"Fuzzy" graphics effect sometimes occurs

System Specs

Processor: Intel Quad Q6600 2.40GHz
Ram: 3.00Gb
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce 8600GT

The problem is, that sometimes while im in fullscreen, the screen will go black for a few seconds then return. However, upon returning, there is a "fuzzy" effect that makes playing the game very difficult to see. This "fuzzy" effect only can happen while playing Guild Wars in fullscreen, not any other game. Furthermore, the effect remains on the entire PC, even after the game is closed, or minimized, therefore making other tasks such as reading websites difficult. The only solution is to restart the computer to fix this effect. I do not know why this is happening and there are no known errors that appear.

Here is what it looks like sometimes:



Any advice would be appreciated

I had same problem, and I still have some problems while running gw on win7. If your running gw on win7, press ctrl+alt+delete and log of the log in again, which is faster then restarting computer, but I don´t have better idea.

Seems your GPU(graphics card) is crashing.

- Whats the temperature of your video card before it does this?
- Reinstall current (or latest) drivers.
- Replace your GPU.

I know this because my GTX280 does the same s***. It happens when my gpu temperatures exceed 75c on any given game, and is only fixable by restarting my comp. I fixed this by keeping my gpu fan speed always at 60%.

However fan speed might be a bit tricky, if you dont have an evga card.

Could be your videocard is overheating or maybe it's starting to fail.

Since your videocard is a little old (I assume from the model) it could be there is dust stuck in the fan or something like that - so would I suggest you try and clean it.

That happens to me also, how do i adjust the fan speed?

Reinstall drivers, check for dust caking in GPU fan, make sure GPU fan is working, furthermore blow dust off of the gpu entirely. If you are in a a more humid climate, all that dust might slowly turn to "mud" and bridge all sorts of contacts on the graphics card board, (as well as other PC parts).

And .. well maybe your GPU is dying but I think it'll be cheaper to diagnose the problem in the ways I mentioned

Dust = Lots of problems.

i heard that fuzzy graphics are something to do with your graphics card overheating too i have no experience though ^^; you tried running GW at lowest settings? good luck, but sounds like it could be serious, does it happen with other graphically-demanding (potentially) programs? D:?

It is most likely heat or dust. Buy a can of compressed air at WalMart ($4-5 in Electronics section). Open the side of your case (with the computer OFF and unplugged) blast every bit of dust you see.... get it as clean as you can without touching any components. Download a temperature monitor (I like Everest Ultimate... free edition at www.lavalys.com) and see what your temperatures are the next time you play GW. Post results here. Good luck.

This happens to me too any advice? I have the most recent drivers for my nvidia card.

Do you've any advice on how to use Everest Ultimate? Im not the greatest technical person and I cant find exactly where the temperature monitor is for GPU.

Also, i cleaned my PC out with an air compressor a month ago, so Im unsure if dust is the main factor, but I will clean it again shortly

Edit: It seems system stability test will show me temps for CPU Cores and
motherboard, but not GPU ? O.O
Also, in Device Features for my GPU, it has 32-bit atomic operations as Supported but 64-bit Atomic Operations are not supported. Does this means my OS and GPU are incompatible?

I've never used Everest, but if it's like any other temp monitoring program, it's as easy as launching it and watching the temps.

You could alternatively use GPU-Z from techpowerup, it will only monitor your GPU though, get the .exe and just open it.

HWmonitor also works well and is very easy to use.

Depending on the environment your PC is in, it might have gotten dusty again or the dust got into places where you'd have to disassemble it a bit to clean out. Don't do that if you're unsure how to proceed before checking how to do it though.

If dusting it doesn't fix the problem and your temps are ok, then your GPU is dying. I've seen quite a few posts about artifacts on 8600GT recently so it may just be at the end of the road (i sincerely hope that's not the case).

EDIT: that part about atomic calculations doesn't mean incompatibility, your GPU is totally compatible with your OS.

Is your card EVGA? If it is, then use EVGA Precision. It's an amazing program that allows you to watch every single bit of information your computer has for your video cards(s).


Download it from here on the official EVGA website.

Check your gpu temps in GPU-Z like stated above, anything in the high 80's while playing GWs and you have your problem. If the temps are <60(LESS than) then try the driver reinstall.

Yeah, Everest is overkill to just check your temps, but it is a lovely program that I use allot for other things..... anyway - when you first open Everest, click on "Computer" then click on "Sensor" it will show any temperature sensors that are available with your current hardware etc... There may be 3 different things that start with "GPUxxx" the top one on the list is the one we are interested in. Just leave Everest running and play GW for a few minutes and ALT TAB out to check the temperature.

Alternately GPUZ and HWMOnitor are good and simpler to use , as someone else already pointed out.

Alright

Without Playing Guild Wars and Just starting Up PC:



After Playing Guild Wars for 30~ min:

@OP - I'm surprised that no-one mentioned to check that the fan was actually running on the graphics card. Sure, it may be clean and free of dust, but if the fan isn't running it's not going to be properly cooled.

Your video card is too hot - GW does not run well with temps of 90+ on the graphics card.... make sure the fan on it is working, possibly try to force it to spin at say 60% or so via speed fan or some such program.... it is very possible that your video card is on it's last legs too.

Yet again, I find irrelevant argument leading into personal insults. Posts have been deleted and edited. I will remind you all yet again, this is a technical forum; help people solve their issues and post on topic until the solution is given. If you wish to have a discussion about a different topic, make a thread for it. If you wish to argue and insult each other over it, go somewhere else!

Back on topic...


The GPU is, in fact, overheating. As it is an 8600GT, it's likely the cobalt doped nMOS falling apart after so many years. It isn't something that can be repaired or remedied. You will need to start thinking about a GPU replacement; unfortunately, the problem is only going to get worse.

You can try to increase the fan speed manually to 100% at all times, but this is only a very temporary bandaid. If you have further questions, feel free to post them here. Sorry.

If I were you I would just snag a new GPU from newegg. Doesn't have to be $100+. That is...unless you want to go big!

If you are going to change your GPU, i would also check if your power supply is still adequate. I'm guessing that it should be adequate for mid-range GPUs but if you intend to go for a higher performance GPU, then you may need to replace that as well.