Curse

NArrow · May 19, 2005, 02:23 AM // 02:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptInsano

I upgraded to the new CAT 5.5's that were released yesterday and still no luck. I took some screenshots but it's very hard to see the artifacting. My next step is to see if the card is bad somehow, but I doubt that. I can't find a copy of CAT 5.2's that Narrow suggested.

I have attached a screen at www.ati.com website.
They are under Previous drivers for Radeon video cards.

Furious Surearrow · May 20, 2005, 02:54 PM // 14:54

do a google search for ATI Tool

this will allow you to test your video card outside of the game for artifacts. If you run this, it should run for several minutes without any errors (likely was stressed due to the overclock, and sounds like it's been damaged)

Test this and let us know if it runs without artifacts (the timer will reset each time it detects one)

Darkest Dawn · May 20, 2005, 06:23 PM // 18:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Furious Surearrow

do a google search for ATI Tool

this will allow you to test your video card outside of the game for artifacts. If you run this, it should run for several minutes without any errors (likely was stressed due to the overclock, and sounds like it's been damaged)

Test this and let us know if it runs without artifacts (the timer will reset each time it detects one)

Good advice. I have a 6800 vanilla now, but my previous card was a 9800 pro. It overclocked very well. I always liked to use the ATI tool because it really tested out the system to get the best OC without any artifacting. I use RIVA Tuner now, but the ATI Tool, while taking a while to tweak your card, does so very well, and safely. I always would find my max safe OC and then back it down a bit so I wouldn't have to deal with heat issues.

lordulysses · May 25, 2005, 05:26 AM // 05:26

please stop bickering over video cards, i have a ati 9800 pro with this same problem and i would like to find out how to fix it. I didn't always have this problem but about a week ago the game started doing exactly what captinsano was describing. Immediately after i start GW before i can even type anything to log in my whole screen goes to crap with strands of color running vertically and what not, then after i manage to find the [X] to leave Guild Wars everything is still messed up, i have to restart my computer to get it back to normal. I can play WoW and Doom3 with no problems, only Guild Wars

Final Fantazy · May 27, 2005, 04:35 AM // 04:35

I had a similar problem with my rad 9800 pro, I traced the problem to alt-tabbing, doing something to the refresh rates, when all the textures was messed up, I switched to windowed mode and it immediately fixed the problem, but would periodly come back, so I checked the settings more closely, this is what I saw and it fixed it completely for me.

My desktop is running 1280x1024 but GW was only running in 1024x768 res, so I changed the resolution to 1280x1024 and i've not had these problems since.

Old Dood · May 27, 2005, 11:33 AM // 11:33

I have had my ATI 9800pro in my little game box for a couple of years now. I never overclocked it or anything. I personally do not see the need to overclock on todays computers. Plus with a kid in college one still in grade school and a wife with expensive tastes then I can not afford to fry my systems. I have to make them last.

With Guild Wars the 9800pro seems to be doing just fine. I have AA off of course. I went into the game options and force all the graphics to thier highest quality and it didn't affect my game. I do get that I "swinging on a monster thing" and all of a sudden he is 50 feet away. But I believe that is net lag not anything I can do about it. (I have a 4mbs cable connection that has never dropped below 2.5mbs) I honestly think that more and more people join up and play this game that Areanet's servers get overloaded.

I have been "toying" with computers since the early 1980's and even then there were people that would say: "Mine is bigger/better then your's..." So don't fret about that stuff. It is an old old aurgument. Me and my friends DREAMED of this day and age where you could play online and have decent looking graphics to boot. I am just happy that I can afford a decent game box to play some of these cool games. Mine is nothing too fancy but it gets the job done well.

For this guy that is having these problems of "tearing" you all have good ideas to fix them. One is downgrading the driver. (I have an OLD one) Also I firmly believe in MORE RAM is better. I run 1.5GB 400mhz ram on a 2.8ghz 800 FSB. Once I added the extra ram about a year ago ALL my programs ran smoothly since then. WinXP will suck up almost all of 256MB of ram, so to go to 512MB is a bare min. in my book. 1GB ram should be plenty for this game. Also I have mention this before in another thread you might want to look into a free program called RegScrubXP. It is not for the faint hearted....so beware. You can totally screw up your system, but it will clean out old crap out of your registry. I personally had my Guru-Tech-Computer friend over to make sure I was not doing STOOPID things while using that program.

hope this helps...sorry for such a long post. I do like this forum. You "Youngens" really amaze this Old Dood. I am always willing to learn from others. So when I ask some questions and if they "seem" stoopid cut me some slack. I am just trying to learn. I will not flame people, however, I can defend myself quite well when they flame on me.

Serafita Kayin · May 27, 2005, 03:06 PM // 15:06

It's posts like this that restore my faith in the community.

Welcome dood, and we should all learn to be so helpful in the future.

keith6945 · May 27, 2005, 03:09 PM // 15:09

i think u have to make sure ur vid card is set at highest quality in windows and in games for it to work right, correct me if i'm wrong

Garias Whitanian · May 27, 2005, 04:47 PM // 16:47

Evidently the game doesnt like Radeons, my ageing 9200 has texture problems despite being over the minimum system requirements, ive got 512mb on an Athlon xp 3000 Barton, Ive heard that all was ok during betas, so they must have done something really stoopid just before release.

SearchNDestroy · May 27, 2005, 06:39 PM // 18:39

I have a 9800Pro running WinXp SP2 with ingame graphics turned all the way up. Desktop and game run at 1280 x 1024 , AA is on. I Alt-Tab often and have not had any video problems of any kind.

Although Overclocking probably is the cause for all this you did say you have no issues with any other game. The 2 things that come to mind is try uninstalling the game completely then reinstall, if it still exists you definately need to try another card out...

Good Luck

Old Dood · May 29, 2005, 01:21 PM // 13:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serafita Kayin

It's posts like this that restore my faith in the community.

Welcome dood, and we should all learn to be so helpful in the future.

Thank You Serafita. That was kind. I see no need to get nasty in forums. I have found in the computer profession (and other professions as well) that the Good/Smart/Experienced people are ALWAYS willing to learn and never think they know it all. To me that is a definition of Wisdom.

I keep teaching my children to appreciate the "Age" that they live in. That they have cool tech toys now that I always wanted and knew someday we would have them. When my 20 year old son was little he was on a computer when his friends parents thought it was not necessary at that time for their children to have them. Silly People

Now that my daughter is in the same school these same parents ask me where/how/which computer to buy. Or why does thier computer "do this and that...and not this and that"

To me, computers and other tech toys like HD-TV is a wise choice. I buy the best for the money at that time. I never buy the latest greatest. Computer wise I will buy a couple of processors down the line. I bought my 2.8ghz when 3.2ghz prescotts were the rage. Mine is still a HT 800FSB and it was not all that much slower then the 3.2ghz. Saved major dollars that I put into the vid card and ram. I will not buy a new computer until they come out with a true 4ghz or its equal.

All in all I like this site and it's forums. I have checked out other Guild Wars sites and this one is the best in my opinion. You are all young and bright. I feel I am the OLDEST player in this game. Every group I go out with is 15-25 years old. However, I truly have had some good fun with most of the people. I keep preaching about getting TeamSpeak and setting up thier own server so it is FREE. We let people on our server as guests in our groups and they have a blast now that they do not have to type the most used lines: STOP....RUN AWAY....NEED TO HEAL.....NO AVOID THE BAD GUYS FOR NOW.

Anyways...sorry for the long post....didn't mean to hijack it either...

termite · May 29, 2005, 01:45 PM // 13:45

A few things I will suggest before you go the way of RMA (it is possible that the card is busted due to it being overclocked. no matter how careful you might have been when overclocking it, there is a slight chance that it burned):

a) Check your Display Settings for the Radeon, and set everything to Default.

b) Try going to guru3d site and look for Catalyst driver uninstaller (there are several). After completely uninstalling the drivers, install 5.5's.

c) Try running the game at refresh rate of 85Hz if you can (100 tops). I remember there was some problem with Windows XP where it wouldn't allow you to run your full screen games at same refresh rate as your desktop settings. For this I use a program called ReForce which allows me to lock in the refresh rates that I want to run my desktop and fullscreen applications at.

d) If possible try doing a clean Windows install. In general, if you find yourself installing and uninstalling many different applications and games on your computer, it's best to reformat every six months. Make sure to do backup of your important work.

e) If those solutions don't help, try calling ATI and see what they suggest, though I think if you removed their original heatsink & fan, and on top of that overclocked (if they can prove that you did this), then your warranty pretty much went out of the window.

P.S. I use Radeon 9600XT by Gigabyte, and have never experienced any tearing. The most advanced game I played on it was Doom3, and it showed no texture tearing.