b.branscombe wrote:
Okay, so BF2 and TF2 are both giving me artifacts while I play. Nothing major, but after playing for a while they get bad enough to be annoying. I also get a bit of lag playing BF2 now and then. The computer is a dell (I know) and about 2 years old, but I'd like to know what the best recommendation would be for an upgrade that's not too expensive (ie no 8800GT). I just looking for something that will eliminate the issues I have now, and then will be able to cut it if I buy any of the new shooters coming out. If there's any specs missing for the list that are needed just let me know. Could simply adding more fans cool the video card enough to eliminate the artifacts?
Intel Core 2 CPU (Dual-Core) 6400 @ 2.13GHz
2x Kingston 1GB DDR2 (slots for 2 more I think)
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
According to the diagnostic program I have installed, the CPU and the video card are running 50-55C while idle just doing internet browsing type stuff. I don't know what it gets up to while gaming.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Before you go spending money where it may not be needed, you need to figure out, for sure, what's causing the artifacting.
1. Use
memtest86 to check your RAM.
2. Use
Hitachi Drive Fitness Test to check you HDD.
3. Use
ATITool and run
3DMark06 to check your video-card.
4. Use
Sandra to do a burn in test.
It is possible all the artifacting is being actually being caused by data corrpution being caused by either bad RAM or a HDD issue, rather than the video card - so that's the first thing to check. If your RAM and HDD checks out OK, then you need to put your video card through its paces whilst monitoring for temp issues and/or artifacting. If that seems fine, then a burn-in will check overall system stability under load - Sandra won't load the video card much, but it will put everything else under high load - again watch temps and monitor for 'issues'.
OK, if all that seems to be OK, it could just be a driver issue - make sure you're completely up-to-date on drivers for
all components - yes, even things that are not directly graphics-related.
If all that doesn't reveal the weak-point, it
is then time to start diagnosing the issue with money (going through each component one at a time and getting replacements, so you can hopefully find the culprit by swapping it out) - if it does come to that, suspect your
PSU first and fore-most, then video card, then RAM/HDD, then mobo/CPU.
Lastly, if all the testing throws up the situation where you think it is the video card, but it doesn't always have issues, and seems to start happening after a while, and then get worse. Again, actually suspect you
PSU first and foremost, then video card, then RAM/HDD, then mobo/CPU.
Bad PSU's can be the cause of countless 'phantom' symptoms and they're relatively cheap to replace, so even if it turns out not to be that, it's a not a huge hit to the pocket to find out.
Last edited by Scorpion0x17 (2007-12-25 08:38:31)