Green/blue/pink artifacts on screen problem

[DarkyD 10]

Hey guys.

So i have been having this problem for a long time now, and i have yet to find a solution to it. So now i'm gonna try and post a thread here.

Basically, this only happens in ArmA 2/OA after a while of playing, i get these different colored artifacts on my screen and it freezes and i can't do anything other than manually restart my computer. The colors change sometimes to pink and blue, but they come up green most of the time. Some time after the artifacts has come up, the screen goes idle. All my drivers are up to date and so is ArmA2/OA, i've tried cleaning my computer for dust but it still doesn't work. As said, i can't find any solution on Google and the problem is really annoying. I really want a solution for this problem because i love ArmA2/OA and i want to keep playing it.

My system specs are:

Model: Acer Aspire M7720

Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

Processor: Intel® Core i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67 GHz

RAM: 4 GB

Systemtype: 64-bit

Sound: Realtek High Definition Audio

Screen: Standard PnP-screen

If you need any other info, please tell me.

I found a video of a guy that has the same problem (From 0:52 - 1:26):

If this could be solved, i would be grateful!

Thank you :)

DarkyD

Edited April 17, 2012 by DarkyD

[[frl]myke 14]

Sounds like your graphic card is overheating. Check temps and report back.

Opening the case and placing a fan blowing onto the graphic card might help a bit.

As a long term solution, optimize the airflow in your pc case.

[no use for a name 0]

Monitor the temps on it when running the game to make sure your GPU isn't overheating.

[DarkyD 10]

At the moment i'm not in the game, and the GPU heat according to SpeedFan is 52C and Temp1 is 98C. I'll edit this post after i monitored them ingame.

During ingame, GPU is ranging from 58C to 70C and Temp1 is 97C-101C and some of the cores and HDO have a red arrow pointing upwards.

Edited April 15, 2012 by DarkyD

[Gunter Severloh 4071]

Hi DarkyD,

Ive got the EVGA NVIDIA GeForce Gtx 285.

your temps are to high for that card. For me anything in the 90's and my game will freeze or crash.

I use the EVGA precision utility, it allows you to turn the fan speed on your gpu higher or lower, setup profiles ect,.

but i suggest finding a program for your brand of card, either that or install more fans on your computer.

My buddy is a freelance computer tech, and my computer would over heat, so I learned from him that at least 1-2 times

a year you need to open up your case and clean the dust out of your computer, install more fans if possible, and get a program

to monitor the temps on your gpu as well as cpu.

If you can do any of those then you wont have the issue, as far as Im concerned thats what Im going to assume it is, but what you posted,

your temps are to high, my temps when I have the fan going at at least 85% speed on the gpu is about 50-60F when im ingame, when Im out

of game then I lower the fan speed and I get maybe between 48-70f depends on room temps too.

also if it may apply turn of vsync ingame, i had colored particles actually today because I forgot to turn on the fan, as I was just doing some tests for a mission,

and the game froze,a nd then came back on with some camou farked up colors, when i turned off vsync it cleared up, and well the fan was turned on which reminded me,

my temps were pushing 90F when that happened.

hope that helps.

[DarkyD 10]

I tried putting my video memory to Very High and upping my fan speed to 70% when ingame, it kept the game working longer and i could play for some hours but then i got the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. The game seems to crash even though my fan speed is between 70-100% using SpeedFan. I cleaned my PC for any dust today, though. Will it help if i get a new video card and maybe more fans?

Thanks for all the replies, by the way. :)

[maddogx 13]

Getting rid of dust is a good start, but decent airflow is absolutely important. There are several things you can do:

1. Any cables dangling around inside the case can obstruct airflow, so try and get them out of the way (empty 5.25" slots provide lots of space, for example). I recommend using cable ties to keep the cables in place.

2. Get more case fans. You will ideally want fans sucking air in from the front and pushing it out the back.

3. If your case doesn't have enough mounting points for fans, consider getting a new case.

4. If possible, install dust filters over the front fans. These prevent dust from accumulating inside the case, but they should be cleaned regularly.

[[frl]myke 14]

More case fans isn't always necessary (although i don't know how it looks at your side), more important is to have a decent airflow inside the case. MadDogX already gave some excellent advices aswell. Whatever you do, make sure your GPU will get enough cool air from outside and isn't located at a "hot spot" (place with no significant airflow).

A good tool to control and even log temps is MSI Afterburner. It can also make screenshots and show FPS besides the GPU temp on a overlay during gaming. It isn't limited to graphic cards manufactured by MSI but also works with other cards (mine being from Asus as example).

Maybe as a cheap short time solution, try to remove the side cover of your pc case. Maybe this will keep the temps a bit lower.

[DarkyD 10]

Bought myself a new graphics card and it fixed the problem.

Thanks for all the help, guys!