Artifacts when running 2 or more windows

[Biz]

I recently purchased an Nvidia 9600gt. It is great except when I open 2 or more WoW windows I start getting video artifacts, usually in only one window. All other games run fine with no artifacts. GPU temp is at 38C which is well within the limit so I'm not sure what the issue is. I'm debating whether to exchange the card for a new one, but I've had problems with WoW and Nvidia before so perhaps WoW just doesn't like Nvidia. Any ideas?

[Anozireth]

With a card that new, my guess would be that this is a driver issue. Are you running XP or Vista? The drivers for DX10 cards are likely best optimized for Vista (since XP can't take advantage of the DX10 features anyway). One option would be to try running WoW in OpenGL mode and see if that does anything for you.

[Biz]

I run on XP. I'll run it in OpenGL when I get home. Got a few other things I want to try but if I can't fix it tonight I'm just going to get a replacement and hope that solves the problem.

[Hotnutz]

Well here we go again with problems. Hopefully it's just my drivers.

I have a Radeon HD 2600 Pro, I was using the updated driver without the catalyst software ( wouldnt run cuz no sp2 at the time) and it ran like a champ.

Couple of variables here. yesterday my hard drive crashed so I had to reinstall everything. So I was thinking well ill do sp2 and get Catalyst control center working, maybe I can get some better frame rates outta something.

also I downloaded the most up to date keyclone. ( was using one just previous to newest.)

Ok so I'm gettin the weird frag stuff shapes all over the place but it seems to choose 1 window at a time to do it on. ALSO.... i see it do this little glitch with keyclone like its gonna do the PiP swap for a split second (i see a quick glimpse of my small window where my large one is) about every couple of seconds its doing this.

So I guess im gonna try more drivers for my vid card, maybe remove the catalyst software, and try the previous version of keyclone. one at a time to see if any of this eliminates the problem.

Hopefully my findings will be of some assistance to you as well. Any1 else got any bright ideas??

After doing a full reinstall of windows, updates, WoW, addons, and re-setting up all my macros and keybinds I'm not looking forward to dealing with this bullshit lol. EDIT: epecially since my shammys are 1 bar from hitting lvl 66 (earth elementals FTW!)

[Hotnutz]

Well I dont know if this info could help you in any way, but I removed the software for my video card and used just the driver (same driver) and now the keyclone glitching and the artifacts have all gone bye bye. :D

I still have excess lagg tho im guessing from sp2, I only have 1gb of ram.

[Anozireth]

Definitely want to add more RAM if you've only got 1GB. It's gotten much cheaper lately, I just bought 2GB worth for $40. It depends on what type you need of course.

[Mudd]

Do the artifacts cause the ground to disappear and random triangles mostly pointing to the middle of the screen?

[Biz]

Do the artifacts cause the ground to disappear and random triangles mostly pointing to the middle of the screen?The ground doesn't ever really dissappear, but yes, it is mostly lines and triangles pointing roughly to the middle of the screen. Some of them seem to be at a random angle though.

[Mudd]

If you haven't already, try updating to the latest beta nvidia driver. I was seeing this happen when upgrading to a driver from december 2007. It would happen while running single client and terrain distance set to max. When running 5-clients it would happen after an hour or so.

[Thedonsquad]

I'm currently running dual 9600GT's in DirectX with no arifact issues theres a few tricks to it though,

1: uninstall your video drivers
2: re-install DirectX 10 via http:\\download.microsoft.com
3: install the latest drivers from nvidia
4: make sure to turn off full screen glow, death glow effect, and vertical sync in each wow and turn on the triangle reducing option

you should be good to go

[Shigan5]

when installing new drivers its best to fully uninstall your old drivers or they could cause compatability issues.

Uninstall your old drivers
Boot into safe mode
Use a program such as driver cleaner
Install the new drivers

Thats the best way to decrease incompatability issues with drivers. And also highly recommended when installing new drivers. Driver issues are very very common.

[Thedonsquad]

with vista the above step is not needed, the best way to uninstall it is to:

open device manager, click the video card and click uninstall
check the box for deleting the driver before proceeding
open program manager and uninstall the nvidia package
reboot and don't let vista try to put the windows update nvidia package on

[Monkeymoo]

Wondering how this issue was resolved.... I'm having exactly the same problems you had in this post:


"Artifacts when running 2 or more windows
I recently purchased an Nvidia 9600gt. It is great except when I open 2 or more WoW windows I start getting video artifacts, usually in only one window. All other games run fine with no artifacts. GPU temp is at 38C which is well within the limit so I'm not sure what the issue is. I'm debating whether to exchange the card for a new one, but I've had problems with WoW and Nvidia before so perhaps WoW just doesn't like Nvidia. Any ideas?"

I just bought a 9600gt after my ati x1950pro fan blew out.

Bullet points-
I made sure I fully uninstalled the ati drivers before removing my old card, then installed the new 9600gt and put the most recent drivers on.
I am still running XP SP3 (and don't see a reason to switch until windows 7).
My temps are around 50C so I don't think cooling is the issue.
My monitor setups are a CRT 17" AccuSync70 and a Acer AL1912 19" LCD.
I get the artifacts when the second instance of WoW is loaded, regardless if the second instance is 800x600 minimum settings or 1280x1024 max settings.
The artifacts are right in the login screen. No need to login to test.
Happens in horizontal span, or even when overlapping the instances on one monitor in Dualview.
The artifacts seem to be random not centered toward any location.

Any informed advice would be appreciated!

[Monkeymoo]

Update: I did try running two instances in -opengl mode and it had no artifacts. Reinstalled the directx drivers from MS (9.0c). Still have the same issue running normally. Does that trigger any thoughts?

[Heenan]

Try deleting your config.wtf... seems like I post this every day now :P And you almost exactly created the same topic name as the existing thread.
Video artifacts when opening 2 copies of WoW ('http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=155294&highlight=artifacts+when+running#post155294')

[Ellusionist]

Of course, two things cause this:

1) Software (Drivers, don't use the ones that came on the CD. Use the newest ones from the manufacturer's website. Sometimes the authentic NVIDIA/ATI from nvidia.com/ati.com won't work and you'll have to use the manufacturer's specific driver.)

2) Hardware (Heat. If the "artifacts" don't happen when you have the graphics settings cranked down, but they happen when everything is cranked up, then it's a heat issue.)

If you can diagnose whether it's hardware- or software-related, then that's 90% of the battle.

[Monkeymoo]

Deleting the config file did the trick.... Thank you!