Graphics Problem in Prepar3D and FSX-SE

[IanHenry]

Hi,

I'm looking for help solving a problem that I'm having. I've been experiencing black flashing lines on my screen when using Prepar3D v2.5. Those appear no matter what scenery setting I use. I've tried changing the video drivers. My computer has recently been re formatted and re installed so v 2.4 has never been used on this installation but it ran ok prior to the re install.

I've also had some problems using FSX-SE. When I end a flight the screen goes totally black instead of returning to the start screen, although the simulator is running behind the black screen because you can hear it if you click on the tabs. Trying to alleviate this problem was the reason for the re format Running FSX in DX10 mode seems to be a way around this problem.

My Graphics card is an Nvidia GTX580 and I'm wondering if my card is on it's way out and if so, would a GTX 960 or a GTX 970 with 4Gb be a suitable replacement for it or would I have to go for a 980?

Any suggestions as to the possibility that my Graphics card is dying or if there's something that I can do to solve those problems will be very much appreciated.



Thanks,

Ian

[SpaceWeevil]

I'd have thought a dying graphics card would show up more often than just in FSX and P3D, so I wonder if this is a Direct X issue - maybe your reinstall left you with an earlier version or a mismatch? As for the cards, I use a GTX 970 with an i7 at 4.4 GHz and it's a nice combo for me - not quite maxed out, certainly not with Orbx around, but mostly silky smooth.

[Hdguy]

I would say 2 things.

DX is corrupt.. You can rebuild it.

Or the card is dying under load. Do you have an older one to test with?

[IanHenry]

Thanks for your suggestions. I initially thought that it was a DX problem so I used the Microsoft update tool but when that didn't work to fix the FSX-SE problem that's why I took the dramatic step of a complete re-format and re-install. It was only after that that the P3D problem started.
I'm beginning to suspect that the Graphics card is dying on me, it is a few years old (don't forget it's a 5 series and were now on 9) but it has been a good card so it will be sad to see it go. If it is the graphics card I'll probably go for a complete new system as the computer is 6 years old (though not the graphics card).

Thanks,
Ian

[Daube]

How do these black flashes look exactely ?
Are they kind of very thin peaks/triangles starting from the ground and going up the sky, for a 1/10th of a second, many of them close to another ?
If yes, then your video card is probably fine, it's the settings of the game that are a bit too heavy and need adjustments.

First things to do would be the followings:
- ensure your FPS limit is set to a reasonnable number, like 30 or 25, and NOT unlimited.
- force a regeneration of the shaders.

[IanHenry]

Hi Daube,
Those aren't the sort of flashes that you get when you get Scenery Spikes, they can flash across the screen horizontally, vertically of diagonally. I've deleted the shaders and set my frame limit as you suggested and I think it's a little better. I think I'll do a bit more testing, particularly with other graphics heavy sims like Rise of Flight, Battle of Stalingrad and DCS to see how the graphics fair with those before I spend any money.



Thanks,
Ian