Tech Help Lines appearing on shadows in GTA V and Overwatch

[stewie574]

This just started happening recently, but whenever I play really graphic demanding games like GTA V and Overwatch, I get these weird lines appearing on shadowy surfaces. I got a GTX 970 over the holidays, and it works fine in every game that I play, but these two games specifically have these texture issues.

Here's what it looks like in GTA V, along with my in game settings: http://imgur.com/a/q06qP

Here's what it looks like in Overwatch, along with my in game settings: http://imgur.com/a/yid8n

Here's my rig:
AMD FX 6300 @ 3.5 GHz
GTX 970 4G
Gigabyte 970A-UD3P
16 GB RAM

I usually have EVGA PrecisionX running in the background on auto when I'm playing games to regulate heat. In both GTA V and Overwatch, my card usually hovers around 60 C

 

[Tecmo]

Have u tried not using the Highest graphical settings for both games.... And have u check the brightness settings... Also not sure where u live but I'm in philly PA and it's gotten really hot the past couple of days... The lowest we've had all week was 79 and right now is 93 degrees... Maybe if it's hot in your city area the card must've either been damaged or your cooling system must've been

 

[Simon]

What drivers are you currently running? Are you on the latest version? (Which I believe just got an update for overwatch)

 

[stewie574]

What drivers are you currently running? Are you on the latest version? (Which I believe just got an update for overwatch)

Yeah, latest NVIDIA drivers.

 

[ScorchingTaco]

This just started happening recently, but whenever I play really graphic demanding games like GTA V and Overwatch, I get these weird lines appearing on shadowy surfaces. I got a GTX 970 over the holidays, and it works fine in every game that I play, but these two games specifically have these texture issues.

Here's what it looks like in GTA V, along with my in game settings: http://imgur.com/a/q06qP

Here's what it looks like in Overwatch, along with my in game settings: http://imgur.com/a/yid8n

Here's my rig:
AMD FX 6300 @ 3.5 GHz
GTX 970 4G
Gigabyte 970A-UD3P
16 GB RAM

I usually have EVGA PrecisionX running in the background on auto when I'm playing games to regulate heat. In both GTA V and Overwatch, my card usually hovers around 60 C

Hello,
Assuming you haven't already fixed this, I'll try my best to help you out. Those look like artifacts to me, and since you haven't mentioned anything about an overclock, then I'm going to rule out the possibility of a bad overclock. Even without an overclock, there's a small chance that cards even running at stock or the factory overclock will crash/produce artifacts. Do you ever get driver crashes, or grey/brown screens? Since you say it happens in particularly demanding games, I'd like you to download FurMark, and run the test on the 1080p preset a few times. Please be careful though, this is a very intensive application, keep an eye on your temperatures, and watch for any artifacts/crashes/stuttering while running it.

FurMark: http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

You say that you have the latest drivers, but you should try a clean uninstall using a third party program, then install the latest ones. This will ensure that it's a clean, fresh copy of the latest drivers. Again, those artifacts really do look like a faulty overclock, and if you're running stock and getting those issues then you should probably just RMA the card. It could also be a faulty power supply or monitor, but I'd bet it's the GPU, it sounds like it's fried. Best of luck to you, hope you figure it out. I'll try my best to help you if you have any more questions, etc.

 

[stewie574]

Hello,
Assuming you haven't already fixed this, I'll try my best to help you out. Those look like artifacts to me, and since you haven't mentioned anything about an overclock, then I'm going to rule out the possibility of a bad overclock. Even without an overclock, there's a small chance that cards even running at stock or the factory overclock will crash/produce artifacts. Do you ever get driver crashes, or grey/brown screens? Since you say it happens in particularly demanding games, I'd like you to download FurMark, and run the test on the 1080p preset a few times. Please be careful though, this is a very intensive application, keep an eye on your temperatures, and watch for any artifacts/crashes/stuttering while running it.

FurMark: http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

You say that you have the latest drivers, but you should try a clean uninstall using a third party program, then install the latest ones. This will ensure that it's a clean, fresh copy of the latest drivers. Again, those artifacts really do look like a faulty overclock, and if you're running stock and getting those issues then you should probably just RMA the card. It could also be a faulty power supply or monitor, but I'd bet it's the GPU, it sounds like it's fried. Best of luck to you, hope you figure it out. I'll try my best to help you if you have any more questions, etc.

I don't think I have an overclock? I use EVGA PrecisionX to adjust my fan speed, but isn't overclocking usually adjusting voltages? I usually let the fans run at 10% when idling, then letting them run on auto when gaming. (I'm not well versed with overclocking, so forgive me if I'm incorrect in my understanding)

I've never gotten a driver crash before, but I'll try uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them.

This program you linked, it just stress tests the card at a given resolution? What will this tell me about my card?

 

[stewie574]

Exactly the same thing happened, I found out on my own that it's because our GPU's run without those lines on 60 hz or above, I did more research and found out my monitor was labeled a 60hz monitor but technically it was 59.9 hz, so your problem is your monitor needing to be above 60hz, that's all.

SO I should try adjusting my in game settings to 59hz and seeing what happens?

 

[ScorchingTaco]

I don't think I have an overclock? I use EVGA PrecisionX to adjust my fan speed, but isn't overclocking usually adjusting voltages? I usually let the fans run at 10% when idling, then letting them run on auto when gaming. (I'm not well versed with overclocking, so forgive me if I'm incorrect in my understanding)

I've never gotten a driver crash before, but I'll try uninstalling the drivers and reinstalling them.

This program you linked, it just stress tests the card at a given resolution? What will this tell me about my card?

It will stress test it, and that should give us information concerning your card's stability. If you say that those artifacts appear in the more graphically demanding games, then I would expect it to occur in FurMark. If it does, then that most likely means that your card is fried, unless it does have something to do with your monitor or power supply (which at this point I doubt).

EDIT: Forgot some things I wanted to mention; When it comes to updating your drivers, the newest is not always the best. Get the latest stable version, and see how that works out. Also, you can try under clocking your card to Nvidia's reference/stock clocks and see if that helps. That's probably your best bet as of now, if it works/improves with lower clocks then it's obviously the card being unstable at factory settings, and you should RMA. There is also a small possibility that your monitor's HDMI/DVI/ETC cable isn't fully plugged in, wiggle it around and make sure it's secure. Again, small possibility, considering it only happens in some games, kind of stupid to mention it but hey, might as well. Also, has this problem arisen recently, has it been an issue for a while, etc?

 

[stewie574]

Here's what FurMark returned. I just hit the 1080p preset button and let it do it's thing

 

[ScorchingTaco]

Right, that's good. Did you notice any artifacts, stuttering, etc? Also, I'm now very curious about your clocks, I may know what the issue is, IF it's not just a dead GPU. I'm going to be using MSI Afterburner, (that's what I'm going to demonstrate with since it's what I use, but you can basically use any program that monitors your GPU clocks, temperatures, usage, etc.)

Step 1: Download MSI Afterburner
Step 2: Go into the monitoring section of the settings, and make sure these options are ticked: http://prntscr.com/bb9rl0
Step 3: Pretty much do anything graphically intensive, run FurMark, a random benchmark, a game, etc. Then, send me a screenshot of your monitoring doodad, like this: http://prntscr.com/bb9rx9
Thanks!

 

[stewie574]

Right, that's good. Did you notice any artifacts, stuttering, etc? Also, I'm now very curious about your clocks, I may know what the issue is, IF it's not just a dead GPU. I'm going to be using MSI Afterburner, (that's what I'm going to demonstrate with since it's what I use, but you can basically use any program that monitors your GPU clocks, temperatures, usage, etc.)

Step 1: Download MSI Afterburner
Step 2: Go into the monitoring section of the settings, and make sure these options are ticked: http://prntscr.com/bb9rl0
Step 3: Pretty much do anything graphically intensive, run FurMark, a random benchmark, a game, etc. Then, send me a screenshot of your monitoring doodad, like this: http://prntscr.com/bb9rx9
Thanks!

I didn't notice any of the lines doing the test earlier. Here's what I pulled from Afterburner. I ran the test twice (idk if you can tell from the monitor):

 

[ScorchingTaco]

I didn't notice any of the lines doing the test earlier. Here's what I pulled from Afterburner. I ran the test twice (idk if you can tell from the monitor):

Hmm, very interesting. Those look similar to the clocks of the reference design, do you have an aftermarket design or is it reference? I'm a bit confused now, and I'm not sure why the clocks went higher on one test than the other...

EDIT: Have you tried Overwatch & GTA V w/ the new drivers? If it still doesn't work, then try underclocking your GPU (you can use MSI Afterburner) and see if that makes a difference. If it does, then that means that you got a bad card and it can't run factory settings, like I said before. I'm starting to sound like a broken record ahah. I'm extremely sorry that I haven't been of any help thus far

 

[Snipeye]

Exactly the same thing happened, I found out on my own that it's because our GPU's run without those lines on 60 hz or above, I did more research and found out my monitor was labeled a 60hz monitor but technically it was 59.9 hz, so your problem is your monitor needing to be above 60hz, that's all.

This is worth repeating since I didn't see a response to what k/tty posted.