Graphics Problem

[Fogo]

Thought I'd try here as well as my LS forums. Today when I shut down my laptop and took it to work with me, when I next turned it on and tried to play ffxi, I had the following issues occur with graphics:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...020_130235.png

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...020_130240.png

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...020_130248.png

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g2...020_130301.png

At first I thought it was a windower issue, but I tried playing in regular ffxi mode (not even their windowed mode, just regular full screen), and got the same things. Tried resetting the computer, tried turning it off and on again, tried fiddling with the graphic settings, nothing is working.

My specs:
Windows xp (service pack 3 etc)
ATI mobility radeon x600 graphics card
Laptop 775 mhz, 1.0 gb ram

Not sure if any other info is pertinent, if so I can find it. Please help, any suggestions about how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

[Cephius]

First thing to rule out with graphic artifacting is a heat issue. Open up your laptop and blow it out with a can of compressed air, make sure the fans are clear of dust and are spinning up when the laptop starts.

[Olo401]

I'm guessing you have the most recent driver update installed?

Even then, that looks like your gfx chip is overloaded. I don't think it would be a heat problem since it looks like an older laptop, but try dusting out the case to see if that makes a difference.

[Fogo]

tried blowing it out (couldn't actually get the laptop open to do it very well though), didn't work. Tried driver update, said there weren't any updates for my driver (which I find odd).

If it is gfx chip overload is there anything I can do besides just get a new card?

[Kohan]

Do you have any idea if your X600 is the SE or not?

I would hazard a guess that the chipset is dying out, but unless your laptop has segmented components (many don't), there would be no way for you to replace it. If your Mobility is the SE edition, chances of it having burnt out are much higher.

[Fogo]

As far as I can tell it is not SE.

What I don't understand is why the graphics would only begin malfunctioning for ffxi if it is a problem with the chip. I've opened up various other programs and games and they all work just fine.

Last night i uninstalled ffxi and reinstalled it now i'm just going through the lame update process (hi2u 10k files!).

[Kohan]

As far as I can tell it is not SE.

What I don't understand is why the graphics would only begin malfunctioning for ffxi if it is a problem with the chip. I've opened up various other programs and games and they all work just fine.

Didn't know other games worked. That does definitely make a difference. The ones you tested it with require 3D rendering and hardware T&L, right?

[Skie]

my pc basicly does same thing... but only after playing for a bit... gf's pc does it also... all other game/program look fine. When it starts i just restart ffxi and its gonen for like 30 min :/

[Fogo]

Just an update, It has been affecting some other games (older ones, stratego, age of empires, etc). I can also see the effects on the windows title screen when i turn the computer on.

I'm going to try reformatting the computer soon I think. If that doesn't fix anything i'll know for sure somethings fried.