the last few days i ahve been getting these artifacts while playing some games. I've never had a problem like this before with my graphics card ( i think that's the problem)
i have been getting these types of artifacts (minecraft) - Pics
also similar artifacts in Company of Heroes
i didn't get any while playing Mafia 2 or Counter Strike Source.
I'm not seeing what you are referring to as artifacts, then again I've always thought minecraft looked like digital noise to begin with. .
Generally they are a indication that the hardware is going bad, or that the memory has overheated at some point.
If they are caused by damage, the probably will more than likely get progressively worse.
Ah okay see the game is so blocky they didn't really stand out to me not being familiar with it.
That's typical artifacting though.
See it here in counter strike.
Anyhow here's a link with some examples of different kind of artifacts and possible causes for them.
Diagnose video card problems by comparing with example corrupted screens
given the diagnosis on that page my initial 'the video ram has overheated' seems fairly accurate.
If you have overclocked your graphics card this is also a possible result from pushing the memory too hard.
It would be odd that it's showing up in a game that's as easy on the graphics as minecraft but not some of the more intense games also.
The fact remains that the distortion you are seeing is fairly typical of a video ram problem though. ..Or possibly even just a heat problem, when was the last time you got a can of compressed air and gave the system a good clean up?
I also suggest removing the cpu overclock just for the purpose of troubleshooting.
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