Pixels and Pixels and more Pixels

Well that's all well and good, but the problem is that the won't change to the right colors, leaving me with this:


Those troublesome pixels show up in any Source game with HDR lighting enabled, as well as FEAR and it's expansion.

They only show up when HDR is in effect in Source, and in FEAR when some light trick is going on, or I'm using the slow-motion, when the screen gets all blurry.

I'm already downloading the latest drivers for my graphics card (ATI 9800 pro), I'm going to see if that works, aside from that I'm out of ideas.

Have you guys got any?

(I know this is a help topic, but there are only editing help boards.)

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Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

Latest drivers and patches. Maybe check the settings on the card, turn down some stuff? 9800pro was a great card in its day, but it's getting old now. It's only Direct X 8.1, right? Or if it's an early DX9 card, it might not be fully compliant with DX9 specs, which sound like what you are describing.

Oh yeah, make sure you have the latest Direct X , too. Last I check it was 9c or something I think.

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Action Half-Life - <A HREF="http://distraction-mod.com" TARGET="_blank">Distrac

Try cleaning your card. It sounds like some of the pixel-shader registers are getting hot or something like that. (They could be damaged)

If your card can't run something it would give artifacts like you're seeing, it would just run slow (or crash). Use a program like Everest home edition (you're going to have to find it somewhere) or your video card utilities to see what temperature the card is at. A lot of cards are prone to getting clumps of dirt stuck in their heat sync. Which will not allow air from the fan to cool the metal down so it can absorb more heat, making the GPU and everything the heat sync is cooling, hotter.

Check this immediately. Because if this is the case, letting it get too hot will damage the card permanently.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Yep, looks like heat problems to me.

And it is, my heatsink fan wasn't spinning, so my computer crashed last night while I was testing the new graphics drivers. So I opened it up, took out my graphics card, and couldn't find a problem without breaking it (I didn't break it).

I took off the upper case of the heatsink to clear any blockage, but the fan wouldn't start without some gentle prodding from yours truly, which is why I'm sitting next to an open computer, listening to fans right now.

I did get Everest, and it's telling me my gpu temperature is 49 (C?). The number is surrounded by blue, so I assume that's good.

That's the update, I'm going to test Fear right now.
Be back with results later.

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Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

Yeah, they were right, I should have thought of that possibility as well.

49C is find for a graphics card, that's about what mine idles at now. But if you have give the fan a 'prod' to get it to work, it may be on its way out (stripped bearings or whatever). You might want to look into a basic after-market cooler. Usually they are a lot better than the stock stuff. I have an Arctic Cooling one on my 6800GT and it's a)way quieter and b) keeps it about 8 degrees cooler.

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Action Half-Life - <A HREF="http://distraction-mod.com" TARGET="_blank">Distrac

There's probably "stuff" wrapped around the axle. You may have to take it apart and clean it/re-grease it.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I disassembled the heatsink, giving me the fan and the outer shell, but if I disassemble the fan, I'm afraid I'll break it. If you have some advice, it would be much appreciated.

The white pixels were gone when I played Fear, and the fan has been spinning indefinitely since I prodded it.

My GPU temperature was up at 60 when I quit Fear, and it steadily declined thereafter. It's now at 53, a few minutes after quitting Fear.

I am going to get another heatsink, and attach it to my card, so long term solutions aren't necessary, but short term ones are.

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Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

My card goes to some high temperatures, it's regularly at 60? when I exit games, it's bothered me since I got it (it's only 5 months old).

Um, if it's spinning no problem, then I wouldn't monitor it right now, but you should pay attention to it. I had a card (GF4) and the fan stopped spinning. Completely. I'm thankful the heatsync was made entirely out of copper (saved my ass) I never saw artifacts and it never got above 75? without the fan going, so I'm quite lucky, but, basically, if you can get to fan independent of the heatsync there should be a little washer holding the fan down, remove that and the fan should slide off (you'll need tweezers and/or pliers). You can re-grease the axle with WD-40 (spray it on a paper towel first or some cloth so you don't get other things greased when applying it.) My card works now, but the fan doesn't go nearly as fast as it should, I think I need to remove the washer and re-grease ... again. (It would be $15 to get a replacement heatsync, but as I plan on using the card for some time, I think I need to get it :sad: )

But, if at all possible, contact your cards manufacturer and see if you can get a replacement for free or cheap, that will always be a better option.

And the worst case scenario is you put a fan (like one to cool a room) in front of your open case. It'll keep the card in the low 30s (C) as long as you have a nice metal for the heatsync. But that is, obviously, temporary.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Depending on the heatsink etc., you can also add something like this:

Slot Fan

I had something similar that I used for my 5700le; its fan went bad/noisy and I couldn't find a replacement. Benefit of these is that they will cool off the ram and other card components as well, since they blow across the whole card. You don't get the "on-cpu" benefit of an integrated fan, but if your card doesn't run too hot or is a lower-end model with a tiny fan or no fan, these are actually a neat solution. It's worked indefinitely for that 5700le, which is in a friend's pc now.

You or Chrono could also add one as a 'backup'; if your primary fan goes, the slot fan will probably keep the thing from frying on you. Not to mention add some extra cooling for the ram etc. (that model is a bit loud, but I've seen quieter)

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Action Half-Life - <A HREF="http://distraction-mod.com" TARGET="_blank">Distrac

I'm still using a 9600 Pro, the fan died a while ago but I found someone who had a spare 40mm fan and just glued it on. It doesnt have a temp sensor so theres no way to be sure, but it seems to be running OK now. The way I see it, if the card dies, I've been due for an upgrade for months now anyway, and its not worth spending money on keeping it alive.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I've determined that the cause of the malfunction is electrical. So all hope of repair is lost.
For the time being, I've got my fan blowing on it on high, and the temperature is down in the low forties right now.
Tomorrow or Tuesday I should be getting a new heatsink to attach on top of the original, so that I can put my computer back where it belongs.

Looks like an upgrade can wait...so it will.

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Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying