Laptop Graphic Artifacting

[Wizerd]

So I've had this laptop since July of 2006 - just over 2 years now. It ran FFXI smoothly the entire time, often dual boxed, to my content. It couldn't do anything super special, like higher background resolutions or crowded areas without the FPS dropping too something not quite as manageable. However, it worked, and it worked just fine.

I ran the game at 1024x768(512x512) or 1280x800 when not dual boxing, and 800x600(512x512) x2 when I was dual boxing. In the last 7-8 months, I'd began dual boxing more often since my wife pretty much quit the game, and it was manageable with both accounts at the lower setting even in dynamis.

Shortly after the last update (a few days, that is), I started having issues. It started in Dynamis - Xarcabard (a crowded, intensive area). Certain parts of the screen wouldn't load textures over it. It wasn't model-specific; if I moved around, the problem would remain in the same spot, regardless of what was to be shown there. What was shown was either the sky behind it, or another part of the foreground.

Please don't reply if you're simply going to tell me this is a heat issue; believe me, I thought of it. It still might be something to do with heat, but I haven't figured out how so, if that's the case.

My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A100, 1.6GHz Intel Centrino Duo with 1GB DDR2-533MHz RAM and an Intel 945GM Express onboard video card. Before you get all uppity about the fact that I'm playing on an onboard card, I realize it's pretty lol. Regardless, it worked.

I tried everything I could think of to fix the issue, but to no avail. The problem got progressively worse, as well. It started out only screwing up while using the Windower, so I changed to POL's FFXI for a couple days. It started happening on that as well, and then it started happening much faster. Other games also started getting affected around this point, which rules out a FFXI-specific problem. My wife tried installing The Sims 2 on it and it didn't even get past the 5 minute mark. About the only thing that still works correctly is StarCraft.

I figured I was ok because the laptop was still covered under the warranty. I ran a video card stress test that I found on the net, screenshotted the fuckups of both the game and the stress test, and showed them to the techs at the store (which was Future Shop by the way - ugh). They took it and said it was probably the GPU dying out or something, and 9 days later I got a call back saying it was ready to be picked up. After examining it, I found out all they did was cleaned the laptop, gave it a new clean keyboard, and ran WinStress, leaving a screenshot on my desktop saying that the laptop's hardware was fine.

Figuring that it must have been a heat problem at this point, I picked up one of those cooling fans that go under the laptop to keep it chilled. For the first day or so, as long as I wasn't dual boxing, this held the problem off for a while. I got maybe 2-3 hours before it fucked up the first time, and then maybe 30 minutes to an hour each time I restarted playonline afterwards. Eventually, with the fan it was the same as without it, almost. I brought the fan back, and brought my laptop in again, giving them more screenshots.

Yesterday, a tech from the shop called me back and said they left WinStress running on it for 16 hours and it didn't pick up the thing. They are convinced that the hardware is fine, and that it's apparently not even overheating.

Things I've tried:
- Several variations of reformatting to factory default and reinstalling FFXI, uninstalling old video drivers and installing the most recent ones, leaving default software open, and/or closing all unnecessary services running on the computer.
- Lowering settings to next to nil on all levels of FFXI, including 640x480 with 256x256 background resolution.
- Variations of keeping the laptop cold, including a fan underneath, and keeping the room cold in general.
- Ran MEMtest86+ to see if there was an issue with my RAM.
- Ran a video card stress test (in which the test failed, every time) to see if there was an issue there.
- Outputting to notebook, TV, and monitor, all separately and together, and running the computer on all sorts of resolutions.


My question basically is, what could be causing my problems, hardware or software, that WinStress, after 16 hours, would not pick up on whatsoever?

I honestly think my video card is basically dead or dying, but I don't get why WinStress wouldn't have picked it up. Does the program suck? If I could replace/fix the problem myself by buying a new part I would, but laptop internals confuse the fuck out of me.

I'll get a screenshot of my issues and post here in a few, it won't take me long to make the problem happen again. This has been bothering me since the update in September, and I tried everything I could possibly think of before bothering you guys here with it, but I think some people here are probably brighter with computers than those at Future Shop's tech department. If there's a program better than WinStress that tests out all my hardware, I'd gladly use it.

*Sigh* Thanks, if anyone can help.

[Wizerd]

Alright, I got the problem to occur again, although minimally.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../artifacts.png

Also, after I uploaded that, Internet Explorer funked out and clicking on the start menu had this happen:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...methingnew.png

That's the first time it's ever happened outside of a game...

[Kohan]

You have probably overloaded your graphics chipset by running something greater than what it can comfortably handle. I did the same thing to a Dell laptop I owned years ago, also in relation to FFXI. The problem is that FFXI, outside of searching for T&L support, doesn't accurately check as to whether your graphics card/chipset can really handle it. Because of this, the program can actually be damaging and will, over time, fry some older cards.

If the same thing happens to you which happened to me (and it probably will), 3D support will completely die out, but 2D will still function. You should take it back if it's covered under warranty and make them replace it before it's too late.

[Wizerd]

You have probably overloaded your graphics chipset by running something greater than what it can comfortably handle. I did the same thing to a Dell laptop I owned years ago, also in relation to FFXI. The problem is that FFXI, outside of searching for T&L support, doesn't accurately check as to whether your graphics card/chipset can really handle it. Because of this, the program can actually be damaging and will, over time, fry some older cards.

If the same thing happens to you which happened to me (and it probably will), 3D support will completely die out, but 2D will still function. You should take it back if it's covered under warranty and make them replace it before it's too late.

I tried bringing it back twice though, and like I said, WinStress (the program they seem to use exclusively, they tried nothing else) didn't pick it up. Why it didn't pick it up I have no idea.

I figured the graphics card was dying out, but how can I prove this to them if their shitty windows program won't see it? :/

[Kohan]

I figured the graphics card was dying out, but how can I prove this to them if their shitty windows program won't see it? :/

Tell them to believe you or eat a bag of dicks, I guess.

Even though WinStress is designed to push hardware to its limits, your PC only occasionally exhibits these problems, and not always. Considering, the test may run and miss it one time, but notice the problem the next. This is because it isn't completely burnt out yet. When it is, it'll be too late, unless you've got a nice, long, generous warranty period.

Also, your saying "StarCraft" works only points more strongly toward the problem I mentioned (because that doesn't use 3D acceleration).

[Wizerd]

Tell them to believe you or eat a bag of dicks, I guess.

Even though WinStress is designed to push hardware to its limits, your PC only occasionally exhibits these problems, and not always. Considering, the test may run and miss it one time, but notice the problem the next. This is because it isn't completely burnt out yet. When it is, it'll be too late, unless you've got a nice, long, generous warranty period.

Also, your saying "StarCraft" works only points more strongly toward the problem I mentioned (because that doesn't use 3D acceleration).

If only it were that easy (the bag of dicks thing). Also, it does always happen now, but it takes a few minutes. The program I downloaded, simply called "Video Card Stability Test", bugs out after 20sec-6min depending on if the machine has been off for a while or if it's been on and running. If I try to run the Benchmark, it doesn't stop the test when it sees artifacting. Instead, it tries to perservere and I get a BSOD with either 0x0000008E as the stop message or 0x00000050 (PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA). Both of which point toward graphics card issues.

I have no idea why WinStress wouldn't have picked up on it after 16 hours, unless they only ran it for 5 minutes and simply bullshitted me. Either way, I plan on bringing it back again this week and trying to talk to an actual tech, and showing him the problem on *this* program that actually has the problem occur. Maybe then they will replace the goddamn thing.

[Kohan]

Good luck with the replacement.

[Wizerd]

Good luck with the replacement.

Thanks. <_< I have until July of next year, fortunately. How long would it take to completely burn out the 3D if I actively tried? Then WinStress would pick it up for sure. lol

[liami]

I just noticed you said you uninstalled old video drivers and reinstalled the latest ones, i've got a 945GM and with the latest XP driver i was ALWAYS getting a BSOD very similar to the one you seem to be getting; after say 5 minutes of loading ffxi. To fix this i ended up installing some drivers from March 2007(ish), Dell has a nice archive on their support site.
Worth a shot?

http://support.euro.dell.com/support...&osl=en&os=WW1

[Wizerd]

I don't think the drivers are what's causing the artifacting though, even if it's what caused the page fault error. I've played with all different versions of drivers and still had the issues.