# Laptop artifacting in Atitool - is it dying?



## Derek12 (Jan 20, 2011)

I have an Acer Aspire 5630 which have a Nvidia Geforce Go 7300 with 128MB dedicated video memory.

I instaled and ran Atitool and about 5 minutes of run, crazy yellow lines appeared on the 3D window, so this means the GPU is failing? I have the latest Nvidia drivers  released for this GPU

Many thanks for your help


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## erocker (Jan 20, 2011)

ATi Tool most likely doesn't mesh well with the newer drivers since ATi tool hasn't been updated for quite some time. If you really must use some sort of artifacting tool, use FurMark. 

Some advice: Don't run it too long, it's a laptop and has limited cooling. Programs such as these really heat up the GPU and can cause damage with insufficient cooling.


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## Mathragh (Jan 20, 2011)

Ohnoes, that doesnt sound good, I was playing some game on my laptop(with a mobility 4650), and it started artifacting out of nowhere aswell.

I decided to test it further with ATI tool, which also gave alot of artifacts, and ended up with catalyst resetting the graphics driver. 
An hour later, my laptop wouldnt boot anymore, and my graphics was dead O.O

Gotta use a friends laptop now, which coincidentally also has a 7300 Go. Doesnt give me artifacts though, and lets me overclock the graphics quite a bit without causing artifacts.

Generally, artifacts mean something is clocked too high(most of the time the memory) or is dying, or some timings are off. 

If you're not into overclocking that laptop, I'm afraid its probably dying, but perhaps someone else has a different explaination.

I hope that you still have some kind of warranty, like I luckily still had.


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## xBruce88x (Jan 20, 2011)

if you can remove all the back panels and blow out all the dust. if you're feeling adventurous, take the laptop's case apart and clean all the dust out, if you want to get real crazy get some good thermal past and apply it on the gpu (or new thermal pad, whichever the laptop uses). make sure there's at least 1/3 inch of clearance (~1/2cm) under the laptop for good ventilation. as a last resort you could underclock/volt the gpu a tad. one of those cooling pads might help.


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 20, 2011)

It's not dying. It's overheating. It's a laptop. Go easy on the poor thing. If you absolutely must run a 3D bench try '01 or something.


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## Derek12 (Jan 21, 2011)

First of all, thanks 


erocker said:


> ATi Tool most likely doesn't mesh well with the newer drivers since ATi tool hasn't been updated for quite some time. If you really must use some sort of artifacting tool, use FurMark.
> 
> Some advice: Don't run it too long, it's a laptop and has limited cooling. Programs such as these really heat up the GPU and can cause damage with insufficient cooling.



This driver is a bit old (compared to the actual ones), also I ran it on a GF 9500GT using the latest driver (266.58) and didn't artifacted...

Yeah I ran for 5 minutes and when started to artifacts I closed it but didn't seemed to overheat because the fan wasn't running in full speed and the laptop wasn't hot to touch... but I cannot open GPUZ while the test is running because Atitool hangs when I open GPUZ, strange...



Mathragh said:


> Ohnoes, that doesnt sound good, I was playing some game on my laptop(with a mobility 4650), and it started artifacting out of nowhere aswell.
> 
> I decided to test it further with ATI tool, which also gave alot of artifacts, and ended up with catalyst resetting the graphics driver.
> An hour later, my laptop wouldnt boot anymore, and my graphics was dead O.O
> ...



The laptop is an old one (have 3-4 years old) so I think the warranty expired  and isn't overclocked, though doesn't seem to artifact *yet* in games/3dmark06 nor windows (the games were ran for 10 minutes to avoid overheating)



xBruce88x said:


> if you can remove all the back panels and blow out all the dust. if you're feeling adventurous, take the laptop's case apart and clean all the dust out, if you want to get real crazy get some good thermal past and apply it on the gpu (or new thermal pad, whichever the laptop uses). make sure there's at least 1/3 inch of clearance (~1/2cm) under the laptop for good ventilation. as a last resort you could underclock/volt the gpu a tad. one of those cooling pads might help.


I will try that and comment if the artifacts stopped, I want to think that isn't dying 



Wrigleyvillain said:


> It's not dying. It's overheating. It's a laptop. Go easy on the poor thing. If you absolutely must run a 3D bench try '01 or something.


I hope you're right!
I ran 06 for a few minutes and even wanted to run vantage though it didn't run because the display res wasn't supported!


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 21, 2011)

Yeah everything is too packed in there and may be dusty to boot. I'd lay off.


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## Derek12 (Jan 21, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> Yeah everything is too packed in there and may be dusty to boot. I'd lay off.



I am running Atitool again and doesn't seem to artifacts now. though doesn't seem to overheat... the GPU temperature rises to reach 56 º but then the laptop fan kicks on and reduces to 45 then the fan stops and GPU temp rises again to 56 then the fan kicks on again..... do you think it's overheating?
Many thanks


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## sliderider (Jan 22, 2011)

Try blowing into the vents but be prepared to move away quick when you do or you may find yourself with a faceful of dust and fluff. I had that happen to me once and my laptop ran a lot cooler once the dust stopped coming out.


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## Mathragh (Jan 22, 2011)

Derek12 said:


> I am running Atitool again and doesn't seem to artifacts now. though doesn't seem to overheat... the GPU temperature rises to reach 56 º but then the laptop fan kicks on and reduces to 45 then the fan stops and GPU temp rises again to 56 then the fan kicks on again..... do you think it's overheating?
> Many thanks



Those temps are perfectly fine.

As a matter of fact, they're below the average for graphics cards


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## Derek12 (Jan 22, 2011)

sliderider said:


> Try blowing into the vents but be prepared to move away quick when you do or you may find yourself with a faceful of dust and fluff. I had that happen to me once and my laptop ran a lot cooler once the dust stopped coming out.



I tried with an air can but the temps didn't changed I think they are fine though 


Mathragh said:


> Those temps are perfectly fine.
> 
> As a matter of fact, they're below the average for graphics cards



Then the problem isn't overheat 

Must I assume the GPU is dying (and therefore the laptop itself)?? 

I have tested the following games/benchmarks anyway:::

3Dmark06 no artifacts
Warrock I saw some flicker but I don't know if it's a game or GPU fault/feature
Crysis Warhead (it was unplayable 0,5 - 1 fps but not artifacts.
Battlefield 2 (artifacts caused by driver)
Resident evil 5 benchmark (no artifacts)
Lost planet 2 benchmark (very low fps but no artifacts)
Age of empires 3 (no artifacts)
Empire earth II (no artifacts)
GTA San Andreas (no artifacts)
Just Cause (no artifacts)
Furmark (no artifacts)
But Atitool artifacts badly in SOME cases...


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## Mathragh (Jan 22, 2011)

Hmm, well the artifacts in ATItool in your pic look kinda weird. 
Normally artifacts appear at random and all over the place.

This could be a software bug afterall, especially since its basically only happening in ATItool itself, and no other 3d Programs.

Afraid I dont know anything else you could try, so i guess its just a weird bug in ATItool.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is actually looking good for you


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## Derek12 (Jan 22, 2011)

Mathragh said:


> Hmm, well the artifacts in ATItool in your pic look kinda weird.
> Normally artifacts appear at random and all over the place.
> 
> This could be a software bug afterall, especially since its basically only happening in ATItool itself, and no other 3d Programs.
> ...


Many thanks I hope that you're right and is only a Atitool bug 
Meanwhile, another screenshot of a more severe artifacting and GPUZ


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## Derek12 (Jan 23, 2011)

I underclocked the GPU and memory to minimum(I didn't know that under- or overclock the gpu and VRAM was possible in a laptop) and Im running atitool to see if stops artifacting or not..


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## cdawall (Jan 23, 2011)

Derek12 said:


> I tried with an air can but the temps didn't changed I think they are fine though
> 
> 
> Then the problem isn't overheat
> ...


If there were no furmark issues its fine the games you are tyring to play for the most part can't be played well on a desktop 7600gt which is leaps and bounds faster than a 7300go if you are wanting to play all of them you will need a new laptop.


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## erocker (Jan 23, 2011)

ATi tool hasn't been updated in years. Don't bother using it. Use furmark or kombustor if you really want to scan for artifacts.


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## Derek12 (Jan 24, 2011)

cdawall said:


> If there were no furmark issues its fine the games you are tyring to play for the most part can't be played well on a desktop 7600gt which is leaps and bounds faster than a 7300go if you are wanting to play all of them you will need a new laptop.


No I won't use the laptop for gaming I was checking its GPU with those games and benchmarks, the laptop will be used for homework and Internet but I want to make sure the GFX is fine and doesn't seem to be.

Now with the card underclocked doesn't seem to artifact at the moment so this will mean a faulty GFX??



erocker said:


> ATi tool hasn't been updated in years. Don't bother using it. Use furmark or kombustor if you really want to scan for artifacts.


Yeah but it's rougly the same "era" the laptop GPU so then it should be fine, right? the only new thing it's the OS but I will try XP if continues to artifacts...
I tried Furmark and Kombustor and don't *seem* to artifact but it's difficult to stare 1 or 2 hours to see artifacts because those don't warn unlike Atitool (with beeps, and the message) and artifacts can appear and dissapear...

Many thanks


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## cdawall (Jan 24, 2011)

Derek12 said:


> No I won't use the laptop for gaming I was checking its GPU with those games and benchmarks, the laptop will be used for homework and Internet but I want to make sure the GFX is fine and doesn't seem to be.
> 
> Now with the card underclocked doesn't seem to artifact at the moment so this will mean a faulty GFX??
> 
> ...



if it is just used for homework and internet why not just leave it alone. its not throwing crazy artifacts in furmark so it is fine.

as for atitool is the driver from the same error? if not there is your huge screen glitch not the GPU having issues


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## Derek12 (Jan 24, 2011)

cdawall said:


> if it is just used for homework and internet why not just leave it alone. its not throwing crazy artifacts in furmark so it is fine.


Because I'm afraid the GPU will die, I have understand that artifacts first begin in games and later they appear even on desktop and later the computer won't boot maybe I'm paranoid...



> as for atitool is the driver from the same error? if not there is your huge screen glitch not the GPU having issues


[/QUOTE]
I don't understand well what your saying here, but the Atitool artifacts appeared on screenshots like I posted so I don't think it's a display issue....


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## cdawall (Jan 24, 2011)

actually they are a screen glitch normal atitool artifacts are not in a straight line across that window.


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## DonInKansas (Jan 24, 2011)

It works in EVERYTHING but an outdated benchmark program and you're worried?

Unistall ATITool, go about your life, profit.


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## Derek12 (Jan 24, 2011)

cdawall said:


> actually they are a screen glitch normal atitool artifacts are not in a straight line across that window.




But if they appeared in the screenshot how it's a screen fault, I don't understand. Besides the message of "Delta of XX in XX pixels (XX avg)"... and the beeping... 




DonInKansas said:


> It works in EVERYTHING but an outdated benchmark program and you're worried?
> 
> Unistall ATITool, go about your life, profit.



I have read that it's very sensitive detecting artifacts and a faulty card could only artifact on Atitool.
But anyway I have uninstalled it. I will try one hour of furmark and OCCT again. And Unigine Heaven Many thanks.


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## cdawall (Jan 24, 2011)

are you trying to kill this poor laptop i mean wtf? if its not failing from all of the other crap you are putting it through why would you intentionally try and kill it with more OCCT and furmark the laptop is fine just give up already holy crap.


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## Derek12 (Jan 24, 2011)

cdawall said:


> are you trying to kill this poor laptop i mean wtf? if its not failing from all of the other crap you are putting it through why would you intentionally try and kill it with more OCCT and furmark the laptop is fine just give up already holy crap.



WTF are you saying, this laptop was given to me beacuse was dead and I made a clear cmos and it resurrected and I am simply testing its GPU after passed memtest and prime95 and I don't want to kill it because I can afford repairs or new laptop so I don't understand that BS of that I'm trying to kill it. The 1st gpu test was memtest and failed so then I passed the rest of that.


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 24, 2011)

I think you answered your own question; it was not dead at all just need a CMOS clear. However, keep running ATI Tool etc on it and that may no longer be the case.


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## cdawall (Jan 24, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> I think you answered your own question; it was not dead at all just need a CMOS clear. However, keep running ATI Tool etc on it and that may no longer be the case.


well at least someone caught on too what i was saying


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## Derek12 (Jan 24, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> I think you answered your own question; it was not dead at all just need a CMOS clear. However, keep running ATI Tool etc on it and that may no longer be the case.



I am seeing people that let overnight their computers and LAPTOPS streesing them and that's fine?
And I am only testing taking care to avoid overheat (temps don't reach 60º) with a fan for minutes with the exception of atitool (1 hour, 3 days) and that's bad?



cdawall said:


> well at least someone caught on too what i was saying



You didn't said that you simply swore and saying that I am trying to kill it intentionally. Very different


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 24, 2011)

Well sure some people do that but, first of all, rarely on a laptop and even so they are testing the stability of an overclock in most cases. And overnight is overkill IMO anyway; I sure don't like to put my expensive components through that much stress.

 I think you have determined already that this laptop has no real hardware malfunction but if you keep messing with it like this instead of simply using it that could easily change.


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## cdawall (Jan 24, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> Well sure some people do that but, first of all, rarely on a laptop and even so they are testing the stability of an overclock in most cases. And overnight is overkill IMO anyway; I sure don't like to put my expensive components through that much stress.
> 
> I think you have determined already that this laptop has no real hardware malfunction but if you keep messing with it like this instead of simply using it that could easily change.



agreed keep playing with furmark and OCCT and i would bet that you end up delaminating the GPU from the PCB


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## FreedomEclipse (Jan 24, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> I think you have determined already that this laptop has no real hardware malfunction but if you keep messing with it like this instead of simply using it that could easily change.



^ What he said - f*****g with a laptops r srs businessez and best left alone unless you really dont want the laptop and just want to destroy it for the hell of it. otherwise it could be a lengthly RMA process if they need to swap the board out.

best not touch anything. if you want something more powerful for games - get a more powerful laptop.


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## Derek12 (Jan 24, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> Well sure some people do that but, first of all, rarely on a laptop and even so they are testing the stability of an overclock in most cases. And overnight is overkill IMO anyway; I sure don't like to put my expensive components through that much stress.
> 
> I think you have determined already that this laptop has no real hardware malfunction but if you keep messing with it like this instead of simply using it that could easily change.



Nope I never stressed anything for more than 1 hour, in the desktop or laptop. I don't overclock anything. I only run at maximum of 10 mins because I'm afraid that some component could fry or something. The damm memtest was the exception because when I ran it first time in the laptop it artifacted like crazy but only sometimes...
Anyway I finished testing and use it until breaks..


cdawall said:


> agreed keep playing with furmark and OCCT and i would bet that you end up delaminating the GPU from the PCB


GPU temp = 55º, CPU temp = 50º.



FreedomEclipse said:


> ^ What he said - f*****g with a laptops r srs businessez and best left alone unless you really dont want the laptop and just want to destroy it for the hell of it. otherwise it could be a lengthly RMA process if they need to swap the board out.
> 
> best not touch anything. if you want something more powerful for games - get a more powerful laptop.



LOL if I would overclocked it and play some HD video or game for 2 hours on it, some people in this forum would come home, kill me, and "save" the poor mistreated laptop 
For games I have my desktop comp.


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 24, 2011)

I think you should just be happy it seems to be working at this point. If you want to mess with it further as a means of testing install Ubuntu on it or some shit. That scans and puts load on most/all of the components but doesn't greatly stress it.


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## Derek12 (Jan 24, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> I think you should just be happy it seems to be working at this point. If you want to mess with it further as a means of testing install Ubuntu on it or some shit. That scans and puts load on most/all of the components but doesn't greatly stress it.



Nah I just finished with it and I will enjoy it . I formatted it to clean the mess and reinstalled Windows 7 though I have driver problems


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## FreedomEclipse (Jan 24, 2011)

If you dont need it - send it to me, I could scrap it for spare parts for my laptop


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## Nitro-Max (Jan 30, 2011)

Who the hell buys a laptop for gaming anyway? i mean come on.


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## FreedomEclipse (Jan 30, 2011)

Nitro-Max said:


> Who the hell buys a laptop for gaming anyway? i mean come on.



Me - my laptop was able to run a lot of games before the screen went south (pending repairs) Was running Oblivion and CoD2 on it but I mainly just use it to play guildwars. I cant remember if i tried to run CoD4 on it


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## Derek12 (Feb 1, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> If you dont need it - send it to me, I could scrap it for spare parts for my laptop



LOL I want it, though the battery is dead and the case is a bit deteriorated, and isn't very powerful but I love it, it cost me none so I should be happy anyway...

Anyway I doubt you can get much stuff on it: 2 GB RAM, DVD Multi Drive, screen, a  keyboard with the ESC key missing, a worn touchpad, dead battery, the Hard disk was missing... and considering if they will be compatible with your laptop...


Nitro-Max said:


> Who the hell buys a laptop for gaming anyway? i mean come on.


It's not my case, nor either I bought it nor I will use it for gaming. For gaming I have my desktop PC. I was only testing its GPU to make sure it's fine...



FreedomEclipse said:


> Me - my laptop was able to run a lot of games before the screen went south (pending repairs) Was running Oblivion and CoD2 on it but I mainly just use it to play guildwars. I cant remember if i tried to run CoD4 on it



Mine ran even Crysis demo, though a crappy frame rate and some rendering glitches on it, but AOE3 FC2 Battlefield 2, Cod4 MW, NFS MW, ran fine on low-medium settings. And never overheated.


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## Nitro-Max (Feb 4, 2011)

It should be fine derek12 ati tool is very very demanding it will heat up even cards with much better cooling tbh, and is often buggy too with some it was with my x1900xt used to crash instantly. I think its just a case of low end graphics struggling with very demanding software,And laptop cooling is never going to do it justice just hasnt got the space or airflow. Just run some normal games with low to medium settings and see how it preforms, You cant really ask for much more. I have 2 dualcore laptops both with independand graphics ati4530 and they do a decent job if i dont bump everything up stupidly, But i dont really use them for gaming, just internet and occasional movies.

Bad Drivers can somtimes cause artifacts,


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## Nitro-Max (Feb 4, 2011)

The kind of games for laptops are games like world of warcraft, sims , Rollercoaster tycoon, monopoly tycoon etc.

Games like crysis are just too FPS hungry really to have a decent game.

I managed to play tomb raider underworld ok on mine just as a test didnt really try any others i guess the technology is getting better.

I just dont belive in gaming laptops lol its just wrong, If you are a hardcore gamer you build a propper gaming rig.


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## Derek12 (Feb 4, 2011)

Nitro-Max said:


> It should be fine derek12 ati tool is very very demanding it will heat up even cards with much better cooling tbh, and is often buggy too with some it was with my x1900xt used to crash instantly. I think its just a case of low end graphics struggling with very demanding software,And laptop cooling is never going to do it justice just hasnt got the space or airflow. Just run some normal games with low to medium settings and see how it preforms, You cant really ask for much more. I have 2 dualcore laptops both with independand graphics ati4530 and they do a decent job if i dont bump everything up stupidly, But i dont really use them for gaming, just internet and occasional movies.
> 
> Bad Drivers can somtimes cause artifacts,



Many thanks , I now understand that properly, I stopped struggling the GPU I even disabled Aero...



Nitro-Max said:


> The kind of games for laptops are games like world of warcraft, sims , Rollercoaster tycoon, monopoly tycoon etc.
> 
> Games like crysis are just too FPS hungry really to have a decent game.
> 
> ...



Yeah crysis frame rate was 0.5 - 1 FPS at low settings totally unplayable  besides some graphics glitches like the sky turning solid blue...
However AOE3, Warrock, nfs mw were playable at low quality. Just Cause works fine on laptop but artifacted on desktop (crazy shadows) 
I am not a hardcore gamer... yet, even my desktop comp isn't as powerful as yours it. Until recently, I was playing with the IGP now I reusing my geforce 9500GT and currently the only game I play regularly is Warrock...
Thanks


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