Problems with Screen and Runescape HD!! Flickering graphics?

[Gbpackers31]

EDIT EDIT: ALright so I did an experiment and I believe I have figured something out. Will this help? I dont know but maybe....

 

 

 

When I go into Runescape HD, I get the weird flickering graphics, blue pixels flashing, and strange colors like the ones shown in the pictures below quicker in fullscreen than in the normal screen. What does this mean? Does it mean overheating because it has to work harder when in fullscreen or something? lol :uhh: Or is it just nothing?

 

 

 

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EDIT: Ok so I decided to test out the DirectDraw and Direct3D things in the dxdiag screen. The DirectDraw worked fine; however, I got the crazy blue pixels flashing everywhere during all 3 tests of the Direct3D. I dont know if this means anything or helps, I just wanted to point that out

 

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Alright, just today I go to start my computer and notice I have all these weird blue pixels everywhere and where my mouse goes, the pixels pop up more. However, they went away and so I decided to load up Runescape HD. When I did that, I saw I got more blue pixels and the graphics were going beserk! Everything was going crazy with the graphics.... I cant explain it really good, but I couldnt even see my guy. Then, when I exited out of Runescape, my whole entire screen was covered in flashing blue pixels everywhere! I have been able to play Runescape HD since it came out with no problems whatsoever...

 

 

 

When the blue pixels went away and i shut my computer down and started it back up, I tried the old runescape and it worked perfect :? Is there something wrong with my graphics card????? I have a Mobility Radeon 9000 All-In-Wonder 9000 Low Profile card in a Dell Dimension 4600c desktop computer and it just now started happening this morning...

 

 

 

Here are some pictures to show what I mean, however you cant really tell very well the issues.... you would have to see it live in motion....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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EDIT: And Here is a picture of what happens when I turn on my computer in the morning:

 

 

 

[hide=Picture (Hidden for largeness)][/hide]

[Makoto_the_Phoenix]

I did a bit of digging and I don't like making assumptions. But, here's what I've come up with:

 

 

 

• [*:3a1y17y7]The card is AGP, running at 4X
   
  [*:3a1y17y7]The card has 64MB of RAM
   
  [*:3a1y17y7]The card is using a Radeon 9000 Pro chipset
   
  [*:3a1y17y7]Your maximum resolution is 1024x768

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm believing that your card is "running on rims" when it comes to HD. Sure, a 64MB card is all you really need with a decent processor, but you're still cutting it close -- close enough to produce those artifacts during HD gameplay.

 

 

 

I'll need your processor specs, RAM specs, and a dxdiag screenshot if you feel like it. I'm ready to believe that your machine can't handle HD.

[urbestfreind]

I would say it's a problem with the screen or cables first. Check and make sure all the connections are tight (maybe try unconnecting and re-connecting it). Then, if the problem persists, try wiggling the cable to see if it's a bad cable (you'll know if when you touch the cable but not the screen, if the patten of pixels changes whenever you move the cable).

 

 

 

You also may have a monitor that's going bad. Try hooking up a different monitor to it, if the pixels disappear, it's probably time to look for a new monitor.

 

 

 

If not, wait for someone else to come along lol :oops:

[Gbpackers31]

I did a bit of digging and I don't like making assumptions. But, here's what I've come up with:

 

 

 

• [*:23l0sjay]The card is AGP, running at 4X
   
  [*:23l0sjay]The card has 64MB of RAM
   
  [*:23l0sjay]The card is using a Radeon 9000 Pro chipset
   
  [*:23l0sjay]Your maximum resolution is 1024x768

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm believing that your card is "running on rims" when it comes to HD. Sure, a 64MB card is all you really need with a decent processor, but you're still cutting it close -- close enough to produce those artifacts during HD gameplay.

 

 

 

I'll need your processor specs, RAM specs, and a dxdiag screenshot if you feel like it. I'm ready to believe that your machine can't handle HD.

 

 

 

Wow lol... Your good =D> ....My Card says its AGP but i dont know what 4x means :oops: lol but Im guessing your right. It also has 64 MB of RAM, not sure about the third one (lol) and my max res is 1024x768 :shock:

 

 

 

Now the question is.... where do I find the processor specs and RAM specs (lol :oops: ) if you cant tell, Im not too computer savvy.

 

 

 

Is this what you mean by Processor?

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the dxdiag...is this the screen you want?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The OP said the problem happened all the time, not just when playing RSHD. And if they are having the problem just running the OS with an underpowered graphics card, the artifacts will be much worse than just a few blue pixels, if the game would even render at all.

 

 

 

Well, Im not sure... When I first booted up my computer this morning, it happened and I didnt even go on Runescape yet, but now its not happening at all. The only times its doing anything is when I go on HD, that and sometimes my mouse has like 1 or 2 blue pixels next to it and will leave a trail of blue pixels on the desktop if i right click and move around. I just refresh my desktop and it goes away :?

 

 

 

Also for your suggestion on the cables, I tried un-hooking the cables, and at first it seemed fine, but then I got the same thing when running HD again :wall:

 

 

 

EDIT: Actually it just happened to me again this morning :wall: When I turn on my computer it goes crazy, but this time the pixels are not leaving #-o When I reconnected the cables yesterday and started up my computer, the pixels were not there.......hmmmmmmmmmm... :?

[Makoto_the_Phoenix]

Okay, so I had some more time to think about it, and my first hunch was right. Your graphics card can just barely handle HD. According to [Jagex's Graphics Card Comparison], yours doesn't even meet minimum specifications to run HD (yours being a Radeon 9 Budget type). That explains the blue artifacts on screen, and it's more than easy to rule out the monitor -- if it were the monitor, it wouldn't print any distortions with it.

 

 

 

The best way to remedy this is to not use HD, as unfortunate as it is, and buy a new graphics card. I trust that your machine isn't much older than six years old, so it should support AGP 8X. If you don't really know, ask for someone to consult you in person while replacing computer parts.

[blade995]

Let me clear a few things up for people.

 

 

 

If you can see the artifacts from his computer in the screen shot it can not be his monitor or cables. This has to do with the graphics card because you can see the problem on a different computer.

 

 

 

If the card can't handle HD it would not just display blue pixels, it would be slow and laggy. Jagex chart for support cards is not too accurate. It says my graphics in my laptop is below min spec but it plays it smoothly with everything on full.

 

 

 

It could be a number of things causing this. It may be overheating or a fiscal fault with the card since it's old. Try updating the drivers before anything else.

 

http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/a ... 00-xp.html

 

(download the first file called "catalyst")

 

 

 

If drivers don't work I think it may be overheating.

[Gbpackers31]

Ok since both Blade995 and Makoto_the_Phoenix seem to have conflicting views on my problem, I just decided to try Blade's suggestion of updating my drivers as Ive been wanting to do that for awhile; however, Im not sure if I did it right...

 

 

 

What I did was I downloaded the catalyst drivers and put them on my desktop and ran the executable. When I got to the screen after extracting the files, it said I had an inf error and something about standard video driver needs to be put there. After I ran into that, I went to the update drivers button under my drivers properties. There I chose my specific location where I extracted my files when I tried to install the new driver the first time. Then it told me to pick a driver from the list, so I chose Raedon 9000 SERIES since I had a Mobility Radeon 9000. So I installed that and restarted my computer to find, when it booted up, the add hardware manager trying to install unknown devices... what does this mean???? My Catalyst seems to be up and running since when I go into the settings under my display i see the new catalyst software. I tried to install one of those unknown devices under the name of All-in-wonder 9000 since that was what I had before, but immediately after I clicked that, I got the blue screen :wall: Now, my driver says its not signed or something and wont let me do Direct3D tests or anything, and I think it has to do with those unknown devices not installed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you help me with this?? Did I install the drivers correctly :? I remember I had trouble trying to install the new drivers like 2 months ago or less when I found out about the requirements to play RS HD.......

 

 

 

EDIT: Because of the trouble I was having with this, I decided to rollback the drivers to my current All-in-Wonder 9000 until I find out more on this.

[Makoto_the_Phoenix]

I figured it kind of weird that I'd be remiss about the massive Dell logo on your screenshot. Jesus, that really threw a nice lil' curveball in my logic. Anyway, I've determined that the machine is a laptop, either an Inspiron 8200 or 5150, or another ambiguous type. Only you can confirm that. Natrually, this changes everything.

 

[Of course, why you didn't mention this from jump also contributes to confusion.]

 

 

First, this makes the replacement of the video card impossible. It's not worth the hell trying to take a GPU out of a laptop. I know this from experience. -.- Second, this also means that the machine can't be expanded beyond a certain point, so RAM's probably stuck at either 1 or 2GB. Third, you're going to want to pay close attention to this part. It's the most crucial point.

 

 

 

Because your machine is a Dell, all of your support is done through Dell. This includes drivers. This includes the ATI drivers. This means that the drivers from ATI themselves would act funky (an obvious enigma in itself; wouldn't the manufacturer know more than the distributor?). This means simply that you have to download the drivers from Dell.

 

 

 

Underneath your PC, there should be a service tag. I don't think it's longer than 6 or 7 characters. Jot that down and then go to [Dell Drivers and Downloads]. Enter it in where appropriate, and select the newest driver you can.

 

 

 

Also, it's not that we disagreed on what the best solution was. It just goes to show you that one man's theory is not always concrete or end-all to another.

[gonpost]

Hey, I'm almost for sure I know your problem.

 

 

 

Get a program like GPU-Z to see what the temperature of your graphics card is. What you have going on looks like an overheating graphics card. It may or may not be permanently damaged yet. The reason I say this is:

 

 

 

A) You have little colored specs/pixels all over

 

B) You get more as your computer stays on

 

C) You get more when using graphics card intensive programs (hence why normal RS is fine but HD screws you up)

 

D) the discolorations show up when you take a screenshot

 

 

 

Take a temperature reading when you're running rs HD for a few minutes, or some other intense game.

 

 

 

If this IS the case that your graphics card is over heating, you have a few options (not necessarily in this order):

 

 

 

a) underclock it

 

B) make sure any fans inside your computer are working properly

 

c) check for dust

 

d) if your CPU is (somehow, stupidly) located near your GPU, try underVOLTING your CPU to lower its temp. might or might not help.

 

 

 

I'm almost for sure the GPU over heating is your problem, though. Has your computer ever shut off or frozen while playing a game? How many times?

[Gbpackers31]

I figured it kind of weird that I'd be remiss about the massive Dell logo on your screenshot. Jesus, that really threw a nice lil' curveball in my logic. Anyway, I've determined that the machine is a laptop, either an Inspiron 8200 or 5150, or another ambiguous type. Only you can confirm that. Natrually, this changes everything.

 

[Of course, why you didn't mention this from jump also contributes to confusion.]

 

 

First, this makes the replacement of the video card impossible. It's not worth the hell trying to take a GPU out of a laptop. I know this from experience. -.- Second, this also means that the machine can't be expanded beyond a certain point, so RAM's probably stuck at either 1 or 2GB. Third, you're going to want to pay close attention to this part. It's the most crucial point.

 

 

 

Because your machine is a Dell, all of your support is done through Dell. This includes drivers. This includes the ATI drivers. This means that the drivers from ATI themselves would act funky (an obvious enigma in itself; wouldn't the manufacturer know more than the distributor?). This means simply that you have to download the drivers from Dell.

 

 

 

Underneath your PC, there should be a service tag. I don't think it's longer than 6 or 7 characters. Jot that down and then go to [Dell Drivers and Downloads]. Enter it in where appropriate, and select the newest driver you can.

 

 

 

Also, it's not that we disagreed on what the best solution was. It just goes to show you that one man's theory is not always concrete or end-all to another.

 

 

 

Alright, I just want to say sorry for all the confusion. Its my fault youve been confuses and all; however, this computer is not a laptop :o Its a Dell Dimension 4600c (lol junky computer... its my parents old computer. They now have an xps crazy beast, but they wont let me play runescape on there :( ) However, this Dell driver thing I didnt know! I went on there, but cant really find much. I see 2 ATI drivers/updates under video, but when I download the main one, it installs everything, but at the end it asks me if I want to modify, repair, or remove the existing drivers :? Like I already had it installed or something :?

 

 

 

Hey, I'm almost for sure I know your problem.

 

 

 

Get a program like GPU-Z to see what the temperature of your graphics card is. What you have going on looks like an overheating graphics card. It may or may not be permanently damaged yet. The reason I say this is:

 

 

 

A) You have little colored specs/pixels all over

 

B) You get more as your computer stays on

 

C) You get more when using graphics card intensive programs (hence why normal RS is fine but HD screws you up)

 

D) the discolorations show up when you take a screenshot

 

 

 

Take a temperature reading when you're running rs HD for a few minutes, or some other intense game.

 

 

 

If this IS the case that your graphics card is over heating, you have a few options (not necessarily in this order):

 

 

 

a) underclock it

 

B) make sure any fans inside your computer are working properly

 

c) check for dust

 

d) if your CPU is (somehow, stupidly) located near your GPU, try underVOLTING your CPU to lower its temp. might or might not help.

 

 

 

I'm almost for sure the GPU over heating is your problem, though. Has your computer ever shut off or frozen while playing a game? How many times?

 

 

 

Alright, I will try this as well. It probably may be this just because we already had an overheating problem with this computer :wall: Im going to do this now to see :thumbsup:

 

 

 

Well actually, I dont recall it ever shutting off or being frozen while playing a game............... Oh wait! I used to play internet flash type games and some of them would all of a sudden go to the blue screen of death when im in the middle of them. Also, my computer froze up once while playing Runescape HD but that was the first day it came out in the morning when everyone was going crazy!

[gonpost]

GPU-Z http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1132/mirrors.php

 

 

 

Get it. It's just a single file so no installation required. This should only take you about 5 minutes to DL and test.

[Gbpackers31]

GPU-Z http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1132/mirrors.php

 

 

 

Get it. It's just a single file so no installation required. This should only take you about 5 minutes to DL and test.

 

 

 

Well I got it and tested and well... I dont know... it didnt display the temperature. Ive been looking on that forum on screenshots and some of them had like all these "sensors" items like fan and temperature. I had two bars: GPU and Mem and they were running a touch below the default speeds (250 GPU and 210 Mem). The GPU was running I believe at 249.8MHz and the Mem and 209.3 MHz even when I went to RS HD. Also the bars at the right were all the way red. I dont know what those are lol... are those like loading bars or what? :?

 

 

 

Edited for correct speeds

[blade995]

GPU-Z http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1132/mirrors.php

 

 

 

Get it. It's just a single file so no installation required. This should only take you about 5 minutes to DL and test.

 

 

 

Well I got it and tested and well... I dont know... it didnt display the temperature. Ive been looking on that forum on screenshots and some of them had like all these "sensors" items like fan and temperature. I had two bars: GPU and Mem and they were running a touch below the default speeds (150 GPU and 120 Mem). The GPU was running I believe at 149.8MHz and the Mem and 119.3 MHz even when I went to RS HD. Also the bars at the right were all the way red. I dont know what those are lol... are those like loading bars or what? :?

 

 

 

The program to get your gpu temps would be ATItool. GPUZ only gives you information about your current card (which you knew before so it's not too helpful).

 

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=45596

 

 

 

Download and install this program and take a screenshot of it running while playing RS HD.

 

 

 

The driver issue: I have no idea what you did. When you install the drivers leave it to the default location. The rest of the install should autorun after that. Use the default settings and then restart the compuer. You may want to uninstall the old drivers before installing the new ones.

[Gbpackers31]

GPU-Z http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1132/mirrors.php

 

 

 

Get it. It's just a single file so no installation required. This should only take you about 5 minutes to DL and test.

 

 

 

Well I got it and tested and well... I dont know... it didnt display the temperature. Ive been looking on that forum on screenshots and some of them had like all these "sensors" items like fan and temperature. I had two bars: GPU and Mem and they were running a touch below the default speeds (150 GPU and 120 Mem). The GPU was running I believe at 149.8MHz and the Mem and 119.3 MHz even when I went to RS HD. Also the bars at the right were all the way red. I dont know what those are lol... are those like loading bars or what? :?

 

 

 

The program to get your gpu temps would be ATItool. GPUZ only gives you information about your current card (which you knew before so it's not too helpful).

 

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=45596

 

 

 

Download and install this program and take a screenshot of it running while playing RS HD.

 

 

 

The driver issue: I have no idea what you did. When you install the drivers leave it to the default location. The rest of the install should autorun after that. Use the default settings and then restart the compuer. You may want to uninstall the old drivers before installing the new ones.

 

 

 

Well... I already installed the ATItool before as well and it doesnt show the temperature either. Ill post a screenshot or two on what it shows because Im not seeing the temperature thing on mine, but I did see it on another person's on the forums on the techpowerup site :?

 

 

 

[hide=ATItool Pics]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[/hide]

[Sbrideau]

For temperatures, there's Speedfan that is pretty much a good free program to check the temperatures. You have to press configure to see what is what though, exept if you easily recognize what they say on the "front page" of the program.

[Gbpackers31]

For temperatures, there's Speedfan that is pretty much a good free program to check the temperatures. You have to press configure to see what is what though, exept if you easily recognize what they say on the "front page" of the program.

 

 

 

Ok I installed that Speedfan program and I have one temperature on the side named HD0 which is at 56C with a little fire icon next to it. I go under configure and it says show warning at 50C and desired at 40C :uhh: That doesnt seem very good to me

 

 

 

Also I have 2 fans it shows, yet neither of them are running according to the program. The whole time its been at 0RPMs for both.

 

 

 

When I went on Runescape the temperature or anything didnt change. The only thing that changed was the CPU usage which went to like 90% and then went down to somewhere like 60-80% i believe.

 

 

 

EDIT: I did a SMART Scan for my hard disk HD0 and here are the results :ohnoes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The page also says on the bottom..

 

The overall performance for this drive is 88%.

 

I couldnt fit that on with the rest of the info on the screen so I just wrote it in...

[Sbrideau]

For speedfan, the HD0 is the hard drive. It's a bit too warm. For the graphics card, it would be GPU you're looking for. Nvidia cards run quite hot though. As for the fans, they're not detected on every motherboard, as for the sensors, so you can't really count on that. Also, the temperatures are not always what Speedfan says it should be, and they're right temperatures. A screenshot of Speedfan would be good though.

[Gbpackers31]

For speedfan, the HD0 is the hard drive. It's a bit too warm. For the graphics card, it would be GPU you're looking for. Nvidia cards run quite hot though. As for the fans, they're not detected on every motherboard, as for the sensors, so you can't really count on that. Also, the temperatures are not always what Speedfan says it should be, and they're right temperatures. A screenshot of Speedfan would be good though.

 

 

 

Ok, well I dont have a GPU temperature... which I didnt have for the last 2 programs either. Does that mean my graphics card is incompatible with temperature monitoring? Also, here are some screenshots of Speedfan...

 

 

 

As you can see, these are taken just when I started my computer up in the morning, as I have the flickering blue lines/yellow colors and my temperature is low. (When I finished making the screens(took about 10 minutes at most), my temperature is at 37C now.....)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gbpackers31]

Ok Guys, I think I figured out what the problem actually is. On this site here http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/artifacts.html the pictures of the Video Ram Artifacts look exactly like what I'm experiencing. So I guess I have failing video RAM... great...... :wall: According to that site, I cant do much about it either, except to get a new graphics card :cry: :boohoo:

 

 

 

EDIT: So if this is the problem then, and since it sounds like I cant do much to my graphics card, Ive been looking at graphics card. Well, does anyone think that this card..

 

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 3850 100228L Video Card

 

.. is a good card? I saw on Runescape its under the Radeon enthusiast cards with a green light as a good card to play HD. I was reading reviews though and they were saying it gets way hot. Also, I believe I can install this. It says on Newegg that it is a 4x/8x AGP.