Artifact in game - Can't find a solution

[Actaeon]

I'm having some trouble with visual artifacts showing up for some of my games and hoping I can get some suggestions on things to try as I am out of ideas.

My video cards is 2x 290Xs (Tri-X) with adequate cooling & power. Currently running at stock voltages and clocks. Temps are good.

Games - When I try to play Fallout 4, Alien Isolation, or Starcraft 2, I get visual artifacts. Starcraft seem to be OK when running in Windowed Mode and lowering some settings in game, but sometimes they still persist, but no solution for Alien or FO4. Playing Dragon Age: Origins and Fallout 3 shows no visual artifacts and run OK. Windows Desktop also runs OK.

I've tried...
1. Run as Single Card and Crossfire with several different profiles
2. Lowering/raising in game visual settings
3. Modifying/disabling CCC settings
4. Experimenting with frame rate target controls/v-sync
5. Running windowed mode
6. Underclocking/Undervolting, Overclocking/Overvolting, and stock clocks/voltages
7. Latest public/official and latest beta drivers
8. Complete uninstall and reinstall of AMD drivers/CCC


Nothing seems to fix it. As mentioned earlier some older games seem to work OK.

Barring something drastic like buying a new video card I am out of ideas. This didn't always happen, Alien Isolation and Starcraft 2 used to play fine with their settings. I think this may have occurred on the upgrade to Windows 10 but I'm not certain. Any suggestions on what to try next? The only thing I can think of next is to try to do a clean reinstall of Windows 10 or try to go back to Windows 7

Thanks

 

[alcoholbob]

Have you tried another monitor? Could it be monitor or cable artifacts?

 

[xorbe]

What kind of artifacts ... triangles? White squares? Crazy textures?

 

[Actaeon]

Thank you both for the replies. I have not tried another display. I don't have another easily available. I'm actually using my TV. However, all other devices on the display (DVR, Xbox, etc.) and even some other PC games + Windows work fine. I can try switching the HDMI cable.

In Starcraft 2 certain textures on the ground start flashing different colors. Lowering the texture quality from Ultra to High helps. With indirect shadows enabled I can't see the HUD, it is blacked out.

In Alien Isolation I see random blank triangles and objects flash around in hallways.

In Fallout 4 white squares flicker on hair during and after the character customization process and there are random black objects popping up and disappearing outside the house at the start. Almost like bad flashing shadows.

 

[Seba]

Maybe try each graphics card on its own (removing the other card).

 

[Actaeon]

Thanks, that is a good suggestion. I disabled the 2nd card but didn't fully remove a card to isolate it. That would help narrow it down. I also have a pair of old 6950s laying around somewhere in the house to try. Both steps are kind of be a PITA to do, but so is reinstalling Windows.

I keep thinking software related since this didn't really happen before Windows 10. Not definitive as I stopped playing for a while, upgraded to Windows 10, then most games I tried after that started having issues. I know Windows 10 also updated to DX12, so maybe upgrade from Win7 to Win10 wasn't very clean and broke something.

Also interesting it is the older games which work OK and it is the newer ones that do not.

 

[Actaeon]

Too bad I can't embed any videos, but here are the FO4 artifacts in the trees outside the house. Looks like it has trouble rendering shadows and some of the branches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCZYz1xyTg4

And here is the artifacts in the hair I was mentioning. They flicker in and out all over the hair.

 

[psolord]

I watched your video at 0.25 speed. I see meshes flashing/appearing/disappearing.

Doesn't seem like a HDMI cable issue to me, but you most certainly must try.

I would try what Seba said and also some thorough cleaning of contacts and blowing some decent amount of air into them, for any dust that may have resided inside.

 

[xorbe]

Yeah, that youtube video shows classic gpu oc artifacts ... something is wrong! Surprised that underclock+voltage didn't help. Maybe flaky vram.

You are saying that removing either card and running strictly single card, both still produce the same issue though?

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Your full system config?

 

[JeffMD]

Usually glitchy effects like this are due to the gpu or memory running unstable. If you are overclocked then that is the problem, if you have a hardware defect then that is a problem that you can't fix.

 

[Actaeon]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I was able to do some testing and troubleshooting over the weekend. I reinstalled Windows and the artifacts still occurred. I've only been able to install Fallout 4 to do testing, but in that game I was able to reproduce the problem when using what used to be the primary card. When that card is removed or when it is used as the secondary card with CF disabled I don't have any artifacts.

I went ahead and moved what was the previously secondary card into the primary slot and can run my games without artifacts.

During the previous testing with the 'defective' card I did undervolt/underclock it along with running it at stock clocks. None of it fixed the issue. I am thinking RMA at this point but any other suggestions before I go down that path? Is cleaning the contacts and blowing air through the card to remove any dust a viable step at this point?

 

[Oyeve]

Try using an app to turn the fan higher.

 

[psolord]

I believe you have enough evidence to RMA it.

You did what you could. Leave the rest of the troubleshooting to the technicians and demand a new card.

 

[Actaeon]

Regarding the fan, I don't think heat is the issue. It happens right away when the card is cool. It also happened when undervolted. Case cooling is fine too.

I only inquire whether there are other suggestions incase I missed something since RMAing is a bit of a pain but based on my testing it does look like the next step. I'll reach out to Sapphire support and see what they can do.

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[xorbe]

Regarding the fan, I don't think heat is the issue. It happens right away when the card is cool. It also happened when undervolted.

Surely you mean overvolted.

 

[ArisVer]

I would go back to Windows 7 until Windows 10 drivers are fixed.

Surely you mean overvolted.

I think he did mean undervolted.

 

[Shmee]

I have noticed some flickering issues in win 10 with my setup. Not sure if one or 2 of my 290s is going bad or if its just driver issues with 10/crossfire.

 

[Techhog]

Surely you mean overvolted.

Why do you believe that?

 

[Oyeve]

My 290x card would artifact then black screen around 2 minutes in a game. Turns out the SW wasnt adjusting the fan properly so I started using MSI Afterburner to automatically start the cards fan at 60%. Problem went away after that.

 

[ZGR]

What happens when you force a specific fan speed during load using a 3rd party tool like Afterburner?

What happens when you gently wiggle the hdmi cable on either end?

Probably will end up requiring an RMA :/

 

[Actaeon]

Surely you mean overvolted.

I think he did mean undervolted.

Why do you believe that?

I did mean undervolted. I say that because of the suggestion around fan speeds and temperatures. Since an undervolted card should be running much cooler and it happened immediately after the game is launched, I thought that mentioning this would address whether heat is the problem.

Sharing my temperature data, undervolted with stock clocks the bottom Crossfire card was in the low 60s with around 15-20% fan speed and the upper card was in the low 70s with the fan very slightly higher. About 10-15 minutes of load, no throttling. IIRC these cards are good for 85-90C.

Regarding all of the voltage testing, I tried various methods to try to isolate whether the problem is clock speeds, voltages, or temperatures since they're all intertwined in some way and a common cause of artifacts.

1.) Overclocking with overvolting
2.) Stock clocks with minor overvolting
3.) Stock clocks with stock voltage
4.) Stock clocks with undervolting
5.) Underclocked with stock voltage
6.) Underclocked with undervolting

None of these had any change on the artifacts. Now that the card has been out of the computer for a few days, I might try testing it again.

 

[Actaeon]

I have noticed some flickering issues in win 10 with my setup. Not sure if one or 2 of my 290s is going bad or if its just driver issues with 10/crossfire.

I would like to try to go back to Win 7 for testing, but after a clean install of Win 10 and no one else reporting the same issues with the same drivers, I am thinking it is the card. For my issues, it was artifacting without the 2nd card installed, so it was unrelated to crossfire. Disabling the 2nd GPU via CCC should be pretty easy quick test for you.

My 290x card would artifact then black screen around 2 minutes in a game. Turns out the SW wasnt adjusting the fan properly so I started using MSI Afterburner to automatically start the cards fan at 60%. Problem went away after that.

I will try the card again and ramp up the fan profile and see if it helps. The side panel with fans blow nice cool air on the cards and the temps were in check, but it is worth a try. Nothing to lose. Thanks.

What happens when you force a specific fan speed during load using a 3rd party tool like Afterburner?

What happens when you gently wiggle the hdmi cable on either end?

Probably will end up requiring an RMA :/

I have not tried to force a fan speed. After the testing I had done, I thought I could rule out heat. But when I install that card later I will try ramping up fan speeds and seeing whether it helps.

I have not wiggled the HDMI cable, but I have disconnected it and reconnected it as I swapped the GPUs around. The HDMI was always plugged into the primary card slot. I believe I eliminated HDMI as the problem when I was able to reproduce the artifacting with the 'defective' card in the secondary slot with CF enabled. I was not able to reproduce the problem when the defective card in the secondary slot had CF disabled. The HDMI remained in the 'good card' in the primary GPU slot for both tests.

I agree that unless its somehow magically fixed itself by sitting on the table for a few days, it will be an RMA. If I am lucky all I needed was to give the capacitors some time to disscharge

 

[xorbe]

You literally skipped the one interesting combo ... underclock + extra voltage.

 

[Headfoot]

RMA it, seems evident that the card is defective