When you buy a new and costly graphics card, you expect some great features from it. But, unfortunately, you can see numerous types of problems when you do not install a suitable graphics unit in your system. Along with that, there could be numerous errors and issues by which your GPU can start showing different problems at different instances. GPU Artifacts are the things you would never want to see on your computer screen. This error can easily cause various problems for you whether you are playing games or doing anything else on your system.
It is the most important processor on your video card that does the actual drawing. GPU artifacts may seem like just about anything and can become sufficiently severe that nothing about the display is recognizable.
A frequent kind of acute GPU artifact is a checkerboard pattern that covers the whole screen. GPU artifacts are often heat associated and can frequently be solved by lowering the GPU temperature. If your video card has a lover then its principal job will be to cool your GPU. You need to check to be certain it’s spinning.
On occasion the artifacts are brought on by a GPU processor that has been overclocked too much or simply can not run at stock speed. Underclocking that the GPU often solves the problem without needing to decrease the clock speed of this GPU too much.
In case underclocking fixes the issue but you do not wish to decrease the GPU rate then you may try out an after-market video card cooler. They’re available for many popular movie cards and are often more powerful coolers than those that include all the video cards.
There are various other questions you might have in your mind related to the GPU artifacts. We are going to answer them all in this article. So, without any further delays, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
What are the Graphics Card Aartifacting?
Any unwanted effect on your screen caused by a faulty graphics card or some problematic settings can be called GPU artifacts. They can be unmatching lines, sudden splashes of different colors, or a screen with dull colors. So, most of the time, you are going to see some mishappenings with the screen or its colors.
Visual artifacts may be due to an overheating card. Assess your graphics card’s overall heat using a tool such as GPU-Z. Based on airflow inside your case you may have to divert some atmosphere toward the card. Damaged GPU RAM may cause artifacts.
When managing the card, or some other computer part, ensure that you practice jelqing processes. Ground yourself before touching any card to empty any static electricity that might have built up once you walked across the carpeting or puppy the kitty, and also keep yourself grounded while managing the card.
Attempt to maintain the card by its edges and avoid touching any chips or metallic portions of the card. Even though it’s possible to successfully set up a card from your pc without being grounded, all it takes is just one small zap and you have recovered the GPU RAM or anything else within the instance.
Ensure you’ve got the power connectors hooked up properly to the card. Some cards need a couple of power connections.
Examples of video card artifacts
There could be various other reasons for having GPU artifacts other than the hardware problems. You can also have software problems as well. That’s why we are going to cover various circumstances which you can see while having this issue on your computer.
1. GPU artifacts after booting your system
If you start to see these artifacts just after starting your system, it is happening mostly because of hardware problems. If your GPU is not able to process any visuals showing on your screen, you can imagine that either it has got damaged or there are some configuration issues.
You can’t blame the drivers for that as well because they aren’t yet loaded once you have started your system normally. Not, if you are seeing them from the very beginning, they are going to appear also when you open any software or game.
Sometimes, things can go so out of control that you can find it hard to navigate on your system. The system can itself become a hassle for you.
Because you will not be able to see anything on your screen, these artifacts can make things even worse for you. When there are some moving artifacts, you may have to find professional support to fix them up.
2. GPU artifacts on specific software or game
This is the most common thing you will experience most of the time. Either your software becomes non-capable of showing the elements you want or the hardware doesn’t support it.
But, most of the time, it will happen when you load up a game and try to run it. When the required resources are not able in a proper format, the system and hence the screen start to show everything in the form they are.
3. GPU artifacts all the time
This one is the most common scenario which we will see most of the time. A damaged GPU will never be able to process the visuals in the way they should be. So, you are going to see the artifacts all the time and they won’t get fixed without doing a proper fixing or a clean replacement.
From the beginning of your system and till the shutdown, you will always see some kind of unwanted elements on your screen as we discussed earlier.
If you are also seeing something like that, just make sure your GPU is not overclocked. If it is, just remove it. Still, if you are seeing the error, it is the time to replace your GPU right away.
What causes GPU artifacts problem?
Graphics errors produced by video cards are called visual artifacts. Both hardware and software can cause these issues. If you see the artifact during the power-on screen before loading the operating system, it means it has nothing to do with the driver. There is nothing yet loaded.
If you see visual artifacts in only one program, that program may be a software problem. However, if there are artifacts in many programs, it may be a driver problem or hardware damage. If you see the artifacts only after the operating system is loaded, the first thing you should do is the standard “update driver” drill: update the motherboard chipset driver, uninstall the display driver, and then reinstall the latest display driver.
Updating the driver can sometimes solve the problem, and you should always do this even if you think the hardware is responsible. You should exhaust simple software solutions first, and then guess that your hardware is poor.
Cooling issues are mostly behind this problem
It is also a good idea to turn on the computer and make sure all fans are working. Overheating is a common cause of artifacts, so you should check if all fans on the video card are spinning.
The temperature of the video card depends on the type of program you are running. When you run a 2D program, most video cards are cooler. When running 3D programs such as games, the temperature of the video card will rise.
If your artifacts only appear after a few minutes of playing the game, it is usually the cause of overheating. The silicon chip on the video card runs slower at higher temperatures. The higher the chip temperature, the greater the trouble of maintaining the standard clock rate.
By running the computer with the case open and aiming the desktop fan at the video card, this can prove to be an overheating problem. If the artifacts disappear, then you know you have an overheating problem. Another thing you can try to reduce distortion is to reduce the clock frequency of the video card.
Can artifacts damage the GPU?
Most of the time, the artifacts showing on your screen themselves highlight a damaged GPU. Either there are some issues with the card or it can be some problems with the configurations as well.
So, if you are really seeing those artifacts on the screen, your first step should always be to check whether your GPU is in good condition or not. The things that may cause damage to your GPU can be excessive heat. But, OC can also result in various problems as well. We are going to uncover all those things below in this article.
But, to answer your question that artifacts can damage the GPU, you should know a thing that artifacts are highlighting that your GPU is damaged already or not in a position to work in a proper way.
The damaged GPU can only be fixed by an expert and that is what you will have to do. Unless and until you are an expert in graphics hardware, do not try to fix your graphics card manually on your own. It can result in various other issues as well.
How do I know if my graphics card is artifacting?
The main thing you will see when your graphics card starts artifacting is that you see unwanted color saturation or some movement on your screen. The splashes of these colors will look unnatural and that is the thing you will have to keep in mind. The color splashes or various effects can take place without any reason.
Whether you are using software, a game, or another program, the screen can behave in an unnatural way most of the time. If the artifacting is going on just from the beginning of your session, it directly says that there is some serious problem with your GPU.
You should not deny the fact that the software and drivers can also cause this problem. So, before doing any further troubleshooting tasks, you should definitely see what is causing the problem.
When your GPU starts to the artifact, the most common symptom is that you will see it only when you play any 3D video, graphics, or play a game. So, if this is what is happening with you, you are surely seeing GPU artifacting.
There are various other things that play an important role in all this and that is the overall configuration of your system. Sometimes, faulty RAM or storage can also cause issues.
You can’t say that those things are artifacts but they will appear just like them. So, before making a decision for troubleshooting or anything else, make sure to try running various programs and run several pages so that you can confirm that it’s actually GPU artifacting.
How to fix artifacts caused by video/graphics card?
As per the things discussed above, you might have become aware of all the possible reasons for GPU artifacting. So, now applying all the possible fixes will also be easier for you.
In simple words, you can apply these changes on your own and see if the GPU is working fine. Let’s start with the first one.
1. Remove OC
If you have overclocked your GPU, this might be the main and only reason why it is artifacting a lot. When you increase your GPU’s voltage to a certain level, it starts to increase the overall current inside it and it can result in reduced performance.
Now, if your GPU is not able to process all the required visuals properly, you may start to see artifacting. There are various other things you can experience after overclocking your GPU.
Various times, we have seen that the overclocked GPUs got burnt or damaged because of this increase in the voltage levels.
So, the first step is to remove the overclocking function with the same software you have used to overclock in the first place.
2. Check for the heating issues
Heating can also damage your GPU or result in some other problems including artifacting. Well, this is not a reason why you should care a lot because most desktops and laptops will have good cooling systems to keep your system cool.
But, some GPUs can heat up a lot and this might be the reason why they are coming up with these artifacts. The reason why the heating issues appear can be various and most of the time, you start to see these issues while playing games, editing videos, or doing any other high-end graphics task.
Now, it can be very tough to detect the heating issues inside a laptop because you may not see the problems with your eyes.
If you have a desktop, it can be very easy to confirm that all your cooling fans are working fine. Also, the placement of your graphics card will be very important if you are done on your own.
3. Replace or repair your card
If the cooling system is just fine and you have removed the overclocking, it is time to buy a new graphics card for sure. In this case, the artifacts are a clear sign of any wrong thing with your graphics card. Instead of doing the fixing steps on your own, consider getting in touch with an expert.
You can find a computer professional who can dismantle your graphics card and check for errors. Mostly, you have to get a new graphics card and install it on your system.
Any internal damage that happened to your GPU rather by heat or any other issue can’t be fixed. So, it is always advised to get a new Graphics card and then install it on your device properly.
Can other hardware components cause artifacts?
GPU is mostly responsible for these types of errors. You may see artifacts either because your GPU is completely damaged or have some other types of issues. But, no other hardware component inside your computer is going to create this issue for you.
If RAM is damaged because of any reason, you may not be able to boot up your system or open the software. On the other hand, any problems with the CPU will result either in BSOD or a complete system crash.
But, the artifact issues are caused just by the GPU. This means that GPU will make your system not able to process and show the visuals in a proper manner.
Now, if your system has a problematic GPU, the main things which will be impacted are the screen display, games, videos, and other visual elements. So, yes, we can say that no other component will do this kind of thing for you. Just your GPU responsible for it.
Final Verdict
We hope you are now aware of GPU artifacting all other related things to it. We have tried to cover as much information as we can here in this article. But, before you proceed with any type of troubleshooting or replacement, make sure to do some more research.
Also, we would suggest you get in touch with a computer or GPU expert who can look deeply into this matter. Every system is different and you might be seeing this error because of an error that is not actually an error.
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