Graphics problem in games

**lewisisonfire** · July 1st, 2012, 12:04 PM

Hi I own the dreaded Dell 1557 with the ATI Mobile Radeon HD 4570 graphics and am having a graphics issue in games.

I have tried playing ArmA 2 and GTA san andreas both on low graphics settings and am getting these weird anomalies on the screen.

Ordinarily I would google it like crazy, but I dont know what to search for.

As you can see I attached a photo for you to see.

Can anyone explain my problem? My temps are all ok, I run at about 70 degrees. which is good for a dell. I have the copper shim mod done and am running the latest drivers.

I still have warranty, so Im thinking I need the motherboard replaced. Any help would be great

**SoloCamo** · July 1st, 2012, 01:10 PM

Hello and welcome to TechIMO!

This said, when you say 70*c, that can be an ok temp, or a very bad temp, depending on what you are referring to. What hardware is running at 70*c? The cpu?? The gpu? Or for that matter, what software are you using to get the temps?

On top of that, I see the 1557 is a laptop, so that makes troubleshooting a bit more challenging.

However, I will tell you this, those "anomalies on the screen" are widely considered 'artifacts' in which it's almost always a sign of either a driver issue with the gpu, or a gpu failure.

Have you recently done any hardware driver updates when you started noticing it?

**lewisisonfire** · July 1st, 2012, 01:37 PM

The GPU is at 70 under load during gameplay. From other 1557 users thats a good temp.

I use GPU-Z to monitor temps, and log to file.

I thought they were called artifacts. But as you say there are many reasons for this.

Ive not touched the drivers, Although I will say Ive had issues with the drivers for some time. I used to get tremendous amounts of BSOD's however recently I have had none after removing some Adobe software from startup. The driver from ATI seems to cause issues no matter what I try, I have asked other 1557 users for their setup, and have mirrored drivers and such but still have problems.

Currently im running the latest ATI drivers and havent had a BSOD in months.

But I did nothing significant in the last few weeks that I can think of to cause this. Im going to wipe my system, start from scratch, install the latest drivers from Dell website. and then try the same again, see if I get a problem.

Im going to assume that with a fresh install, if I still get these artifacts then I can assume my GPU is up the shoot?

**lewisisonfire** · July 1st, 2012, 01:37 PM

P.S Thank you for the welcome

**SoloCamo** · July 1st, 2012, 01:39 PM

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head as far as troubleshooting goes. Do a fresh install, then use the latest drivers you've had no issues with. If it fails like you said, it's unfortunately more than likely a gpu issue.

The downside to laptops is it's not something you can just swap out to test, so it's a good thing you are under warranty thats for sure.

**lewisisonfire** · July 1st, 2012, 01:43 PM

Yeah I figured as much. No worries. I will post back my results.

Im fed up of finding unfinished threads. Thanks for the help.

**lewisisonfire** · July 10th, 2012, 01:34 PM

Hi, just thought Id update.

I reinstalled Windows 7.

And applied all the latest driver updates from the Dell website.

Side note, I found that Dell had included some sort of bios update on their latest Video driver update, seems I miraculously went from a 4570 HD Radeon to a 545v Radeon. haha.

Anyway the point in hand, Re ran GTA SA and still issues, read something about directx 9 needing to be installed, no luck, tried ruining in compatibility mode, no joy.

So I installed Skyrim instead, ran on full spec like a dream, no problems what so ever, even tried Assasins Creed Revelations worked like a charm. I will try ArmA 2 again and see what happens, but looks like ive solved the problem. and with the latest driver from Dell running instead of the latest one from ATI (12.4) everything runs better.

Laptop still gets hot and bakes my nads, but a small price to pay for mobile gaiming.

**Chuckiechan** · July 10th, 2012, 02:02 PM

Besides, having kids takes away from your gaming time!

Glad to hear you got it sorted out, and thank you for posting the solution!

**ShyguyXPC** · July 10th, 2012, 02:22 PM

reason for the GPU bios change...

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 545v - Notebookcheck.net Tech

They're the same card, only slight clock rate increase is all.

Common in laptops, and sometimes desktop GPU's, to rebadge a card or chip with same or slightly upgraded clock speeds and sell it as a new one.

so your overall performance won't be much different than it was before, especially considering how low end the GPU was.

GTA SA always had some sort of issues, I tried running in Windows XP and Windows 7, both times I always had Audio issues where sound would cut out, usually guns and cars, and what not, so I would never know if I'm being chased or shot at, really made the game unplayable with out that in it, so gave up on the game entirely, and as a result I skipped GTA4, glad I did, from hearing about that game, as it still brings top end systems to its knee's, another crappy and resource hog conversion from Console I guess.

Though if its possible for Skyrim (Console conversion that runs remarkably well if not even better on the PC than console), then its possible for Rockstar to get its issues figured out.

ArmA 2 I have a feeling isn't going to fare to well. its solely DX9 implemented, has no DX10 functions, at least not until ArmA 3 comes out sometime around the end of the year hopefully, DX10 and DX11 support supposedly.

ArmA 2 really needs a mid range GPU at least to shine. A lower end one like you have barely cuts it, you have to really lower the games in game settings way way way down, add in dropping the view distance down a lot as well, which sucks if your flying aircraft, and/or shooting moderate to long distances, as you can't see anyone shooting at you, or your shooting at them.

Take for example my systems specs in my sig, I can play the game at moderate settings, with my view distance jacked up between 5000 and 8000 meters to play the game decently. I have Post Processing FX disabled, and run at my monitors native 1080p.

in multiplayer, depending on the maps played and where I am in maps and what is going on, I get between 20 and 80fps (for example the Isla Duala island maps, I can get 80-90fps in game sometimes due to the barren landscapes and smaller island size, for some of the stock maps, or even larger maps like Fallujah, I'm lucky if my rates jump past 25fps).

but ArmA 2 also needs a very fast CPU as well to run smoothly, since it is a Sim more than a fps Shooter game.