spectre Night]

Well you definitely have plenty of power for WoW. So as you say it must have something to do with the driver. Also make sure that the game has the proper resolution set in the options. Driver installations can sometime reset or change the defaults that programs launch with, especially older titles such as WoW. I will check back shortly to see what happens with the new driver.

I got a radical idea and made WoW window'd then dragged it from my primary monitor to my 2nd 1650x1080 monitor and blew my mind when I saw WoW looked fine on it! placed WoW between both screens and couldn't believe it, it's my monitor! It's gotta be because the driver didn't do jack!

My primary monitors an ASUS VE278Q

Also it's listed as "Generic PnP Monitor" by Microsoft while my other monitor is specifically listed as "HP w2297 Wide LCD Monitor"

Does my main display need a driver? If so, where? Or do I need to change something in CCC?

Also, I assume I should go ahead and reupdate my video driver to the latest version?

Edit: In CCC under Desktop Properties, I'm not seeing a 1950x1080 option in Desktop Area, it has it on HDTV 1080p with 60 as refresh rate, is that why? If so, why is it doing that? Under 'Properties' in My Digital Flat-Panals it clearly states it has a max res of 1920x1080, with a max refresh rate of 75Hz

Edit2: I looked for a driver but all I found was ASUS MultiFrame Software V1.1.0.3 which doesn't sound like a driver.

^ What the settings and properties look like for the Asus monitor.

 

[gity69]

What connections are you using for your primary monitor? i.e. DVI or HDMI. Also it should show up as a specific make and model in your driver properties if it is functioning properly. I would try reconnecting the monitor with a DVI input. From the settings page you posted it looks like its reading it as a HD tv and not a comp monitor.

 

[Spectre Night]

What connections are you using for your primary monitor? i.e. DVI or HDMI. Also it should show up as a specific make and model in your driver properties if it is functioning properly. I would try reconnecting the monitor with a DVI input. From the settings page you posted it looks like its reading it as a HD tv and not a comp monitor.

It's always been connected by an HDMI cable.

 

[Spectre Night]

What connections are you using for your primary monitor? i.e. DVI or HDMI. Also it should show up as a specific make and model in your driver properties if it is functioning properly. I would try reconnecting the monitor with a DVI input. From the settings page you posted it looks like its reading it as a HD tv and not a comp monitor.

Well luckily my old monitor is from a time before HDMI and is still using a DVI cable, which surprisingly to me fixed the issue, though this monitors still listed as generic PnP in Device manager, but as far as I know it's always been that way.

CCC now has the correct resolution in the leftside of the picture I gave, though it remains at 60Hz which may be what it was at before for all I know.

Going to see if I can now switch it back out for the HDMI so i can continue to use my old monitor for youtube, otherwise I'll need a 2nd dvi cable.

How did a driver update do this?

Edit: Well I tried it and no, it still reads the HDMI connection as a TV. Kinda funny because it saw my one monitor with 2 connections as 2 separate monitors lol.

Ultimately I'm fine with sticking with a DVI cable so-long as there are no downsides compared to HDMI, and as long as this doesn't reoccur.

 

[gity69]

DVI is generally always better as opposed to HDMI. Glad that was the issue.

 

[Spectre Night]

DVI is generally always better as opposed to HDMI. Glad that was the issue.

Thank you very much for the help, you were a life saver, lol.
Old monitor will have to be dvi to hdmi as I forgot my card only has one dvi port, regardless, it's just for youtube/netflix so I'm not too concerned with it's quality.

Again, thank you so much!
I'm off to sleep, just realized it's almost 2am hah! Have a wonderful night/day depending on where you are!