GPU dying?

[Ted Snark]

I have noticed lately that textures in games look more flat and low-res than they did before. And today I was playing Far Cry 3 with my friend an I noticed that the textures on the hands of my character looked just horrid...no definition whatsoever. Here's the image so you can see for yourselves:

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/876371439438819530/7E0E0CE1E641F04FE29BC2C2BC993C96B49EC62B/

What could this be? Could my GPU be dying? I have a GTX 980 4GB and it's not that old. And I have the game set on Ultra settings so that should no be a factor here.

[⛧EyMi Mayhem⛧]

Mostly driver related.
Rollback or update, but use beta drivers.

[Ted Snark]

I have tried older drivers to no avail. And I haven't heard that other people with the newest drivers have this problem...

[⛧EyMi Mayhem⛧]

Did u any gpu overclocking?

Or u could try to tweak the config, locate the 'gamerprofile.xml' and look for the DisableLoadingMip0=1 , change it to 0.
(my documents -> my games -> fc3)

Also what your in-game settings, like geometry and so?

[Ted Snark]

My settings are at their maximum. I noticed this dullnes of textures in other games too. That's what is making me a little worried...

[⛧EyMi Mayhem⛧]

Originally posted by Lord Gerrod:

My settings are at their maximum. I noticed this dullnes of textures in other games too. That's what is making me a little worried...

If it's in other games to, it's mostly driver or overclocking related.

Try a driver from 2016, under or overclock the gpu, or set back to default. (for some reason it can cause that prob too.)

I'm out of ideas atm.

[Ted Snark]

Haven't overclocked. I'll try an older driver at some point to see if the problem persists.

[⛧EyMi Mayhem⛧]

Originally posted by Lord Gerrod:

Haven't overclocked. I'll try an older driver at some point to see if the problem persists.

Also run a clean install via DDU to clean up the 'mess'.

[Ted Snark]

Yeah, I always use DDU just in case.=)

[SoldierScar]

What is your CPU? If you have an intel cpu with integrated gpu, unplug your nvidia gpu and see how it looks on igpu, if it looks the same it's not an nvidia gpu problem. I don't think it's a gpu problem tho, it looks like something is wrong with drivers/directx or something of this kind, what is your OS? Also how much RAM do you have?

[⛧EyMi Mayhem⛧]

Originally posted by Lord Gerrod:

Yeah, I always use DDU just in case.=)

Naaah, u don't need to use ddu always, that's a bit over the top ;o

Hm, but anything else u could try.. well u could try to update the directx stuff for the games (u can find the directx.exe in the specific game folder)

But rly out of ideas now..

[U.N.D.E.R.T.O.W]

Is your card getting hot? I noticed in the past when cards get hot they can have rendering problems. Basically just slowing down the gpu. Nvidia based cards actually have this feature built in. Thats why there is a program called nvgpu tweak tool. It disables the powermizer setting to help prevent this from happening. Although if you are already have heat problems then I would not suggest it. At least until you get better airlfow in ur case.

[Ted Snark]

Soldier: I have an Intel i7-4790K 4GB, I'll have to test the integrated gpu and see if it looks any different. Thanks for the info on that.=) My card gets hot with some games, so not sure if it has fried or something...But I'll at least test the CPUs integrated gpu to see if it looks any different.

[Arya]

Originally posted by Lord Gerrod:

Soldier: I have an Intel i7-4790K 4GB, I'll have to test the integrated gpu and see if it looks any different. Thanks for the info on that.=) My card gets hot with some games, so not sure if it has fried or something...But I'll at least test the CPUs integrated gpu to see if it looks any different.

You can check the running temperatures with any of a long list of free Apps. My recommendation would be MSI Afterburner - just download the app of your choice, run it in the background and then heat the GPU up with a game. Shut the game down and see how high the temperatures got.

For a card like that you want between 55 and 80 degrees. Anything beyond that would be of concern.

[Ted Snark]

Okay, I'll test my gpu with afterburner to see if there is overheating and update my post afterwards.

Hmm...interesting...in the singleplayer of Far Cry 3 the hand textures are better...This is just odd...O.o

[Arya]

I would be very surprised if this was a hardware problem. The symptoms you're reporting just don't match what normally happens when a GPU fails - that doesn't mean it isn't a hardware fail, just that it doesn't match my previous experience.

Typically when you have a hardware failure, you see obvious "artefacts" on the screen. Weird coloured lines, bits of the image missing, colours messed up, black screens. That kind of thing.

This sounds like a software gremlin to me. Either a problem with your drivers, or possibly a problem with the game itself. You may want to Re-Verify your install before going further. Open the Steam Library, find Far Cry 3's name and Right Click it. Open properties and then Verify Integrity of Game Cache from the available options. That may sort out your issue.