Strange graphics problems with Boneworks + The Lab + Beat Saber

[krzys4]

Hello,

I originaslly posted this in Boneworks-specific Discussion but after further research, the problem appears to be more widespread than just one game. No idea if this is the right place to post this but I need to start somewhere...
I started to notice strange graphics corruptions, pixelations, and triangular blobs in a few of my VR games. No idea what to call these but they are very intrusive graphical problems which make playing games impossible. ....and it gets worse if I move around the game... You can see examples here:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/krzys4/screenshots/#scrollTop=0

Issue is reproducible with 3 specific VR games (Boneworks - lobby and throughout the game, The Lab (Slingshot game), and Beat Saber during launching only and not during playback).

Issue is NOT reproducible with my other VR games (Fallout 4, Skyrim, Fancy Skiing, Angry Birds, Budget Cuts 1 & 2, ♥♥♥♥-wilde 2, Drunken Bar, Eleven Table Tennis, Fruit Ninja, Google Earth, I Expect You To Die, Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, Naked Sun, Richie's Plank Experience, Shooty Fruity, Space Pirate Trainer, and VR Diner Duo. Sorry, listing them all here in case if it helps to narrow down the problem with "something" that the other 3 games use that causes the problem while the resto oif these games don't...

Interestingly enough, issue is present with both HTC Vive and Valve Index (which I just upgraded to) so I can assume I can rule out headsets.

Here's what I've tried so far:
* reinstalled Nvidia drivers,
* reset Nvidia 3D settings to default,
* made sure EVERYTHING is up to date (windows updates),
* verified integrity of all games,
* completely uninstalled and re-installed Steam, Steam VR, and all games,
* uninstalled Steam VR Advanced Settings which I had installed years ago,
* made sure Steam and Steam VR settings are set to default,
* no Mods exist on PC for any game so nothing to uninstall here (nor did they exist in the past for these games),
* disabled Steam Overlay,
* uninstalled any garbage software that is not needed (Viveport),

...and nothing is helping.

My specs are as following:
* i7-7800X 3.50GHz
* 32GB RAM
* NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
* Windows 10 / DirectX 12

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I am losing sleep over this problem while disappointing my kids (and myself) that I am unable to fix it...

Thank you in advance
Kris

[UnlistedSky2]

The one thing all those games have in common is that they all use the Unity engine. I had a similar issue a while back except for me it crashed my display driver.

Have you tried using Display Driver Uninstaller if you haven't already? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP-2B14Nckw
Simply redownloading my graphics drivers didn't help, I had to completely wipe them before reinstalling. Something else to try would be, after uninstalling the drivers, try downloading an older version from a couple months back to see if it still happens. Hopefully that fixes the issue.

[Bob Loblaw]

If you slow your GPU clocks and it goes away, failing gpu or hot vram is the problem. You could clean it and turn the fans up.
refs:
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/graphics-artifacts-problem.2692116/
https://superuser.com/questions/464772/random-triangle-artifacts-on-screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfz3a-1ngJU

[krzys4]

Thanks UnlistedSky2 but DDU clean install did not help. Not sure if I want to go back in drivers and chase when which version it works. Maybe I need to contact Nvidia to see what they say... Thank you nevertheless...

Hey Bob... How sure are you of this? Why would the "failure" manifest itself with only Unity engine games and in VR mode only? I don't see this problem with FO4VR and Skyrim VR which I'm guessing stress the system even more... Same with other non-VR games like Assetto Corsa, Forza Horizon, Hyper Scape, Overwatch, Battlefront 2, Fortnite, etc...
BTW, I just checked temp of my GPU when The Lab is running (while the problem is occurring) and it was showing temps of 62 C which from what I understand is quite normal. I am running 5 large fans in my Obsidian 750D Airflow full tower case + CPU liquid cooler so if anything, I'd like to think that overheating is not a problem.
I am not challenging / disagreeing your advice Bob; just trying to understand the logic... Thank you

[UnlistedSky2]

Maybe this could help? Chances are probably slim but it's worth a shot.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3113647550048623477/

[krzys4]

Originally posted by UnlistedSky2:

Maybe this could help? Chances are probably slim but it's worth a shot.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/250820/discussions/0/3113647550048623477/

Yeah, I've noticed a lot of complains in the last week in the Discussions so perhaps this is the problem or at least is contributing. I'll wait to see if next steam VR update changes anything; I'm assuming it'll be released in near future... Probably will contact Nvidia too to see what they think. Thanks again for your help UnlistedSky2

[Bob Loblaw]

I don't know anything for sure.

The distortions mentioned in the thread complaining about the last steam update are probably the normal distortions caused by Motion Smoothing, a side effect resulting from the lag and stuttering. The distortions are probably not conspicuous weird triangles that everyone failed to mention. I think the steamvr update is not the problem here, or that thread would be full of the word "triangle."

I think boneworks and job simulator are both unity engine games, so we do not have correlation between engine type and occurrence of the bug,

"Triangles" does correlate with posts on "gpu dying." Here's another, says problem is either ambient occlusion, or gpu dying:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/9treov/pc_weird_visual_glitches_anyone_else_or_is_my_gpu/

Here's another, with thorough discussion around down-clocking (note the nvidia "debug" mode) or using DDU. DDU seemed to be the fix in that particular case, though:
https://forums.evga.com/Screen-ghosting-and-artifacts-with-EVGA-1080-sc-m2624062.aspx

Other, less-related threads said "it's DX12, use DX11" and "it's the driver, roll it back."

Some of the fixes you've already tried are harder than down-clocking a little. Is your liquid cooled 1080 ti overclocked? If it is, downclocking to reference should be your first troubleshooting step.

[cate]

I don't know, but worth a shot experimenting with other GPU drivers - ideally search for beta ones, then downgrade to a maximum of 3 old drivers for testing.
I would not recommend continuing to reinstall everything and wipe your customisations (I feel really bad for that trouble :( ), as I highly doubt those actions would fix it.
The issue is almost certainly software related, so drivers are the first thing to think about.
Also, if it exists, try steamvr beta

[krzys4]

Thank you Bob for clarification; makes sense. Thank you Cate as well.

I opened a ticket with EVGA to hear their comment on this issue. I have great experience with their customer service from the past so hope they won't disappoint me this time. Awaiting their response in next couple of days.

BTW, I did download fresh new driver directly from EVGA site and unsurprisingly no changes; still seeing these triangular artifacts. I also decided to measure GPU temp while reproducing the issue. I uploaded images to this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x7xm1oykc2wkik7/AADr6DmpvsRLD7rl-zx5qHpDa?dl=0

Anyone care to comment? In both cases it does not look like GPU is even stressed with temps in low 60s C.
Apologies for the quality of images uploaded to dropbox. They are captured from a front projector that is connected to PC (instead of monitor) during daylight so images are washed out.
When looking at the images, background shows what I see in VR headset (i.e. corruptions in both The Lab and Boneworks) while foreground shows monitoring with Precision X1. Thoughts?

BTW Bob, I have not tried to roll back DX but will try next...
About experimenting with GPU beta drivers Cate, I will wait to see what EVGA says but also a good idea. Thank you

[Bob Loblaw]

EVGA says the 1080 ti FTW3 runs at 1569 MHz, boost to 1683 MHz. Nvidia FE runs at 1481 boost to 1582. Your screenshot shows you 1924 Mhz? Downclock.

[krzys4]

Good catch Bob.
...but with my limited research, according to this post, this is normal:
https://forums.evga.com/1080-Ti-Clock-Speeds-m2631181.aspx#2632765

FWIW, I am running all default configuration with GPU and CPU. No overclocking of any sort...

...and as an experiment, I moved the CPU slider clock to lowest (-200) and kept target power at 90 (assume %) and I was still hitting 17xx MHz with CPU temp in 50s [C]. No idea what's happening

[krzys4]

I guess final update on this.

I heard back from EVGA and indeed it is a card going bad. It is out of warranty as well so not much can be done. Not sure how much life I still have in it but hope it lasts until this GPU shortage ends. Thank you UnlistedSky2, Bob, and Cate for your help with the problem.

Tip of my hat to you Bob for identifying the root cause!

[UnlistedSky2]

Originally posted by krzys4:

I guess final update on this.

I heard back from EVGA and indeed it is a card going bad. It is out of warranty as well so not much can be done. Not sure how much life I still have in it but hope it lasts until this GPU shortage ends. Thank you UnlistedSky2, Bob, and Cate for your help with the problem.

Tip of my hat to you Bob for identifying the root cause!

Sorry to hear that, it's a really bad time for something like that to happen since the GPU market is effed right now. Hopefully you have good luck in finding a card that isn't marked up to the moon.

[krzys4]

I know, it's brutal out there but luckily it's only 3 games so we can stay away from playing them for a while until GPU stock returns. My son played Battlefront 2 last night for a couple of hours without any problems/artifacts so keeping fingers crossed...