Please help, wierd flickering and rainbow ribbons

Ilpalazzo · 04-17-07, 09:39 PM

Not sure what to tell you but may as well ask, do you know if your card may be overheating? Do you have AA on?

Chock · 04-17-07, 09:55 PM

I've experienced that kind of thing in a couple of other sims, namely Armed Assault and Wings Over Europe. In Wings Over Europe, I had to turn off shadows to stop it and in Armed Assault I think Geometry Instancing was the guilty party in the (ATI) Catalyst Control Centre.

However, it sounds very similar to a problem many have experienced with NVidia cards running Armed Assault (I know this because I spent a lot of time ploughing through threads on the Armed Assault forum trying to sort it out for my ATI card). Might be a long shot, but if nothing else works you may want to take a look on those forums (Bohemia Interactive website) and see if it offers you any clues. I do know some (NVidia card users) had suggested that they lost the problem by installing slightly older drivers, and yes, many were suggesting that overheating might be the cause on that site too, although most people suffering the problem regarded this as not being the case.

Of course this might not be the problem at all, but if you've tried everything else, I guess it's worth a try - good luck with it.

Donavan · 04-17-07, 10:13 PM

Mine are water cooled, but I'll try canceling AA and shadowing. Thanks guys.

MONOLITH · 04-17-07, 10:22 PM

It does sound like a stressed VPU (overheating), especially if it's intermittent.

Next time you get a chance, the first time of the day you begin to play (when the PC/VPU is cold), see if they do not happen the first 10 minutes you play, but grow more frequent the longer you play.

If it's not heat, try to see if there's some pattern to when they show up,like only in exterior view, or a particular texture is showing. That would indicate a driver problem.

Donavan · 04-17-07, 10:42 PM

I cut off AA, but don't have an option to cut off shadows, that I can tell. Didn't help I'm afraid.

Monolith, it starts as soon as the game starts, it's not overheating. It's constant from the moment the game loads. Temp is around 53 at loading.

Reaves · 04-17-07, 10:45 PM

I had something similar (hard to tell without a screenshot.)

Turned out I needed a better powersupply.

Although I had it in more than one game and you mentioned it started after 1.2.

shad43 · 04-17-07, 10:54 PM

I get a similar effect (once in a while) with my ati x1600, this card is notorious
for overheating, turns out my problem is that the ps is right on the borderline
of enough wattage to run the card. I've yet to replace the ps but the general
concensus is that doing so will correct the problems... which sound similar to yours.

<<< Ok onkel Neal, wild night in Bangkok has got to go!

Chock · 04-17-07, 10:57 PM

When I took the shadows off Wings Over Europe, it was an i-game option, if you hover your mouse over the SH4 graphics options, it tells you what they do, and one of them knocks off shadows. Without the game screen in front of me I forget the name of the option, but you'll find it if you do that. Worth a try I guess, as it sounds to me like your card is struggling with some sort of light sourcing calculation.

04-17-07, 10:22 PM	#4
MONOLITH Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 997 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	It does sound like a stressed VPU (overheating), especially if it's intermittent. Next time you get a chance, the first time of the day you begin to play (when the PC/VPU is cold), see if they do not happen the first 10 minutes you play, but grow more frequent the longer you play. If it's not heat, try to see if there's some pattern to when they show up,like only in exterior view, or a particular texture is showing. That would indicate a driver problem. __________________

04-17-07, 10:45 PM	#6
Reaves The Old Man Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 1,509 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	I had something similar (hard to tell without a screenshot.) Turned out I needed a better powersupply. Although I had it in more than one game and you mentioned it started after 1.2. __________________

04-17-07, 09:39 PM	#1
Ilpalazzo Frogman Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 309 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	Not sure what to tell you but may as well ask, do you know if your card may be overheating? Do you have AA on?

04-17-07, 09:55 PM	#2
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I've experienced that kind of thing in a couple of other sims, namely Armed Assault and Wings Over Europe. In Wings Over Europe, I had to turn off shadows to stop it and in Armed Assault I think Geometry Instancing was the guilty party in the (ATI) Catalyst Control Centre. However, it sounds very similar to a problem many have experienced with NVidia cards running Armed Assault (I know this because I spent a lot of time ploughing through threads on the Armed Assault forum trying to sort it out for my ATI card). Might be a long shot, but if nothing else works you may want to take a look on those forums (Bohemia Interactive website) and see if it offers you any clues. I do know some (NVidia card users) had suggested that they lost the problem by installing slightly older drivers, and yes, many were suggesting that overheating might be the cause on that site too, although most people suffering the problem regarded this as not being the case. Of course this might not be the problem at all, but if you've tried everything else, I guess it's worth a try - good luck with it.

04-17-07, 10:13 PM	#3
Donavan Seaman Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 31 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Mine are water cooled, but I'll try canceling AA and shadowing. Thanks guys.

04-17-07, 10:42 PM	#5
Donavan Seaman Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 31 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I cut off AA, but don't have an option to cut off shadows, that I can tell. Didn't help I'm afraid. Monolith, it starts as soon as the game starts, it's not overheating. It's constant from the moment the game loads. Temp is around 53 at loading.

04-17-07, 10:54 PM	#7
shad43 Frogman Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: six feet under Posts: 301 Downloads: 21 Uploads: 0	I get a similar effect (once in a while) with my ati x1600, this card is notorious for overheating, turns out my problem is that the ps is right on the borderline of enough wattage to run the card. I've yet to replace the ps but the general concensus is that doing so will correct the problems... which sound similar to yours. <<< Ok onkel Neal, wild night in Bangkok has got to go!

04-17-07, 10:57 PM	#8
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	When I took the shadows off Wings Over Europe, it was an i-game option, if you hover your mouse over the SH4 graphics options, it tells you what they do, and one of them knocks off shadows. Without the game screen in front of me I forget the name of the option, but you'll find it if you do that. Worth a try I guess, as it sounds to me like your card is struggling with some sort of light sourcing calculation.