A gamer is having problems with his graphics card, and the purchase of a new GPU is being considered. However, some speculate that it is not the graphics card at all. A further check could save him a lot of money in the end.
Graphics cards cost a lot of money, and a hardware failure can quickly become expensive. A gamer reported having severe glitches and graphics problems and already feared that his graphics card would soon fail.
But with some help, he then found out that the graphics card isn’t actually broken, but that the issue lies elsewhere.
Our title image is a symbolic image.
Problems with the graphics card primarily occur in two specific games
What exactly was the problem? A user posted several images on reddit and explained that he feared his graphics card was dying. In the images, you can see that the graphical representation is completely messed up in places:
- Fire and other graphical effects are displayed like a “disco” effect, making it hard to see anything.
- Textures are only partially loaded, allowing you to see through walls and buildings.
- Some graphic representations are heavily stretched and are literally “glitching” around.
For the player, it is clear that something must be wrong, and in the end, even the graphics card could be to blame. And replacing an RTX 3070 is not cheap, as this graphics card still costs around 500 euros.
What has been the solution approach so far? In the comments, some users already explained that the errors did not look like a hardware failure. It seemed more like a driver error or a lack of support from the game. Especially older games do not cope with newer graphics cards and produce unsightly visual bugs.
Some also pointed out that it could be overheating issues of the graphics card or, in the worst case, a technical defect of the video memory of the GPU.
The owner of the posts explained in an update that they had already removed the old graphics card driver from the PC and wanted to take care of new software. However, some issues were also present with new software. In the benchmark program 3DMark, however, there were no issues. He mainly played Vermintide 1 + 2.
Check various things before investing a lot of money in new hardware
Hardware is very expensive right now: Basically, you need to invest a lot of money for a graphics card. Many players already complain that PC gaming will soon only be affordable for rich people: Especially GPUs have been getting more and more expensive for months, and you could pay almost 2,000 euros for an RTX 4090.
Thorough troubleshooting is worth it: If you have errors or problems with your graphics card, first check your other hardware, games, and software: Do all other games run completely smoothly, and does Windows show no problems? Then, it is most likely not a hardware failure.
Often, it is also worthwhile to try games from different manufacturers. If you stick with one manufacturer, you might end up testing your graphics card with the same graphics engine every time: For example, EA has been using the Frostbite engine for many games for years.
Especially older software can cause problems with newer GPUs because older features may no longer be supported or processed differently.
A thorough check can save you from a costly and unnecessary hardware purchase in the worst case – unless you really want to upgrade and see the problems now as an opportunity for a long-awaited upgrade.
