Graphics issue or client issue?

[Sephiroth]

Today I had a problem where random spikes appeared all over my screen. It happened randomly while walking around the map in a non-crowded area. I was the only player nearby. After a reboot, the problem remains.

The problem: http://a.imageshack.us/img832/3832/image38.jpg

I ran the FFXIV benchmark and the problem is there too. I have tried running FurMark as someone suggested and it runs fine. I have tried running Tiger Woods 2008 and it runs fine. Unfortunately that's the newest PC game I own besides FFXIV beta and it's hardly graphical intensive. I re-installed the latest ATI driver and that didn't fix it.

Is there anything I can run to try figure out what the problem is? I have a Radeon HD 5830 card. The game ran fine last night and Sunday night. The benchmark also ran fine a month ago no matter how many times I ran it. The only thing I've done since last night was install the C++ 2010 pack as that apparently solves a crash issue.

[Sephiroth]

I ran the Heaven Unigine and that runs fine. The graphics on that look even better than FFXIV. So surely this is a client issue?

[qpoiuwer]

That's usually what happens when your video card starts to overheat. FFXIV is more graphically intensive than you think, though that is not necessarily 100% surely the cause.

You can monitor your video card temperature through the CCC in the Overdrive view. See what it's at when the issue starts happening and check what the maximum temperatures for your card are.

[Sephiroth]

Yeah but I've not ran FFXIV for nearly two hours now and it still happens as soon as I load up the game (character select screen) or benchmark. My GPU temperature is only 40-41 degrees right now according to CCC or Overdrive.

Is there any more benchmarks as demanding as FFXIV I can try running? FurMark and Heaven are supposed to be demanding and run fine.

[shaddix]

You could try 3dmark vantage http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks...tage/download/

The "new calico" level can sometimes reveal problems.

[ufo]

That could be caused by any number of things, probably not the game though. Could be bad video card, bad memory (pc or video), weak or failing power supply, motherboard ect.

FFXIV uses more memory and processing power than benchmarks that only test graphics. Plus it just seems to have a knack for exposing problems.

[Sephiroth]

I ran 3D Mark as you suggested Shaddix and every test performed without problems, including the New Calico one.

I've also tried re-downloading and installing the client earlier. No fix.

I'm starting to doubt it's my GPU. Everything I've tried running works perfectly, except the FFXIV benchmark and game. FurMark, Unigine, 3D Mark. These are supposed to be good benchmark tools.

Crysis is supposed to be a very demanding game, I think I'll download the demo and see how that runs.

I doubt it's other hardware issues, as this PC has been running great for over two years. I upgraded the PSU with a good brand at the same time I put the GPU in.

I've noticed these spikes/lines only come from the character and mob models rather than the environment. Someone on another forum suggested turning VBO off but I don't know how to do it.

Something else has gone weird since I started playing the beta. If my monitor is switched on standby for a while it won't switch back on unless I turn the power off and on. I connect via DVI.

I wonder if it is the client. SE did apply a new patch yesterday. But I was running around for a good hour before the problem occurred, and it hasn't gone away. The beta site does say:

"[Known Issues]

- During gameplay, the following may occur:
·Graphics may display incorrectly."

But as I say it ran fine for hours earlier in the week.

[Sephiroth]

Well, Crysis demo ran fine even on the highest settings. I guess FFXIV is the problem.

[Amele]

it's your hardware. run a stress test for about 3-4 hours and you'll see it happen there.

checking games for 30 minutes at a time is not going to reveal it.

[Kaisha]

Have you tried downgrading your drivers? The visual glitch in the shot there reminds me of when that was a common problem with an nVidia driver back about 3 years ago.