RTX 3000 Series artifacts, black squares that flicker in desktop and 2D mode

[ThirtyNinety]

Then the OP has mixed 2 issues up in here as well, the black squares issue was first reported by Venturi on guru3d and no driver crash aspect has ever been linked to it by him or other users reporting the issue on drivers 496.13 and newer.

Actually, Venturi found a workaround in disabling the nvidia driver helper service unless absolutely needed for the CPL

He might, but anyway, that is a part of the reason why people still reply here with similar issues. Because they recognize the symptoms he described, and when you experience kinda the same, for me it looks very legit to reply here in that case.

As you say the solution for who has the artifacts as a visual flaw-only would be to disable this Nvidia helper service after each driver upgrade, and it will be fixed for them: don't you think that would be a bit weird though, if the workaround is so specific, that Nvidia did not find the cause of this yet?
But even more relevant, this information looks very outdated, as this helper service does not even exist anymore (and no I don't use NvCleanInstall, always installing the driver clean, without any third-party tools)

Next to that, I have the impression that most people which respond here have effectively the artifacts accompanied by driver crashes, just like I have. Until now, I did not experience the visual flaw-only variant of this problem, so it looks rather the rare variant instead of the other way around.

 

[Supremacy]

@Sora I can assure you mine did. After experiencing the artifacts for around 4-5minutes I BSODed with a "Video Scheduler Internal Error". Maybe that is the rarest/worst case, but it happened to me. This prompted me to DDU fresh my driver.

 

[Sora]

Ok, i've talked to a few people and this is 2 or 3 different issues being talked about by users in this thread.

The instability is linked to

• Some monitors may display random black screen flicker when in Display Stream Compression mode when using R530 drivers [4034096]

Despite the name, it does have some TDR and bsods attributed to it, and seems atleast in part linked to the auto low latency mode that is applied in R53x (CRU can resolve this by disabling the feature)

The checkerboarding that is appearing for some on top of particular applications such as steam and discord, is

• Small checkerboard like pattern may randomly appear in Chromium based applications [3992875]

The issue op is talking about originally with the squares appearing to the left of a window do not have a connection to a crash or bsod in the initial reports with 496, and doesn't appear on top of accelerated windows (browsers, discord, steam etc), but because recent drivers introduced [4034096] you can definitely see both at the same time and i can see its easily to assume the connection, so the op has 2 issues just happening at the same time there. The black squares to the left issue doesn't have a public task number.

The event logs being made for users who are not getting a crash, after closing a memory intensive game is

• Event Viewer logs nvlddmkm error at the end of the OCCT video ram test when memory is full [4049182]

This one is also seeing a TDR in some cases if the user has chosen to ignore all best advice and intentionally restrict their commit space by turning off, or limiting the page file.

Direct3D 12 and Vulkan require a pagefile totalling atleast typical commit usage + VRAM total for stable operation.

 

[ThirtyNinety]

Ok, i've talked to a few people and this is 2 or 3 different issues being talked about by users in this thread.

The instability is linked to

• Some monitors may display random black screen flicker when in Display Stream Compression mode when using R530 drivers [4034096]

Despite the name, it does have some TDR and bsods attributed to it, and seems atleast in part linked to the auto low latency mode that is applied in R53x (CRU can resolve this by disabling the feature)

The checkerboarding that is appearing for some on top of particular applications such as steam and discord, is

• Small checkerboard like pattern may randomly appear in Chromium based applications [3992875]

The issue op is talking about originally with the squares appearing to the left of a window do not have a connection to a crash or bsod in the initial reports with 496, and doesn't appear on top of accelerated windows (browsers, discord, steam etc), but because recent drivers introduced [4034096] you can definitely see both at the same time and i can see its easily to assume the connection, so the op has 2 issues just happening at the same time there. The black squares to the left issue doesn't have a public task number.

The event logs being made for users who are not getting a crash, after closing a memory intensive game is

• Event Viewer logs nvlddmkm error at the end of the OCCT video ram test when memory is full [4049182]

This one is also seeing a TDR in some cases if the user has chosen to ignore all best advice and intentionally restrict their commit space by turning off, or limiting the page file.

Direct3D 12 and Vulkan require a pagefile totalling atleast typical commit usage + VRAM total for stable operation.

I recognize these 3 open issues, but two remarks.

• First issue has not yet occurred here
  
  
• Third issue which only happens right after gaming, same, never seen here before
  
  
• However, Second issue certainly does, but the description of the problem being too concise (and thus incomplete) for me:
  • here this issue always occurs right after a Nvidia driver crash (just like OP described, so for me, that part was not mixed up)
  • and what I miss here is that artifacting will not only stay in the chromium window, but will also move up to Windows desktop and non-chromium applications like Outlook as well
  • where the artifacting (at least for me) can be stopped by killing dwm.exe and doing a re-login (so it is not hardware)
    
    
• Lastly, I'm missing the similar issue which randomly occurs right after booting up Windows, without opening any chromium-based or hw-acc applications, and already having the checkerboard artifacts:
  • That one also is accompanied with a Nvidia driver crash
  • artifacting already happens on a blank Windows desktop with a blank startup entry list, so without any hardware-accelerated apps running
  • where the artifacting (at least for me) can be stopped by killing dwm.exe and doing a re-login (so it is not hardware)

So that leaves me above all with the question if description of Issue Two was composed really thoroughly,
or whether Nvidia is just not wanting to log the fourth, similar issue where something else is going wrong between dwm.exe and the Nvidia driver.

 

[Ivan Bliminse]

I have an RTX3080 and have suffered none of the problems you have mentioned...

 

[ThirtyNinety]

I have an RTX3080 and have suffered none of the problems you have mentioned...

Lucky you! But that doesn't mean the problem cannot occur some time in the near future for you, nor that your comment means that others don't have this right now, right?

 

[cerulliber]

For me, it smells too much like software/OS. Also, preemption is a good thing, it’s even needed within the current WDDM for videodrivers and one should not tinker with it.

So if this artifact issue really is related to it, what happens with the system at startup which prevents it from working as expected sometimes?

Did u manage to find any fix ?

i have asus rtx 3050 dual oc and my problems seems to be familiar with yours. My tv is 8 bit depth, dunno if this is the issue but card is highly unstable tested it already on other configuration than ryzen 5000/b550/ ram 3600 xmp and could not find any fix.

or, can someone post a nvclean modded driver ?

thanks everyone

 

[ThirtyNinety]

Did u manage to find any fix ?

i have asus rtx 3050 dual oc and my problems seems to be familiar with yours. My tv is 8 bit depth, dunno if this is the issue but card is highly unstable tested it already on other configuration than ryzen 5000/b550/ ram 3600 xmp and could not find any fix.

or, can someone post a nvclean modded driver ?

thanks everyone

Still in the process of testing with MPO disabled now. So far no issues, and otherwise I still have some options left. When you have the artifacts next time, you should first kill dwm.exe in task manager and re-login to check if these also disappear immediately. This can help to troubleshoot in your case whether the problem is hardware, driver or more OS-like oriented.

 

[cerulliber]

saw this reddit post about nvidia latest driver
who knows, this might help

 

[ThirtyNinety]

Some bad news today.
I cannot continue testing further with Multiplane Overlay disabled, as it really causes issues with games nowadays. In fact, I really recommend against disabling it.

Two examples:

• Redfall will at random times have a black screen for a few seconds when MPO is disabled, resulting in having to click manually on the game screen because .GotFocus state is lost somehow. Happens with Borderless Window and FullScreen exclusive in-game settings.
• Currently having a soon to release game temporarily freeze as well due to having MPO disabled. Same fix, have to click manually on the game window to continue

I really hope MPO is not related to the artifacts, anyway, did not have any driver timeouts nor artifacts so far with MPO disabled, but no, this is not feasible for me, nor enjoyable at all, so will now re-enable it. Still have some ideas about how to look more deeply into the DWM artifact issue but for now I'm afraid I just have to exclude MPO from the research scope

 

[BenchAndGames]

Just a UPDATE:

I dont mix any issue, I was only talking about the issue that is statted on the first post of this thread, now people coming here and mix the issues they have with my issue, maybe they think is the same one...well thats out of my control.

Now I have to say it was long time ago that I created this thread and after all this time I changed my personal GPU few times, I dont have anymore those GPUs that it given me the artifacts, and right now I can say its about a complete year that I did not seen the issue that I reported anymore, but again, I had another GPUs from that time....

But what Im sure is that in my case, I had the artifacts with like 3 or 4 different GPUs brand new, this wasant a hardware problem....there is no way...

 

[ThirtyNinety]

Just a UPDATE:

I dont mix any issue, I was only talking about the issue that is statted on the first post of this thread, now people coming here and mix the issues they have with my issue, maybe they think is the same one...well thats out of my control.

Now I have to say it was long time ago that I created this thread and after all this time I changed my personal GPU few times, I dont have anymore those GPUs that it given me the artifacts, and right now I can say its about a complete year that I did not seen the issue that I reported anymore, but again, I had another GPUs from that time....

But what Im sure is that in my case, I had the artifacts with like 3 or 4 different GPUs brand new, this wasant a hardware problem....there is no way...

Lucky for you it was resolved then! Unfortunately, the issue never was really gone. Sometimes, the artifacts can stay away for 5 months here.

And yes certainly it is not hardware related,
because you can remove them immediately by killing dwm.exe and doing a re-login afterwards without rebooting. At least in my case, this makes the suffering from the issue less hard to endure, but still, it should be fixed.

 

[cerulliber]

Some bad news today.
I cannot continue testing further with Multiplane Overlay disabled, as it really causes issues with games nowadays. In fact, I really recommend against disabling

U can try on windows 7. Just google windows 7 image updater videohelp. For a single edition patching with updates drivers etc is about 30min and a few minutes install. Just an idea.

 

[ThirtyNinety]

U can try on windows 7. Just google windows 7 image updater videohelp. For a single edition patching with updates drivers etc is about 30min and a few minutes install. Just an idea.

I have already triple boot here with win7 x64, win 10 and win 11. Win 7 is just not my preferred OS to play modern games on

 

[jamesdeen51]

Hey guys,
Something really peculiar happened and i cant help but post here.

So I always had issues with firefox and chrome on windows 11/10 crashing the nvidia driver (i have an RTX 3080, bought on release 2020 November) and i just turned off the hardware acceleration and it just never happened again. Other than that i had no other issues.

So fast forward to 2 days ago, when i tried to use Moonlight (remote desktop software) and it required Geforce experience. I never install Geforce experience because I consider it bloatware.
After installing geforce experience, I had a massive artifact affecting the whole screen on boot once and that got fixed with a reboot, then after a few hours i got the issue that many people describe here (the black boxes on windows desktop) that also got fixed with a reboot.
Finally i removed geforce experience and the issue stopped completely ever since, its been 2 days.

For anyone here that has these black box artifacts on the desktop, or any other issue like crashing with nvidia drivers in browsers, try removing geforce experience completely.
I never had any issues after i disabled hardware acceleration in the browsers for 2 years, and suddenly right after I install Geforce experience these artifacts happen. I find that impossible to just be a coincidence.

Has any other person here have geforce experience installed when the artifacts happened on your system? My guess is that some kind of service specifically of geforce experience is affecting the driver and windows on boot, causing all these weird issues, and also as others said here it is intermittent.

I am using an RTX 3080 with an i9 12900K , windows 11 21H2 build and Nvidia driver 528.49

The artifacts have yet to come back after removing geforce experience and i sincerly hope they never come back.

 

[ThirtyNinety]

Hey guys,
Something really peculiar happened and i cant help but post here.

So I always had issues with firefox and chrome on windows 11/10 crashing the nvidia driver (i have an RTX 3080, bought on release 2020 November) and i just turned off the hardware acceleration and it just never happened again. Other than that i had no other issues.

So fast forward to 2 days ago, when i tried to use Moonlight (remote desktop software) and it required Geforce experience. I never install Geforce experience because I consider it bloatware.
After installing geforce experience, I had a massive artifact affecting the whole screen on boot once and that got fixed with a reboot, then after a few hours i got the issue that many people describe here (the black boxes on windows desktop) that also got fixed with a reboot.
Finally i removed geforce experience and the issue stopped completely ever since, its been 2 days.

For anyone here that has these black box artifacts on the desktop, or any other issue like crashing with nvidia drivers in browsers, try removing geforce experience completely.
I never had any issues after i disabled hardware acceleration in the browsers for 2 years, and suddenly right after I install Geforce experience these artifacts happen. I find that impossible to just be a coincidence.

Has any other person here have geforce experience installed when the artifacts happened on your system? My guess is that some kind of service specifically of geforce experience is affecting the driver and windows on boot, causing all these weird issues, and also as others said here it is intermittent.

I am using an RTX 3080 with an i9 12900K , windows 11 21H2 build and Nvidia driver 528.49

The artifacts have yet to come back after removing geforce experience and i sincerly hope they never come back.

Certainly interesting. I have it installed too. But on three other systems with rtx 30xx as well, and there I never have these artifacts. So could be coincidence what you had, but nevertheless interesting and also easy one to evaluate of course.

Some bad news today.
I cannot continue testing further with Multiplane Overlay disabled, as it really causes issues with games nowadays. In fact, I really recommend against disabling it.

Two examples:

• Redfall will at random times have a black screen for a few seconds when MPO is disabled, resulting in having to click manually on the game screen because .GotFocus state is lost somehow. Happens with Borderless Window and FullScreen exclusive in-game settings.
• Currently having a soon to release game temporarily freeze as well due to having MPO disabled. Same fix, have to click manually on the game window to continue

I really hope MPO is not related to the artifacts, anyway, did not have any driver timeouts nor artifacts so far with MPO disabled, but no, this is not feasible for me, nor enjoyable at all, so will now re-enable it. Still have some ideas about how to look more deeply into the DWM artifact issue but for now I'm afraid I just have to exclude MPO from the research scope

I must correct myself here. These problems still return in other games as well, while having MPO already enabled again as the Windows default. It rather looks like I broke something in W11, freeware prog "Window Focus Logger" to troubleshoot this says SearchHost.exe is always stealing the window focus of my games, but I already set the relevant registry key to avoid this, so out of options and will now return to a Veeam Endpoint Backup.

Tl;dr: having MPO disabled doesn't necessarily mean having problems. After reverting the backup, I will keep on testing with MPO disabled.

 

[cerulliber]

Youtube fix 3080
This one fixed for me. Disclaimer: not afiliate in any kind with this guy.
Just set in msi afterburner curve not over 1750 mhz and nor less than 900 mhz.
Also set power limit to 95%
Nvidia / AibS could fix rtx 3000 cards by software to prevent e-waste.

 

[shk021051]

Sometimes i get a bunch of black square artifacts on my desktop when moving the mouse Crouser over it or move window they disappear or move
didn't have this problem in windows10 after i install Windows 11 i notice this issue
no problem in games testet cyberpunk - witcher3
palit 3070 ti
last nvidia driver
updated windows + updated drivers

 

[lordofrandy]

Had the artifact again on boot, using "reinstall driver" on Geforce Experience removed the artifacts without the need for a reboot. However it should be noted that restarting the video driver with Win + Shift + Control + B, did not have an effect on them.

 

[Lewenth]

My issue is somewhat smilar but still i think its something else. I believe my 3080Ti needs to be RMA, right?
It's just 55 days old and having this issue for past 10 days now.
It started as picture 1 and after 3-4 days went to picture 2-3-4-5 and then 6-7-8.
In about 10 days this started and escalated so fast.

If you examine pic no 1 you'll see lots of red pixels that are coming and going
If you examine pic no 4-5 and this video: '' https://youtube.com/shorts/AjExkgy4FDs '' you'll see some white light balls. Those 2 groups are in fixed pattern and location when they come

Bonus: ''

''

GPU: Evga RTX 3080Ti FTW3Ultra.

CPU: i9 9900k.

Mobo: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master.

Psu: Corsair RM850x

Monitors on gpu: 1440p 144hz dp cable, 1080p 120hz hdmi.

Monitor on icpu: 1080p 75hz.

Tell me what is this?

 

[mclaren85]

I suspect it may be the cable problem. The digital signal is so intense that cable to handle.

 

[Sora]

Certainly interesting. I have it installed too. But on three other systems with rtx 30xx as well, and there I never have these artifacts. So could be coincidence what you had, but nevertheless interesting and also easy one to evaluate of course.


I must correct myself here. These problems still return in other games as well, while having MPO already enabled again as the Windows default. It rather looks like I broke something in W11, freeware prog "Window Focus Logger" to troubleshoot this says SearchHost.exe is always stealing the window focus of my games, but I already set the relevant registry key to avoid this, so out of options and will now return to a Veeam Endpoint Backup.

Tl;dr: having MPO disabled doesn't necessarily mean having problems. After reverting the backup, I will keep on testing with MPO disabled.

Unfortunately there are games now coming out that require MPO's to be enabled, just as there are games that require an untampered with FSO configuration.

Had the artifact again on boot, using "reinstall driver" on Geforce Experience removed the artifacts without the need for a reboot. However it should be noted that restarting the video driver with Win + Shift + Control + B, did not have an effect on them.

This combo does not restart the video driver, it triggers modeset for the current display mode, writes out the black screen diagnostics log then submits it

It can do if the driver is hung, but this is not the typical case black screen diagnostics is checking for.

 

[Lewenth]

I suspect it may be the cable problem. The digital signal is so intense that cable to handle.

If you are adressing my problem, I really don't think it is cable issue. Monitor is and set to 1440p 120hrz and game fps is limited to 40. I believe my cable is dp 1.4 and rated for 2k 165fps. Tried with another cable. Tried only on 1080p 30 fps. Same, unfortunately nothing changed.
Today I've returned card back to Amazon. I'll go with either 4080 or 4070ti now. Until then good old 1070ti is working solid.

 

[ThirtyNinety]

Unfortunately there are games now coming out that require MPO's to be enabled, just as there are games that require an untampered with FSO configuration.



This combo does not restart the video driver, it triggers modeset for the current display mode, writes out the black screen diagnostics log then submits it

It can do if the driver is hung, but this is not the typical case black screen diagnostics is checking for.

By chance any specific game names requiring MPO to be released soon?
Yeah I guess I'll have to see what to do then, when that happens. So far so good no artifacts here, but unfortunately it can take up to months sometimes before these reappear. And that only just to be able to conclude if MPO is related to it ...

At least in the mean time I found the cause for my window focus issue, it was caused by a more recent version of Razer Synapse for my gaming mouse, so I removed that crap.
But what is FSO?

 

[mclaren85]

472.12 version driver could be the only solution so far.

Edit: still happening with this driver also.