Graphic problem

[Crossman35]

Hi guys,

Hm, I got some graphic problem on some track, sometimes, but not always, mostly in 3D objects and textures.

Here is some screens :

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I download all the trackfiles and the models, it works sometimes.
My drivers are the up to date, and my PC is almost new (I7 + 960M).

I have absolutely no idea what's the problem so if you have an idea, I'll be glad to hear it !

Thanks.

[Pumaxcs]

Hey Crossman, long time no play. Forgot about that Fox gear, amazing how good it still looks.

This looks bad and really inconsistent. When does this start happening? Can you check and see what your usage is on the CPU/GPU if they are throttling performance because of heat? What is your allocated VRAM to the GPU? When you say it works sometimes does that mean that at one point all models and skins work then they start to dissapear or does that mean that you use the same model/skins and tracks everytime and each load something different works/breaks?

[jlv]

Definitely looks like the graphics memory is getting corrupted. It might help to go down a step on the texture detail.

[Crossman35]

Hi Puma & JLV !

Ahah, yeah, little bit old gear but still looks pretty sick !

So, first of all, I was thinking that, when I was under approximately 1600mb of texture memory it was ok but then it reappears with 1507 mb used ...

When you say it works sometimes does that mean that at one point all models and skins work then they start to dissapear or does that mean that you use the same model/skins and tracks everytime and each load something different works/breaks?

-> That mean that at one point all models and skins work then they start to dissapear

About the heat, there is maybe something strange. It looks like the 960M is not used everytime, but just intermittently.

Look :


The heat is about 50°C, so pretty normal I think.
However, the intergated GPU (Intel HD 4600) rise to 70°C.

JLV, about the textures detail, can I have a little explaination about the different "Terrain Rendering Method".
When I'm in "Software", it works almost everywhere. In "Hardware/Copy" also. In "Hardawre/Direct", with all graphics High, its crashes on national tracks, and in "Softawre" copy or direct, it's working only on "basic" tracks.
But actually, I don't see such a big graphic difference when I'm playing.

Thanks for your help !

[Pumaxcs]

Under the graphics tab what driver/device does it say its using (Bottom of the page, give us a screenshot if its a few lines of info, its all helpful)? The 960 is being used but the spikes and temp make it seem like its not being used for the game.

In the nVidia Control Panel, the bottom left it will have "System Information" icon. Select the nVidia device in the list and about mid-way down that list give us all the info related to memory, should have things like rate, size, system, shared, etc. all of it.

Between those two, that will tell us what device the game is using and the memory allocated to both of the devices, system and video separately.

Terrain Rendering Method doesn't really change the appearance, but how its done. Unless you count Shaders/Driect or Copy which will then also load terrain shader maps.

[Crossman35]

Under the graphics tab what driver/device does it say its using (Bottom of the page, give us a screenshot if its a few lines of info, its all helpful)? The 960 is being used but the spikes and temp make it seem like its not being used for the game.

Not sure about what you mean but here is the "Graphic Card" information :





But it doesn't say which one is used apparently.

In the nVidia Control Panel, the bottom left it will have "System Information" icon. Select the nVidia device in the list and about mid-way down that list give us all the info related to memory, should have things like rate, size, system, shared, etc. all of it.

Between those two, that will tell us what device the game is using and the memory allocated to both of the devices, system and video separately.

This is what you want ?

And sorry, it's in French

Terrain Rendering Method doesn't really change the appearance, but how its done. Unless you count Shaders/Driect or Copy which will then also load terrain shader maps.

Ok, thanks for explanation !

[Pumaxcs]

All good! I took French in high school and passed with a 71 so I've pretty much got this.

For the first one, my fault. I forgot to mention that was in game under the Graphics menu. So, under the graphics/Sound menu at the bottom will be a line that says "driver info" and that will be what the game uses and the driver the device is using. Second one is what I was looking for. As for my explanation its pretty bad, its just slipped my mind once again the actual details between the two so hopefully JLV or someone who remembers can help with that.

[jlv]

Direct means textures are rendered directly into texture memory with OpenGL framebuffer objects.
Copy mean textures are rendered into the back buffer first and then copied to texture memory.

Shaders = terrain rendered with shader programs with norm/spec maps.
Hardware = terrain rendered with static textures rendered on the graphics card.
Software = terrain rendered with static textures rendered on the CPU.

Did you try going down a step on the texture detail? I have to admit it's a little disappointing that the NVIDIA drivers are crashing when rendering to textures.

[Crossman35]

All good! I took French in high school and passed with a 71 so I've pretty much got this.

Ahah, at least, it was not totally useless !

For the first one, my fault. I forgot to mention that was in game under the Graphics menu. So, under the graphics/Sound menu at the bottom will be a line that says "driver info" and that will be what the game uses and the driver the device is using.

Oh, okay, didn't got it ! So when I'm on the menu, it's the Intel card which is working, not the Nvidia. But I don't know if it's changing when I'm playing ...

Direct means textures are rendered directly into texture memory with OpenGL framebuffer objects.
Copy mean textures are rendered into the back buffer first and then copied to texture memory.

Shaders = terrain rendered with shader programs with norm/spec maps.
Hardware = terrain rendered with static textures rendered on the graphics card.
Software = terrain rendered with static textures rendered on the CPU.

Did you try going down a step on the texture detail? I have to admit it's a little disappointing that the NVIDIA drivers are crashing when rendering to textures.

Thanks, good to know !

Yeah, I tried to lower the texture detail, and when i'm low it's working well. But the thing is, with my last PC which was much less powerfull, I could play with great graphic setup so I just found weird to not be able to do it on the new one ... !

[Crossman35]

There is something I really don't understant. On the Nvidia Control Panel, I put the Nvidia card as "favourite", so theoretically, it's supposed to use only this card no ?



But, on GPU-Z, apparently, the card is still used intermittently ... Any explanations ?
And the Intel card is still working all the time ...

[Pumaxcs]

For the first one, my fault. I forgot to mention that was in game under the Graphics menu. So, under the graphics/Sound menu at the bottom will be a line that says "driver info" and that will be what the game uses and the driver the device is using.

Oh, okay, didn't got it ! So when I'm on the menu, it's the Intel card which is working, not the Nvidia. But I don't know if it's changing when I'm playing ...

Ding ding! That's what I thought was happening. I remember helping someone else out with this. I believe how we eventually got it working was with Control Panel. Normally what you have selected there would correct the issue but, there is one more option just by manually forcing it.

You can find this by searching directly for "Device Manager", or if that doesn't work by going to Control Panel<System<On the left pane there will be some other options, the top one will be Device Manager. Once there the third tab down will be "Display Adapters", click this to open it and it will have both the Intel and Nvidia options. Right click on the Intel HD Graphics option and "Disable" it and that will then force the laptop to use the Nvidia.

[Crossman35]

Weirdly it's working since 2 or 3 hours ... I reset the settings on the Nvidia control panel, and re-add the game on the program setting, and it looks like it's working. I can launch the National tracks in Software/Copy without almost any lag so it's nice !
The Nvidia card is still working intermittently when I'm not playing but it's not really a problem ... !

I found what you mean, I'll not try it now, but if the problem re-appears, I'll try it. But for now, I'll try to keep my Intel card to save my battery when I'm not in charge !

Anyway, big thanks Puma & JLV, very helpfull !

[Pumaxcs]

The Nvidia card won't have to exert itself very hard for common desktop uses so seeing spikes in usage there isn't a big deal, I've also seen some completely turn off the dedicated card and only use the Intel one for power saver purposes (Another idea I had was changing the Power Usage to allow it to use the Nvidia card more freely). My way I suggested was more so to see if it would use it at all and should, by all means be a last ditch effort.

Good to hear its working now.