XFX R9 280x shadow issues (ROTTR). Hardware or software fault? Please help....

[Dave Thompson]

Hi all,

So my 270x packed up a few weeks ago (which served me very well), so I replaced with an r9 280x, and then had to splash out on a Corsair TX650 PSU to power the card. I had hoped my frustrations would end there, but I seem to have graphics issues with shadows. I noticed it in AC Rogue, but at the time I was still using my crappy PSU, but now I am noticing it in Rise of the Tomb Raider while using the Corsair. I also notice texture popping, but cannot be certain if that is normal or not. Anyhow, the shadow issues are more of a concern, as I am sure it should not be happening. I could make a video of it, but am hoping I can explain it well enough.

When I am high up and panning the camera around at the distant scenery, I notice shadows moving across parts of the landscape, like someone is pulling a sheet across certain parts.
The problem goes when I turn off shadows, but in ROTTR, there is no low settings for shadows, just medium, high, and very high. On medium, I see it in the distance, and on high, it happens a bit closer. I could turn it off, but then caves and holes are lit up and it looks odd. Just after the cut-scene when Lara's driver is killed in Syria in the beginning, she climbs up and enters a cave. Either side of the cave, the shadows are doing this when panning the scenery (and I do love to pan across and take it all in). I have been gaming for many years, but my eye keeps noticing these shadows and it's upsetting. I have looked at a few walk-throughs, and cannot see anyone else's graphics doing this.

I have an i3 4130 (yes I know it is below minimum) and I have 8 gig of ram. Apart from the shadows and texture popping, the game performs as well as I would expect. Is this a faulty card? Is it just a weakness of the R9 280x? Could it be driver/bios related? I am all up-to-date with display and windows updates, but perhaps I should try some older AMD drivers to see if it solves it, but that could be very time-consuming,


Any ideas please? Would be much appreciated. Thanks

P.S. Selecting "exclusive fullscreen" gives me terrible performance, so I have to leave it un-checked

P.P.S Just tried the intel integrated graphics on low resolution, and despite it being choppy, the shadows are performing normally, so this should not be happening with the 280x

UPDATE:

I have just tried the brand new display driver 18.1.1, and the problem has halved. The shadows (on medium) in front of the cave are behaving normally, but are not on the other side of the cave! So weird. Perhaps this IS a display driver problem, so now I will try lots of different drivers and see if I can make some more improvements.

UPDATE 2:
(I know I am talking to myself at the moment, but as I've started the thread, I may aswell update it with my progress.) I tried the intel integrated graphics again, and the shadows are upto their usual tricks, but this didn't happen when I tried it a while ago and before the new display driver. If it's doing it with the integrated now, I don't know what to make of it.

 

[harrystam]

Rise Of The Tomb Raider has a built in benchmark for a reason. The light rays and shadows are really hard on both cpu and gpu. It's a beautiful game to play at a cost. Shadow issuers occur in games when (as you mentioned) drivers are out of date or hardware can't keep up.
The example you gave of taking in the scenery from a high point is really hard on hardware. It has to render distance items, light rays, particles, shadows and everything else all at a very large range.

If you look directly down at the ground do you still get shadow issues?

Right now, im guessing it's hardware. Most likely cpu. pull up your resource monitor and watch it during game play. I bet your cpu is pinned or throttling.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Rise Of The Tomb Raider has a built in benchmark for a reason. The light rays and shadows are really hard on both cpu and gpu. It's a beautiful game to play at a cost. Shadow issuers occur in games when (as you mentioned) drivers are out of date or hardware can't keep up.
The example you gave of taking in the scenery from a high point is really hard on hardware. It has to render distance items, light rays, particles, shadows and everything else all at a very large range.

If you look directly down at the ground do you still get shadow issues?

Right now, im guessing it's hardware. Most likely cpu. pull up your resource monitor and watch it during game play. I bet your cpu is pinned or throttling.

Thanks for that. I am learning about shadows now, and it's starting to make sense. It's at this point, and also before I enter the cave, that shadows are behaving strangely http://i.imgur.com/SA1son9.jpg. It just seems inconsistent, because one minute the shadows are moving around as I pan, then I restart the pc, go back into the game, and they are much better. I expect to stand in one spot and pan the camera without shadows being drawn in and out.
My main concern is the card I got from ebay....I just want to know that it's a non-faulty card, and I've been paying too much attention to graphics lately wondering what is right and what is wrong. What you said makes sense, and it's quite possible that with an i5 or i7, the shadows would not be doing this. Is there any way I can test the card to make sure there are no issues with it? I don't really want to do any more upgrading because of cost, so as long as I can put my mind at rest that the card is fine, I will be happy. I can run a furmark test without issues, but that doens't necessarily expose graphic faults does it? I found this quite interesting actually, but he is moving the camera forward and backwards, which is not the same as being in one position and simply panning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz6V5dizojE

With a standard HDD and an i3 4130, I realise I am not going to play it on high, but I still expect for things to look nice, rather than moving shadows while standing on the spot.

If you could tell me how to know my card is good or not, I would be extremely grateful to you.

 

[Dave Thompson]

By the way, my current intel integrated driver was dated back to 2015, and there was a recent one for this year, but it hasn't actually solved anything.

 

[harrystam]

Rise Of The Tomb Raider has a built in benchmark for a reason. The light rays and shadows are really hard on both cpu and gpu. It's a beautiful game to play at a cost. Shadow issuers occur in games when (as you mentioned) drivers are out of date or hardware can't keep up.
The example you gave of taking in the scenery from a high point is really hard on hardware. It has to render distance items, light rays, particles, shadows and everything else all at a very large range.

If you look directly down at the ground do you still get shadow issues?

Right now, im guessing it's hardware. Most likely cpu. pull up your resource monitor and watch it during game play. I bet your cpu is pinned or throttling.

Thanks for that. I am learning about shadows now, and it's starting to make sense. It's at this point, and also before I enter the cave, that shadows are behaving strangely http://i.imgur.com/SA1son9.jpg. It just seems inconsistent, because one minute the shadows are moving around as I pan, then I restart the pc, go back into the game, and they are much better. I expect to stand in one spot and pan the camera without shadows being drawn in and out.
My main concern is the card I got from ebay....I just want to know that it's a non-faulty card, and I've been paying too much attention to graphics lately wondering what is right and what is wrong. What you said makes sense, and it's quite possible that with an i5 or i7, the shadows would not be doing this. Is there any way I can test the card to make sure there are no issues with it? I don't really want to do any more upgrading because of cost, so as long as I can put my mind at rest that the card is fine, I will be happy. I can run a furmark test without issues, but that doens't necessarily expose graphic faults does it? I found this quite interesting actually, but he is moving the camera forward and backwards, which is not the same as being in one position and simply panning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz6V5dizojE

With a standard HDD and an i3 4130, I realise I am not going to play it on high, but I still expect for things to look nice, rather than moving shadows while standing on the spot.

If you could tell me how to know my card is good or not, I would be extremely grateful to you.

You can run the ROTTR benchmark. Furmark is a stress test more than a benchmark. It's called The Doughnut of Death for good reason. You can run a short 720p bench mark (check the anti aliasing boxes with caution). That shouldn't hurt anything. Make sure your card is getting good airflow.
Open your Radeon software and see what your card is doing. Setup AMD Link in your Radeon settings if you don't have a second monitor to view your Radeon settings from. I have a hunch it too is maxed.

Also what other games do you play? Do they give you shadow issues?

 

[Dave Thompson]

I can't quote your reply for some reason.

So thanks for staying in touch. Just discovered that restarting PC and going back into game improves it, where as if I open up internet browser with several tabs, then close it and go back into game, the shadows are bad again. I managed to reproduce that about 3 times, but not the 4th time. Could this be a ram issue do you think? I only have 8 gig.

I haven't used AMD link before, so will have to check that out. Were you talking about the benchmark in the game or furmark? What am I looking for? Will that tell me the card is in tip-top condition? Other games that are fine, are Alien Isolation, and Shadow of Mordor, but I did have similar issues with Mordor and AC Rogue back when the crappy Alpine PSU was still plugged in. A reason I get concerned about the card, is that occasionally (maybe 1 in 20 times) windows 7 start up screen will be in blue, then the welcome screen comes on and everything is fine. Have no idea why it does that, never happened with other cards I have had. Been playing "valley", and while that seemed OK, the shadows were weird in that, but youtube gameplays showed the same.

Maybe I should just ignore it and enjoy the game, but it kinda takes you out of the moment when you pan across the landscape (with a good frame-rate) and the shadows and moving around. Like I said, I just want to know the card is OK, and that it wasn't sold because it had issues.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Hi again.

I followed your instructions, and did a benchmark with ROTTR, 720p with AA on first level (FXAA?) and it scored 56.86 FPS over all, although during Geothermal Valley, there were a lot of objects suddenly popping into view, but I have come to believe that is because I am not using an SSD. Just wish I could throw in an SSD along with an I7 and see how it performs.

So....what do you think? Moving/drawing shadows while stationary panning is a result of a sluggish CPU? Not enough Ram? Must be getting close to one of those.

Like I said earlier, I did see some shadows drawing in the distance while panning on the spot using CPU graphics, so perhaps there is nothing wrong with the card...

P.S. Couldn't see AMD link, but am happy to reinstall MSI Afterburner...did it a few days ago and had the display during games.

 

[harrystam]

No problem.

Chrome and Firefox can use upwards of 8 gigs of ram if you have enough tabs open. My chrome is currently using 4.25 gb of my ram. It may be a ram issue...maybe. But it never hurts to close your browser (all your browser tabs) before you start gaming.

I was talking about both the benchmarks. The benchmark isn't going to tell you if it's in tip top condition, but it will tell you the core clock and frequency it's running at. So in Furmark it will be maxed. As long as it's still performing at the frequencies it was originally manufactured at, you'll know it's OK.

The ROTTR bench is worth running because i'm pretty sure it gives you a rating at the end.

AMD link is really easy to setup.

 

[Dave Thompson]

I always close down firefox before starting a game, but I think I will also restart the PC too. I used to do that, and now I know there was good reason for it.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Just found a video that is really very similar. Rather than popping, they move/draw in one direction just like this, except I am standing still https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oWMsiPDyXw

 

[harrystam]

That's a good result for 720p with AA.
AMD link is on the bottom bar of the Radeon Settings.

All my games are installed on HDD's and i never encounter shadow issues. Are all your drivers up to date? AMD just released some new ones. It is awfully odd to have to restart your pc before playing a game.

Try using CCleaner and delete your hiberfil.sys. That might help.

 

[Dave Thompson]

That's a good result for 720p with AA.
AMD link is on the bottom bar of the Radeon Settings.

All my games are installed on HDD's and i never encounter shadow issues. Are all your drivers up to date? AMD just released some new ones. It is awfully odd to have to restart your pc before playing a game.

Try using CCleaner and delete your hiberfil.sys. That might help.

Yeah I will. I will do some maintenance checks and let you know if I manage to get anywhere.... Thanks for your help.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Just wondering if anyone else has any ideas? The more I search for answers, the more I start to believe this 280x has issues. Can symptoms like this really be hardware related? I've tried previous AMD drivers, messed around with different version of the Vbios, checked my Directx, and I now I am running out of options. I am just about to recover a copy of windows I made ages ago with only windows updates and nothing else, and I will see if the card behaves differently, but I have a nasty feeling I am just wasting yet more time. So frustrating.

This videos shows the problem I am having, but they claimed it was fixed in a patch ages ago. https://youtu.be/6oWMsiPDyXw?t=23s I installed ROTTR straight from Steam.
Thing is, I also noticed when I was playing "Valley", there was a scene in the dark with the night sky + moon, and there was this one cloud that was very pixelated and stood out like a sore thumb. This card seems to be having trouble with shadows, but I can't always identify them, and I'm not sure if it's going to affect all games I play. Shadow of Mordor, AI, Arkham City all seem to look fine, but that doesn't mean they ARE fine. I just want to stop wasting so much time on this now, and for someone to tell me the card is naff, and I was unlucky. At least that way, I can take it on the chin and move on.

I'll try this basic install of Win 7 and see what happens, then I will attempt to make contact with XFX for what it's worth. If this card does have a fault, I really will not want to re-sell it on ebay like it was sold to me. That would be wrong of me, but I could sell it with honesty.

 

[harrystam]

Just wondering if anyone else has any ideas? The more I search for answers, the more I start to believe this 280x has issues. Can symptoms like this really be hardware related? I've tried previous AMD drivers, messed around with different version of the Vbios, checked my Directx, and I now I am running out of options. I am just about to recover a copy of windows I made ages ago with only windows updates and nothing else, and I will see if the card behaves differently, but I have a nasty feeling I am just wasting yet more time. So frustrating.

This videos shows the problem I am having, but they claimed it was fixed in a patch ages ago. https://youtu.be/6oWMsiPDyXw?t=23s I installed ROTTR straight from Steam.
Thing is, I also noticed when I was playing "Valley", there was a scene in the dark with the night sky + moon, and there was this one cloud that was very pixelated and stood out like a sore thumb. This card seems to be having trouble with shadows, but I can't always identify them, and I'm not sure if it's going to affect all games I play. Shadow of Mordor, AI, Arkham City all seem to look fine, but that doesn't mean they ARE fine. I just want to stop wasting so much time on this now, and for someone to tell me the card is naff, and I was unlucky. At least that way, I can take it on the chin and move on.

I'll try this basic install of Win 7 and see what happens, then I will attempt to make contact with XFX for what it's worth. If this card does have a fault, I really will not want to re-sell it on ebay like it was sold to me. That would be wrong of me, but I could sell it with honesty.

STOP!

After seeing that video. I think it has become alot more clear to me.

So Shadows 'off' - No issue
Shadows 'medium' - fine
Shadows 'high' "glitchy" AF (or what you consider glitchy)

There is a simple thing some people misunderstand with games.
Video games use objects (like the mountain) these objects are created with X,Y and Z. Your hardware has to render that. Your cpu does alot of work rendering distance objects and shadows. Your gpu does alot of work rendering textures and making your game look pretty. (I'm sure a GPU expert will shame me on this),

Simply: Just put your shadows setting at medium and you render distance lower. You don't have a high end setup (no offense) It's just true. Sacrifices have to be made,

 

[Dave Thompson]

Just wondering if anyone else has any ideas? The more I search for answers, the more I start to believe this 280x has issues. Can symptoms like this really be hardware related? I've tried previous AMD drivers, messed around with different version of the Vbios, checked my Directx, and I now I am running out of options. I am just about to recover a copy of windows I made ages ago with only windows updates and nothing else, and I will see if the card behaves differently, but I have a nasty feeling I am just wasting yet more time. So frustrating.

This videos shows the problem I am having, but they claimed it was fixed in a patch ages ago. https://youtu.be/6oWMsiPDyXw?t=23s I installed ROTTR straight from Steam.
Thing is, I also noticed when I was playing "Valley", there was a scene in the dark with the night sky + moon, and there was this one cloud that was very pixelated and stood out like a sore thumb. This card seems to be having trouble with shadows, but I can't always identify them, and I'm not sure if it's going to affect all games I play. Shadow of Mordor, AI, Arkham City all seem to look fine, but that doesn't mean they ARE fine. I just want to stop wasting so much time on this now, and for someone to tell me the card is naff, and I was unlucky. At least that way, I can take it on the chin and move on.

I'll try this basic install of Win 7 and see what happens, then I will attempt to make contact with XFX for what it's worth. If this card does have a fault, I really will not want to re-sell it on ebay like it was sold to me. That would be wrong of me, but I could sell it with honesty.

STOP!

After seeing that video. I think it has become alot more clear to me.

So Shadows 'off' - No issue
Shadows 'medium' - fine
Shadows 'high' "glitchy" AF (or what you consider glitchy)

There is a simple thing some people misunderstand with games.
Video games use objects (like the mountain) these objects are created with X,Y and Z. Your hardware has to render that. Your cpu does alot of work rendering distance objects and shadows. Your gpu does alot of work rendering textures and making your game look pretty. (I'm sure a GPU expert will shame me on this),

Simply: Just put your shadows setting at medium and you render distance lower. You don't have a high end setup (no offense) It's just true. Sacrifices have to be made,

No, medium shadows looked awful, but high shadows looked alot better, but there was still something wrong with the way they were being rendered.. Anyway, things got a whole lot worse and now all games are crashing. This is what happens when one keeps experimenting: you get a problem far worse than you had. I will have to start another thread on this 🙁

 

[harrystam]

My last piece of advice is to do a clean reinstall of your gpu drivers.

 

[Dave Thompson]

Sorted it out. Damn vbios. My poor computer...been giving it a hard time the last few days.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-3631377/280x-unstable-default-clock-speeds-display-crashing-recovering.html#20653329

As for the shadow problem....well, it may be something that was done to the game to accommodate the more high end systems leaving people like me with an i3 4130 with issues. I played through the game on my (r9 270x when it was working), and I feel certain I never noticed it back then. At least my 280x card is working again. Been very stressful. Cheers for taking an interest in my problem anyway.