HL2 Graphics Problem Since New Card

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Here are my specs:

ADVENT 3215
Pentium 4
2.66GHz
512MB DDR
120GB
PSU 400W
GeForce 7600 GS OC

I have downloaded the latest graphics card drivers.

Since getting the new card, people and items in the game now have holes in them. I've tried fiddling with the graphics settings, with no luck. Here is a picture of the options that the game recommends.

People look fine aside from being see-through in certain spots on their body. Which graphics setting could cause this? And what should I do about it?

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Show us pics of the holes?

 

[kacation_man]

wow, those settings seem pretty low for that card

 

[bigburpco]

Extremely low. My card'd a Radeon 9250 and it could support high for most of the settings, but hardware Direct-X level is only about 8.1.

 

[giant384]

high on texture and model require 768mb ram so no its normal for him. yes please show pics of these "holes"

 

[bigburpco]

Oh, I see.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Here is a picture of the problem.

 

[giant384]

i wouldnt use teh latest graphics drivers; they really screwed up teh 90 series . go back to 84.21 drivers. if that does not fix it then try validating your game through steam.

 

[Danimal]

Here is a picture of the problem.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6932/holessc1.jpg

AH YES! I used to have this problem.

I think it ended up being my motherboard, being too old or somewhat.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

i wouldnt use teh latest graphics drivers; they really screwed up teh 90 series . go back to 84.21 drivers. if that does not fix it then try validating your game through steam.

How do I get back to the old drivers?

 

[Danimal]

You'll have to completely remove the exsisting drivers, start up Windows in Safe Mode and install the older ones.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Wow, I'd say it could be an overheating problem or not enough RAM, but I used to have 512MB and played HL2 well, so I shouldn't complain.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

I will soon be adding a second 512MB of RAM, so I'll let you know if it helps.

 

[bigburpco]

You'll have to completely remove the exsisting drivers, start up Windows in Safe Mode and install the older ones.

You can also go... somewhere... and then roll back drivers. Can't remember where, though.

 

[myth]

heres the link to nvidia 84.21 video driver.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_84.21.html

secondly, u dont have to uninstall ur pev driver to install this.just run the setup, and nvidia will throw a message "the driver versiopn is older than what u have. do u want to continue?". hit yes and continue the installation and reboot. HOWDY!!!!!!

 

[bigburpco]

But if you roll back, you don't even have to reinstall.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

heres the link to nvidia 84.21 video driver.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_84.21.html

secondly, u dont have to uninstall ur pev driver to install this.just run the setup, and nvidia will throw a message "the driver versiopn is older than what u have. do u want to continue?". hit yes and continue the installation and reboot. HOWDY!!!!!!

UPDATE:

I've added another 512MB of RAM, and turned the graphics settings all the way up. The game runs really fast, but it still looks like this:

I tried that link, and downloaded the drivers, but I get this error during the installation:

 

[Beerdude26]

You've downloaded the universal drivers?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_91.47.html

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Okay, I managed to download and install that driver.

But now I have a new problem.

The game was great, amazing graphics, running fast, for all of 2 minutes, then it totally froze. It wouldn't even let me close it or minimize the window, so I had to restart.

When I loaded up the game again, the old holes were in the people.

I downloaded the driver again, and started up the game, and it was all fine for another 2 minutes before freezing again.

Any ideas?

 

[Beerdude26]

Overheating? Download RivaTuner and use the monitoring tools to check for temperature increases, and tell them to us.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Well, that's a kick in the bumb about the holes. Hope you get it fixed. HL2 is still a good game.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Overheating? Download RivaTuner and use the monitoring tools to check for temperature increases, and tell them to us.

Okay, I've downloaded it...

How do I use it to find out temperature increases?

 

[giant384]

its easier if you look in your drivers for the temperature.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

How do I do that?

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Okay, I figured out how to check the temperature.

Before playing, it stayed at 48 or 49 degrees.

When playing the game, it settled around 52 degrees.

Was running fine, with good graphics. Then it froze up, despite not going over 52, and I got a blue screen with a message saying that the video device or drivers running the program had entered a persistent loop, or something like that. So windows had to be shut down.

 

[giant384]

hmm thats normal running temperature for it. mabye your card is damaged, you might want to try for an rma.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

After it has frozen, the next time I play it the old graphics problems are back (and the game runs fine), until I reinstall the latest drivers (where I get 2 minutes of good graphics and the freeze).

I used rollback to get to the previous drivers, and loaded up the game. The graphics were fine until I moved into a different area, and they started to look like this again:

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

In case anyone is wondering, I solved the problem by underclocking my graphics card by 5MHz.

 

[Fury_Rage_9]

why did u oc it by 5 MHz?

 

[giant384]

why did u oc it by 5 MHz?

he never did oc the card,but underclocking fixed the problem.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

The problems are back.

It is also affecting Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dawn of War. :angry:

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

This is my PSU:

http://www.fsp-group.com.tw/english/1_product/2_detail.asp?mainid=1&fid=52&proid=198

For anyone who thinks it might be a power issue.

 

[Beerdude26]

Try using the Omega Drivers: http://www.omegadrivers.net/
If that doesn't work, spare yourself a lot of trouble and frustration and trade in the card.

 

[bigburpco]

Erm... underclock it more? It might work.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Nothing has worked.

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Just to confirm one last time that temperature is not an issue, I opened up the side panel and blasted a huge fan into the computer while playing the game.

The temperature never went over 50 degrees while running the game, but the graphics problems still appeared after a few minutes.

 

[Jintor]

This is a really strange bug. Sounds like a hardware problem if this is happening in other games as well - any hardware you havn't replaced yet?

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Looks most likely to be a faulty graphics card.

The only other option I'm not sure about is the motherboard. How do I find my motherboard details?

 

[NoJabbaNoBogRoll]

Someone has told me I should get a cooling block, as it solved an identical problem with his computer.

Can anyone back this up?

Also, could anyone recommend a good one for my card? (GeForce 7600 GS OC)