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    Advice for getting a warranty replacement on my Graphics card

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Srqt, Apr 9, 2011.

  1. Srqt

    Srqt Notebook Enthusiast

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    So, after a week of having my M17x-R3 I log into rift and get some serious artifacting as can be seen in this video YouTube - 2011 04 08 232539

    I am thinking it is bad memory in the card, I have been keeping a close eye on temps and haven't seen it go above 59 degrees Celsius so I can't see how overheating could be the cause.

    The issue from here is that I called Alienware/Dell and after a remote diagnosis they said my card is fine and that it must be the game.

    It isn't the game and I know it but how do I convince them so I can get my week old $2k computer working correctly?
     
    Srqt, Apr 9, 2011
    #1
  2. Villosa

    Villosa Notebook Deity

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    Is the card overclocked? Artifacts are usually much more noticeable than what you are seeing. I experience red/black/white blocks, image tearing etc when artifacting. From your video it seems like unstable overclocking and textures etc aren't loading properly.

    That or it could be a driver issue. Have you installed new drivers lately?
     
    Villosa, Apr 9, 2011
    #2
  3. romeodf27

    romeodf27 Notebook Geek

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    Srqt what's your specs?
     
    romeodf27, Apr 9, 2011
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  4. Serephucus

    Serephucus Notebook Deity

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    I'm almost positive what you have are not artifacts. As villosa said, artifacts are a lot more random, and sporadic.
     
    Serephucus, Apr 9, 2011
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  5. Srqt

    Srqt Notebook Enthusiast

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    6870, 8 gig ram 2630qm

    No, same drivers that came with the laptop and they are up to date.

    Here is a list of what I did to try and fix it.

    Remote diagnostics with tech support to check for hardware problem (no problem found)
    Check for updated drivers (drivers up to date)
    Run recovery in patcher
    Uninstall and re-install game

    also as a note I have been running Crysis 2 on extreme @ 60fps with no issues.
     
    Srqt, Apr 9, 2011
    #5
  6. Mechanized Menace

    Mechanized Menace Lost in the MYST

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    This is definitely not artifacting, but I did have the same issue running the Heaven benchmark in DX10, but I restarted it and all was fine.
     
    Mechanized Menace, Apr 9, 2011
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  7. remedy1978

    remedy1978 Notebook Evangelist

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    If it was the card, and not a software issue I would assume Crysis 2 would also display this behavior.
     
    remedy1978, Apr 9, 2011
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  8. Villosa

    Villosa Notebook Deity

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    Is the GPU overclocked then?
     
    Villosa, Apr 9, 2011
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  9. ECKS

    ECKS Notebook Prophet

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    Seems like a driver issue. Or could be the video game itself. I've had this before, but only specific to certain games. Either a driver update/reinstall or a reinstall of the game fixed it. Otherwise, like others say, you'd experience it while doing everything else too.
     
    ECKS, Apr 9, 2011
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  10. remedy1978

    remedy1978 Notebook Evangelist

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    Right Dookie. I don't think this is hardware failure. For example, my wife and I were playing Borderlands and her iMac kept freezing up both in online play and off. Updated the ATI driver after using CC Cleaner and Driver Sweeper and the issue cleared right up.
     
    remedy1978, Apr 9, 2011
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  11. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    Using windows cleanup utilities on a Macintrash? :O
     
    LVNeptune, Apr 10, 2011
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  12. Srqt

    Srqt Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nope.

    Thanks for the input guys you have me convinced that it is not hardware, which is a relief.

    I will let you know if I find a solution. Really appreciate all the help.
     
    Srqt, Apr 10, 2011
    #12