Deskscapes, ATi 8.7 and video corruption

Saturday, July 26, 2008 by mpkeith | Discussion: Stardock Support General

I am getting occasional video corruption when using deskscapes.  I can't get a screen shot of it because it doesn't last long enough to capture it but portions of the image will appear blocky.  It looks a little something like what is shown on this forum http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=5506 
 
I haven't had any problems until I got the ATi HD4850 and the 8.7 catalyst drivers.  I was wondering if anybody else is having this problem or if there are any ideas about what would cause it.  The only thing I can think of is heat, but I don't get the same problems in games or any other apps. It happens on any of the deskscapes I try and doesn't matter if I use the internal player or not... very odd.
18 Reply 16 Referrals
MadDeez
Reply #1 Saturday, July 26, 2008 10:32 AM
i don't know what is causing your issue but i have a 4850 with the cat 8.7 drivers and i'm not experiencing that issue. actually, this is the most stable setup i've had yet for deskscapes and dreams.

mpkeith
Reply #2 Saturday, July 26, 2008 3:14 PM
Got a screenshot of what it looks like

Deskscape Video Problem

CarGuy1
Reply #3 Saturday, July 26, 2008 10:08 PM
Have you tried the hotfix driver that was released for your card? It addresses a corruption problem involving that model.


mpkeith
Reply #4 Saturday, July 26, 2008 10:56 PM
Have you tried the hotfix driver that was released for your card? It addresses a corruption problem involving that model.


Yes I had that installed initially and had the same problem then ATi released the 8.7 drivers which are more recent and are supposed to support the 4800 line.

I am beginning to wonder if it is a power supply problem...I have a 450w which is the minimum for the card. Could that be it?

Astyanax
Reply #5 Saturday, July 26, 2008 11:30 PM
Nah the PSU wouldn't cause problems like that, this looks more like an overheating issue. You should try to change the fan speeds and see if it still persists.

yrag
Reply #6 Sunday, July 27, 2008 12:11 AM
450w. Could that be it?


You bet....I'm amazed your system is running at all.....

Astyanax
Reply #7 Sunday, July 27, 2008 12:33 AM
You bet....I'm amazed your system is running at all.....

Uhm, not so much. If the power supply was the route of this problem his pc would frequently lock up and would be constantly rebooting on even the simplest of tasks.

This to me looks more like an overheating issue, and the 4850's are well known for this issue if the fan speeds are not adjusted manually.

mpkeith
Reply #8 Sunday, July 27, 2008 9:46 PM
I'll check out the fan speed and see if that helps at all. I have read that replacing the thermal paste on the card helps as well as manually adjusting the fan speed. I will also keep the PSU in mind as well. I have had it freeze and also reboot but I assumed that was heat related as well since the room can get pretty warm sometimes and if I kick on the a/c it seems to help. That could be coincidental of course.

Thanks for the input and suggestions!

MadDeez
Reply #9 Sunday, July 27, 2008 10:13 PM
i agree with yrag. a 450 psu probably isn't good enough for a 4850. chances are the psu is 450 at peak, not constant. and if it's a lesser brand, that's even less desirable. the psu is the component of a rig that people try to skimp on when it should be one of the components that is researched the most.

Astyanax
Reply #10 Sunday, July 27, 2008 11:44 PM
Sure the 450w PSU is cutting it close, but it would not cause the kind of problems he is having.  

mpkeith
Reply #11 Monday, July 28, 2008 9:59 PM
It is a Raidmax...so not too bad but not top of the line. If it was the PSU then wouldn't I likely have similar issues in games like Crysis, World in Conflict, or DiRT?

I played GC Twilight and saw some graphic corruptiom especially when creating a custom race. There were, for lack of a better description, spikey things coming off of some of the ships when selecting the ship style. I'll work on a screenshot of that tomorrow and post that too if I can get something worthwhile.

Astyanax
Reply #12 Monday, July 28, 2008 10:03 PM
I played GC Twilight and saw some graphic corruptiom especially when creating a custom race. There were, for lack of a better description, spikey things coming off of some of the ships when selecting the ship style. I'll work on a screenshot of that tomorrow and post that too if I can get something worthwhile.


That sounds like artifacts, which are usually caused by two things: Driver Problems OR Overheating, my guess is overheating.

mpkeith
Reply #13 Friday, August 8, 2008 6:02 AM
After messing around with stuff like fan speeds and graphics settings, I think that it is a combination of power and heat. Turning up the fan caused the computer to freeze then reboot. Taking off the side panel and pointing a fan into the box helped to keep it running, but hasn't resolved the graphics issues.

Thanks to everyone for the input!!

Astyanax
Reply #14 Friday, August 8, 2008 6:40 PM
What version of Vista do you use? Also, do you have any codec packs installed?

mpkeith
Reply #15 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 8:46 PM
I have Vista ultimate with SP1 installed. I have installed Nimo Codec Pack. I've had that installed before with no problems. I had issues with Vista SP1...which caused me to format etc so maybe that ridiculous "update" has something to do with it as well.

I am starting to suspect my PSU a little more as I have experimenting with things like unplugging or plugging in any extra stuff (webcam, mp3 player etc.) and it seems that when more is plugged in I have more problems. I think a webcam, Logitech G15 Keyboard, mouse with LEDs, and so on draws just enough power together to tip the scale. The fan might not spin quite as fast as it should and cause a heat problem as well. I am thinking that a 500 or 550 watt PSU might not be a bad idea at this point.

DorkCoffeez
Reply #16 Tuesday, August 12, 2008 10:55 PM
I have that trouble at home with my older PC. Something I tried that seemed to work was USB hubs with external power supplies. After that it becomes of how many processes you need to run for all the stuff plugged in.

mpkeith
Reply #17 Tuesday, August 26, 2008 6:17 PM
Here's the verdict on this problem: PSU

I read somewhere about somebody using a spare PSU to power their video card. So I dug around in my box of unused computer junk and found a little old 350w PSU. I jumped the appropriate connections, hooked up my card, and it seems as though it is working. No more problems with deskscapes and no problems with video corruption. Obviously I am going to have to get a ne PSU but this will save me some headaches until then.

Thanks to everybody for their input and suggestions. I truly appreciate it...

DorkCoffeez
Reply #18 Wednesday, August 27, 2008 3:57 PM
Good to know. If you should have further troubles with Deskscapes at all please let us know here or through [email protected]. We would be glad to help!

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