Need help with P45-DS3R

[MaxFX]

Hello!

Have problem with flickering in games and do belive it has to be with some setting that is way of. have read up on everything and tested everyting I can come up with. have a new GTX 285 and a Corsair 1000W PSU!

My flickering seems to be COMPLETELY independent of anything. Whether I do/don't OC my CPU, do/don't OC the GTX 285, regardless of resolution, regardless of settings. Its always in the same places too. The flickering are always the same if my angle and position are the same.Its quite frustrating actually as you can understand!

Have my Q6600O/C at 3.4Ghz and I went throu every stress test prog out there I think and not a single problem. be it memtest 86+ or Orthos / OCCT / IntelBurntest. tested the gfx card with Furmark / ATI Tool / 3D Mark bla bla you name it and everything fly by without a hickup.

What can it be it cant be any probs with the hardware I belive as I can do all stresstesting progs with no error. feeling like throw the comp throu the window soon

Any ideas what it can be guys ?
Forgot to say it's not extremely much flickering but its here and there and in exactly the same spot. as some objects seems to go on and of. very strange!

[VorLonUK]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

When you say "flickering" do you mean the type of flicker when the desktop and/or game reverts to 60Hz refresh rate AND you are using a CRT based monitor?

If not, ie you may be using an LCD monitor could you explain the effect in a little more detail?

Also the X3 TC Rolling Demo is great for picking out Graphics errors and stress testing.

http://www.egosoft.com/download/x3tc/demos_en.php?list=92

[MaxFX]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Hi and thanks for the reply :)

Sorry i should have explained a little better, will try now!

Yeap I have a nice LCD, G2400WD monitor so it have nothing to do with the refresh rate or so.

It's what should I say only in some spots and in pretty much every game I have tested. say it's on the floor one smal list in Mirrors Edge. its like one object here and there seems to be on/off. hard to explain so i will try to make some smal vid. maybe I can with Fraps?

And it doesent matter if I have just started the game or if I have played a while so it cant be a heat problem I guess and in exact the same spots. very strange. it doesent matter if I run everything on stock CPU/ GPU or O/C or change drivers eaiter.

Thanks for the link. will test this prog ASAP :)

When you say "flickering" do you mean the type of flicker when the desktop and/or game reverts to 60Hz refresh rate AND you are using a CRT based monitor?

If not, ie you may be using an LCD monitor could you explain the effect in a little more detail?

Also the X3 TC Rolling Demo is great for picking out Graphics errors and stress testing.

[VorLonUK]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

I've noticed that in some games such as BioShock some of the shader settings can cause the odd "flashing/flickering".
In fact I've recently noticed in TeamFortress2 that distant textures "flicker" between two states ie almost like at a threshold point. Stand at a distance or close up and all is well, but find that threshold point where the shading alters and it may flicker.

Best things to try, is to keep the settings towards the more basic side of things purely just to prove a point (ie troubleshooting).
So that means try the game with AA & AF OFF, try with less detailed/ less quality / less advanced etc shaders.

Try also (which i did with bioshock) to do a quick save at a point where a problem is the most noticeable, then you can easily return to that point, with the PC hot or cold or after changing settings in the Forceware panel etc.

Also you could make sure that the Forceware panel is setup to allow the game options to take affect rather than being invoked "globally" via the nvidia settings.

Plus it seems that DX10 drivers vs DX10 games are not quite as mature as their DX9 counterparts. Also look at the release note PDF that accompanies a Forceware release, for fixed and PENDING problems.

[MaxFX]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

I've noticed that in some games such as BioShock some of the shader settings can cause the odd "flashing/flickering".
In fact I've recently noticed in TeamFortress2 that distant textures "flicker" between two states ie almost like at a threshold point. Stand at a distance or close up and all is well, but find that threshold point where the shading alters and it may flicker.

Best things to try, is to keep the settings towards the more basic side of things purely just to prove a point (ie troubleshooting).
So that means try the game with AA & AF OFF, try with less detailed/ less quality / less advanced etc shaders.

Try also (which i did with bioshock) to do a quick save at a point where a problem is the most noticeable, then you can easily return to that point, with the PC hot or cold or after changing settings in the Forceware panel etc.

Also you could make sure that the Forceware panel is setup to allow the game options to take affect rather than being invoked "globally" via the nvidia settings.

Plus it seems that DX10 drivers vs DX10 games are not quite as mature as their DX9 counterparts. Also look at the release note PDF that accompanies a Forceware release, for fixed and PENDING problems.

Woow a big thanks mate that you tooke the time to answer this complete

Will do as you said and test different settings to, that I havent thought of hehe.
I wonder to if it's just the game itself that couse this problem. i should have said flashing as you said, that would describe the problem better :D

This seems to be true what you said ""flicker" between two states ie almost like at a threshold point"

That would be a perfect description what I mean so the problem must really be in the game I think then. I dont know why I have not seem this prob before or it's just that I have started to see it more now when I looking for them so to speak.

Thanks again, much appritiated!

[VorLonUK]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Woow a big thanks mate that you toke the time to answer this complete

Will do as you said and test different settings to, that I havent thought of hehe.
I wonder to if it's just the game itself that couse this problem. i should have said flashing as you said, that would describe the problem better :D

This seems to be true what you said ""flicker" between two states ie almost like at a threshold point"

That would be a perfect description what I mean so the problem must really be in the game I think then. I dont know why I have not seem this prob before or it's just that I have started to see it more now when I looking for them so to speak.

Thanks again, much appritiated!

Funny you should say that..... I never noticed the "flashing texture" on TF2 with my old AGP 6800Ultra, but I do with my 8800GTS. Now if thats because of a TF2 update, or ways the map editor now applies certain textures is another story.
I don't tend to worry about it as I know it happens to be a distance thing and also valve have introduced recently a variable slider to ajust "Field of View", so all these things may be related when a set of specific circumstances come into play.

For instance I believe it's part of the shading in Warhammer Soulstorm and Dark Crusade where you can get a vertical black line appear momentarily from gun turrets as you scroll accross the screen. That happened on my old 6800ultra aswell as my current 8800GTS, so it's either down to game engine, nvidia drivers or both.

But if your problem is happening moreso on one game and you are in DX10 mode, then i wouldn't be concerned. It'll probably either be fixed in a patch or there will likely be some setting workaround.
It seems too that some of the "Ported" games can give the odd effects, rather than those initially created for the PC.

[MaxFX]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Yeah I never saw this flashing textures what I know on my 8800GT 512mb but now I see them in every game, strange.

Nice to hear your thought of it and maybe I have no hardware conflict or whatever as its well just accept it and game on.

Will Install Bioshock again and glad you mentioned that. havent played that game since I upgraded the vid card so that will be fun to see how it plays now :)

[VorLonUK]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Yeah I never saw this flashing textures what I know on my 8800GT 512mb but now I see them in every game, strange.

Nice to hear your thought of it and maybe I have no hardware conflict or whatever as its well just accept it and game on.

Will Install Bioshock again and glad you mentioned that. havent played that game since I upgraded the vid card so that will be fun to see how it plays now :)

If you get any weird effects in Bioshock bring up the graphics options and I believe (having trouble remembering) there is a "Post precision shader" or something like that enable/disable that has an effect.

You could always try say anything with the Source Engine, ie HL2, EP1 & 2, TF2, DOD etc as they will be in DX9, or try if you are using a DX9/10 hybrid game that you test it in both modes.

Or try a completely different Engine, say GTA San Andreas and see how that goes.
Crysis is worth trying too and for RTS, Supreme commander will stress your card more than most.
Another gaming engine that seems to heat up the GPU quite quickly like crysis is Stalker.
Also theres the Lost Planet demo you could try too.....

[MaxFX]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Okay will remember that in Bioshock thanks!
Just made some short vids from Cryostasis couse in that game the flashing is extreme. have you testad that game btw ?

Can I uppload the smal vids here for you to see?

[VorLonUK]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Okay will remember that in Bioshock thanks!
Just made some short vids from Cryostasis couse in that game the flashing is extreme. have you testad that game btw ?

Can I uppload the smal vids here for you to see?

No i haven't tried that game, but i would guess the best way to share vids maybe through youtube?

Does the flashing only appear "ingame" or does it affect the normal Windows desktop too?

Edit:-

If you try that rolling demo I linked to as it's a fixed benchmark, you can see if any problems always

[MaxFX]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Hey!
Yeah good call, youtube would be the easy and best way :)

The flashing is just in game so it must be the game and have now tested the x3 demo, run it several times and all maxed out, 1920*1200 8AA/16AF and I cant see one singel artifact.
As I said I have done 3Dmark/Vantage and have of course keeped them looped as I allways do to find fault when ocking but everything is smoth and stable so I guess it really must be the games and not my hardware and thats nice :D

Checked Bioshock to last night and not a single problem their eaiter, I must have jumped to the wrong conclusion way to early. should have checked with more games first.

Anyway big thanks that you took the time to helped me out, feels a lot better now ;)

[AHPD]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Check if you're getting "videodrivername" stopped responding and has recovered.

If yes, check your drivers, and prepare yourself for the biggest headache in your whole life, both ATI and Nvidia suffers from this, myself included.

[MaxFX]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

ouch that sound bad but thanks I have not seen that error, crossing fingers now and hope that I wont hehe.

So what's that problem you describe AHPD ?

[AHPD]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

ouch that sound bad but thanks I have not seen that error, crossing fingers now and hope that I wont hehe.

So what's that problem you describe AHPD ?

Every game flickers, screen goes black, and either resume the gameplay or game crashes, and whatever happened, a ballon at tray says that in my case "atikmdag stopped responding and has recovered".

It doesn't have a fixed pattern to happen, but crashes more frequently in Crysis and Grid.

For some people, it fixes by doing some msconfig fix, others is removing the CCC, others is reinstalling OSes, mine partialy was leaving the display driver install to Vista's built-in driver installer, the only real fix is falling back to XP, since such detection is Vista exclusive.

It's driving me nuts since two weeks ago, fighting against it the only game that still troubles me is Crysis, both of them.

If you type "atikmdag" in google, you'll see thousands of results leading to the same problem and no real solution.

I'll install the new Catalyst 9.3, released few hours ago, and see if helps.

Cross your fingers to never see that ballon, i wouldn't desire even for my worst enemy seriously.

[MaxFX]

Re: Need help with P45-DS3R

Ooh man I feel sorry for you, what a problem and I agree would that happen to me i most likely go nuts. it's stuff like this that can drive ppl to console gaming and thats a frikking shame brr :-/

I really hope that your problem will get fixed mate!!