Shadow bugs in my games (GPU failure?)

[Sweet C]

Ever since playing Spec Ops: The Line a few weeks ago, I've been noticing this weird shadow artifact in some of my other games.

Here are some screenshots I've uploaded to imgur: http://imgur.com/a/1rW7R

It feels as if my video card can't handle the shadow/light department anymore. I've tried dusting my card, and doing a clean install of its drivers. So far, I still get the effect. I don't know if it's my card that's starting to fail, or if the latest drivers are causing it. I don't even remember if I've seen this effect before playing spec ops. I just started noticing it more in other games because it was very prevalent in spec ops. Some of those games include Tomb Raider, Borderlands 2, and Bulletstorm. But to tell you the truth, it's not so noticeable in those games, mostly in the Metro titles and Spec Ops: The Line.

I made a thread in Tom's Hardware, and someone mentioned that it was shimmering. I'm still not certain on what that means, since when I looked it up, it talked mostly about AA and AF related stuff. I found other people with the same problem, and it either ends up unsolved, or blamed on the game's engine. I started to freak during my playtime of Spec Ops because I found no one else who had a complaint.

This is my PC: http://i.imgur.com/iS8E298.png
I will provide more info if needed.

I also have more screenshots in my profile of the effect if you want to look at them.

[Big Al]

That shimmering you see is called z-fighting[en.wikipedia.org], there's nothing you can do about it.

So rest easy, your GPU is fine.

[Sweet C]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Mediocre Doom Clone:

That shimmering you see is called z-fighting[en.wikipedia.org], there's nothing you can do about it.

So rest easy, your GPU is fine.

Maybe that's true for the Spec Ops character models, but what about for the Metro games? It doesn't look like the type of z-fighting I see in other games?

I'm still unsure about letting it go because I couldn't find other who had these issues with these games.

[Azza ☠]

Looks like your Shader model might be failing or bugged.

What graphic card are you using? AMD or Nvidia? Driver version?

Check under your Start > Search > type 'Event Viewer' without the quotes and select it.
Event Viewer (Local) > Custom Views > Administrative Events

Looks for any red error messages, as they might give you more of a better idea into your issue, if software related error, corruption, or a conflicted driver/service. You can ignore any 'Error: Failed to poke open firewall' from the Steam Client Service, that's fine, in most cases isn't an actual firewall problem and doesn't affect it at all.

You might however find something such as "Failed to initialize DirectX shader system".

Ensure your DirectX is installed correctly via the game itself. Your graphic card drivers are correct and up-to-date with also PhysX (if Nvidia), etc. Disable any 3D effects. It might be just software issue.

Check your hard drive for corruption or errors. My Computer > Right-click hard drive > Properties > Tools > Check for errors > Tick both options and allow scan on next boot if required.

Ensure your graphics card isn't overheating, as this can cause graphic glitches which get worst over prolonged use. Clean out your fans, you can use a compressed air duster which is suitable for electrical equipment - computer stores also sell them. If you have temperature monitoring BIOS or software, check under that during a heavy load or gaming.

EDIT: Didn't see your 2nd screenshot of specs - GTX 660 at 27 degrees would be fine.

I suggest trying the geforce experience software:
www.geforce.com/geforce-experience

Update or clean reinstall your drivers, ticking all extras. Do the same for DirectX if required.

Go to Start > Control Panel > Nvidia Control Panel (or from the Geforce Experience shortcut) > 3D Settings > Global Settings click the restore defaults. Under adjust image settings, ensure it's on 'Let the 3D application decide'. Any overwrites here, specially under your global settings might affect some games.

Then back under Geforce Experience > scan for the game and apply optimal settings to them separately.

Fingers crossed for ya it's not hardware...

[Sweet C]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Azza ☠:

Looks like your Shader model might be failing or bugged.

What graphic card are you using? AMD or Nvidia? Driver version?

Check under your Start > Search > type 'Event Viewer' without the quotes and select it.
Event Viewer (Local) > Custom Views > Administrative Events

Looks for any red error messages, as they might give you more of a better idea into your issue, if software related error, corruption, or a conflicted driver/service. You can ignore any 'Error: Failed to poke open firewall' from the Steam Client Service, that's fine, in most cases isn't an actual firewall problem and doesn't affect it at all.

You might however find something such as "Failed to initialize DirectX shader system".

Ensure your DirectX is installed correctly via the game itself. Your graphic card drivers are correct and up-to-date with also PhysX (if Nvidia), etc. Disable any 3D effects. It might be just software issue.

Check your hard drive for corruption or errors. My Computer > Right-click hard drive > Properties > Tools > Check for errors > Tick both options and allow scan on next boot if required.

Ensure your graphics card isn't overheating, as this can cause graphic glitches which get worst over prolonged use. Clean out your fans, you can use a compressed air duster which is suitable for electrical equipment - computer stores also sell them. If you have temperature monitoring BIOS or software, check under that during a heavy load or gaming.

My card is a EVGA Geforce GTX 660 2GB. I have the latest (GeForce 335.23 Driver ) installed. I searched for "Failed to initialize DirectX shader system" and did not find any messages. When I play these performance heavy games, I do get card temperatures of up to 80C. The PCB has a few spots, I think two, where it does feel oily when touched. I'm not sure if that could be the case. My card doesn't hit those temps in all games. Metro Last Light hits around 60-75. I need to check spec ops.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

80C is nothing really disastrous. Most medium/high-end Nvidia cards run around 65-80 C under heavy load. When it creeps to 90-100 I would be worried, modern PC's usually shut down automaticly when GPU temperature hits over 100 C.

[Herr Vorragend # ^dirrty ħø]

maybe you should check ur fan? - there are also some progs for "pimpin" your fan

[Rubik748]

Don't go on Tom's hardware. Its full of idiots that are about as useful as a turds in a toilet.

I have a similar shadow bug in Serious Sam 3 BFE. But the lines are horizontal rather than vertical, and is harder to notice.

I think its another Nvidia driver bug. They've never been right ever since the 600 series came out. But the shadow bug is more recent to last year.

[76561198130504496]

zombiebot
tip for the future, never buy ready PCs in your case you have a very low quality motherboard with a top price of the motherboard from Asus

[Sweet C]

Anyways, I don't remember if it was the original motherboard. I took it somewhere to replace because the PC wouldn't turn on a long while back, but he probably replaced it with the model that it came with. I will look into building my own computer some time in the future. Honestly though, I think my problem is GPU related. But, crazy things can happen.

Rubik, the drivers could be a cause. I remember Just Cause 2 had bugs because of recent driver updates.

[Azza ☠]

Most likely GPU related, are you able to connect your monitor to your motherboard VGA port directly, bypassing your graphics card for now (if it has one inbuilt Intel Graphics) for testing purpose?

[Sweet C]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Azza ☠:

Most likely GPU related, are you able to connect your monitor to your motherboard VGA port directly, bypassing your graphics card for now (if it has one inbuilt Intel Graphics) for testing purpose?

Yes, I saw that I could.

[Sweet C]

Oh, so what is the testing I should do?

[Azza ☠]

Run via the motherboard Intel Graphics instead of your Nvidia card, using a video benchmark/stress test software or just by playing a game. See if it glitches or not. You can then determine wheither it's a graphic card issue. Depending on your version, Intel HD Graphics should also support pixel shader.

[Sweet C]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Azza ☠:

Run via the motherboard Intel Graphics instead of your Nvidia card, using a video benchmark/stress test software or just by playing a game. See if it glitches or not. You can then determine wheither it's the graphics card or a monitor issue.

I don't think I can run metro with the motherboard. That's the most prevalent one.

[Azza ☠]

So resetting the Nvidia Global settings to default and ensuring it's application controlled as metioned in my first post didn't help you?

If not - It is quite possibly a hardware issue, specially if there's brown spots (burn outs) on the back of the card (as I see you might of metioned above)... due to the coating on the card, it might feel a bit gluey, as it's actually melted from a heat, overclocking issue, or during a power surge/cut if you have no surge protection on the mains. You might wish to post a screenshot of those marks to confirm, if possible. Sucks, if that's the case.

Is it still covered by warranty?