Bad artifacting leads to BSOS or hard reset.

Zulli85 · March 01, 2010, 11:43:16 PM

Hi guys. Everytime I try to play a game of SCII beta I get some serious artifacting almost instantly. I then will have to wait it out and get a BSOD or just hit the reset button on my computer. This happens just seconds after one of the maps finishes loading. I'm pretty desperate at this point, not sure what to do. I'm using a Intel C2D E6600 and Nvidia 8800GT. My graphics drivers are up to date. Any help you guys can provide is appreciated! Thanks!

Happy-I-am · March 01, 2010, 11:48:15 PM

Quote from: Zulli85 on March 01, 2010, 11:43:16 PM
Hi guys. Everytime I try to play a game of SCII beta I get some serious artifacting almost instantly. I then will have to wait it out and get a BSOD or just hit the reset button on my computer. This happens just seconds after one of the maps finishes loading. I'm pretty desperate at this point, not sure what to do. I'm using a Intel C2D E6600 and Nvidia 8800GT. My graphics drivers are up to date. Any help you guys can provide is appreciated! Thanks!

Anything overclocked?

Zulli85 · March 01, 2010, 11:50:08 PM

Quote from: Happy-I-am on March 01, 2010, 11:48:15 PM
Quote from: Zulli85 on March 01, 2010, 11:43:16 PM
Hi guys. Everytime I try to play a game of SCII beta I get some serious artifacting almost instantly. I then will have to wait it out and get a BSOD or just hit the reset button on my computer. This happens just seconds after one of the maps finishes loading. I'm pretty desperate at this point, not sure what to do. I'm using a Intel C2D E6600 and Nvidia 8800GT. My graphics drivers are up to date. Any help you guys can provide is appreciated! Thanks!

Anything overclocked?

My CPU was overclocked for a while but it is at stock clocks now, my 8800GT is the SSC edition which means it is factory overclocked.

Happy-I-am · March 01, 2010, 11:55:58 PM

hmm, game could be too much for the card when it's overclocked, but if it is stock oc'd then it should be fine. when you get "artifacting" it is usually from overclocked graphics cards or wrong drivers and/or could just need the latest driver. Have you tryed to underclock your graphics card? You could try to set it to the normal 8800 gt clock speeds.(Don't BIOS flash the card we just want a temp underclock.)

Zulli85 · March 01, 2010, 11:58:18 PM

Quote from: Happy-I-am on March 01, 2010, 11:55:58 PM
hmm, game could be too much for the card when it's overclocked, but if it is stock oc'd then it should be fine. when you get "artifacting" it is usually from overclocked graphics cards or wrong drivers and/or could just need the latest driver. Have you tryed to underclock your graphics card? You could try to set it to the normal 8800 gt clock speeds.(Don't BIOS flash the card we just want a temp underclock.)

No, I haven't tried to underclock yet but I was pondering that idea. I wouldn't think it would matter because I can play other games that are more graphically intensive without a problem, but that is probably irrelevant. Thanks for your post, I'll give that a shot.

Edit - I can use RivaTuner to underclock right?

Happy-I-am · March 02, 2010, 12:00:58 AM

If that doesn't work reply back here so we can exchange ideas. Could it be overheating? I use to play a game on a 8800GTS and it would freeze and require reset all over games were fine, but then the other games started to freeze. it was caused by the card overheating. (Had a huge amount of dust stuck in the fan.)

Edit - Yes you should be able to.

Zulli85 · March 02, 2010, 12:18:00 AM

Quote from: Happy-I-am on March 02, 2010, 12:00:58 AM
If that doesn't work reply back here so we can exchange ideas. Could it be overheating? I use to play a game on a 8800GTS and it would freeze and require reset all over games were fine, but then the other games started to freeze. it was caused by the card overheating. (Had a huge amount of dust stuck in the fan.)

Edit - Yes you should be able to.

It appears that underclocking to regular 8800GT clocks has solved the problem thus far, I've been playing for about 5 minutes. Thanks again for your help.

You wouldn't happen to know where I can get better maps without the double spawning etc would you? I know there are some other people that are asking but I figured I might as well ask here.

Zulli85 · March 02, 2010, 12:31:40 AM

It crashed.

I was being stomped by the computer and it just froze up. Like 15 or so minutes into the game. Hm.

Edit - Just crashed 3 more times. Had to hard reboot everytime. Underclocked my video card and cranked up the fan each time. Perhaps tomorrow I will check to see if there is a chunk of dust in and around the HSF, thats happened to me before a few years back with an old video card. Any more help would be appreciated! Thanks!

CaPpedDoG · March 02, 2010, 01:10:09 AM

How about temps? CPU/GPU temps?

Happy-I-am · March 02, 2010, 03:41:14 AM

Quote from: CaPpedDoG on March 02, 2010, 01:10:09 AM
How about temps? CPU/GPU temps?

under-clocking and turning fans up on GPU would solve all temp problems, most likely.

Could be a hunk of dust or faulty card, but if it only affects one game then it would be more likely be software wise not hardware.

Zulli85 · March 02, 2010, 11:49:42 PM

Quote from: Happy-I-am on March 02, 2010, 03:41:14 AM
Quote from: CaPpedDoG on March 02, 2010, 01:10:09 AM
How about temps? CPU/GPU temps?

under-clocking and turning fans up on GPU would solve all temp problems, most likely.

Could be a hunk of dust or faulty card, but if it only affects one game then it would be more likely be software wise not hardware.

Ok well I took the card out and cleaned it, there was actually very minimal dust. Put it back in, underclocked, monitored GPU temps in-game and turned all visual settings to low. I was actually able to play through a game without an issue. Not sure what to do from here, maybe next I'll try all low settings with normal clocks. Hm.

Happy-I-am · March 03, 2010, 05:28:40 AM

Quote from: Zulli85 on March 02, 2010, 11:49:42 PM
Quote from: Happy-I-am on March 02, 2010, 03:41:14 AM
Quote from: CaPpedDoG on March 02, 2010, 01:10:09 AM
How about temps? CPU/GPU temps?

Must just be stressing it too much. set clocks to normal and play on lower settings.

under-clocking and turning fans up on GPU would solve all temp problems, most likely.

Could be a hunk of dust or faulty card, but if it only affects one game then it would be more likely be software wise not hardware.

Ok well I took the card out and cleaned it, there was actually very minimal dust. Put it back in, underclocked, monitored GPU temps in-game and turned all visual settings to low. I was actually able to play through a game without an issue. Not sure what to do from here, maybe next I'll try all low settings with normal clocks. Hm.

Zulli85 · March 03, 2010, 10:53:08 PM

Got through most of a game just now. All visual settings were low but I set the resolution to 1920x1200 (my native res). I was underclocked with high fan speeds too. It crashed after like 10-15 minutes. Hmm.

Happy-I-am · March 04, 2010, 12:18:58 AM

hmm drivers?

cloak123 · March 04, 2010, 12:30:36 AM

Quit the game first, then look under your My Documents/Starcraft II Beta folder, you should find a Variables.txt file there. You can open this file with your favorite text editor such as Notepad, and add the following line:

frameratecapglue=30 (Menu's)
frameratecap=60 (Everything else)

This will cap your framerate to 60 in the game, which should give your videocard some breathing room. You can put any number, see if a lower number like 30 helps as well, though you will lose framerate.

This is only a temporary workaround, an upcoming patch will have an automatic solution for everyone.

Hope this helps!