Very annoying graphical glitches. First off, please excuse my awkwardness at describing elaborate problems. I'm French and my grasp on technical vocabulary is limited Also, almost everything in my computer is new. In the end of last year, everything started getting too old, so I've replaced the hard drives, the power supply, the graphics card and the motherboard. Everything is barely four months old, so quite recent and "modern". 1) CPU: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+, ~2Ghz 2) RAM/Memory: 1GB 3) Free Hard Disk Space: 175GB (7 partitions) 4) Total Hard Disk Space: 336GB 5) Graphic/Video Card: Leadtek PX6500 TDH, Geforce 6500 processor w/ 256MB of RAM 6) Graphic/Video Card Driver Version: 6.14 (latest one I've dled from the Leadtek website) 7) DirectX Version: 9.0c 8) Operating System: Windows XP Pro w/ SP2 9) Sims 2 CD or DVD Version: CD 10) Any expansion packs? All, + an official patch. 11) Any hacks/mods? Any custom objects? Yes, but I've tried without downloads/hacks, the problem stays the same. 12) Nature of problem: It seems to be a graphical one. I don't remember it happening before Nightlife, although it started happening when I began playing legacy challenges. Basically, when there is lots of stuff in the house and that I'm playing generation 3 or 4, major glitches start to happen (and I don't have ANY problem in any other game). To be honest, I don't really know if it happens with the game families, but logically, if it happens for those I've created, it should happen for all. Especially considering I don't have any "exotic" hacks, just portal fixes and stuff that I've downloaded recently, after the problems started. Okay, so on to the list: 1) The screen "flickers" between two images. For example if it happens when I'm changing the view from first floor to second floor, I'll have it flicker between first floor and second floor. Indefinitely. Luckily, the important part of the menu is still functioning (though the family bar on the left and the needs/stats one are flockering too), so I save, go back to the neighbourhood and reenter the lot. Everything's working again, for 7-10 minutes. This is the most impairing one since I spent more time saving and switching back to the neighbourhood that playing... 2) Sometimes, my Sims bodies become black and red, and the body itself becomes T-shaped: legs together and arms outstretched. --> http://i1.tinypic.com/v75mvp.jpg 3) General slowness of the game. Not necessarily loading time, it takes about five minutes to load the game, enter a neighbourhood and load a lot. But when I play a big family on a big lot... it takes time to scroll, to change floors, and immediately after having loaded it, the game is jerky for twenty seconds or so. 4) I've had that for the first time tonight: the screen was almost completely covered with black polygons. --> http://i1.tinypic.com/v75k6f.jpg I had a very hard time saving and exiting the lot, and after that, all clickable buttons were white with unreadable text. 5) I decided to stop playing, saved and exited, and the computer rebooted while the game was still closing. I tried being as specific as possible, sorry if this is a big long. I really hope someone will be able to help me. Thanks in advance.
Good post. Sorry I can't give a good answer. That looks to me like a display card problem. The likliest problem will be the card's cooling fan has failed. Not easy to check as there are probably 3 other fans you can hear running. You might need an engineer to check your system over. If a new fan is needed consider having a passive cooling system fitted to the card instead of another noisy fan. Properly fitted a heatpipe and radiator system will cost only slightly more than a new fan but will make zero noise ... also a passive system cannot fail ... is there a way you can safely find out if the Leadtek's fan is running? If the Leadtek's fan is working correctly you may need better (more efficient) case ventilation. I hope I am wrong about this, but I fear I am not. (Do NOT attempt any examination with power on unless you are fully qualified - especially if you are a minor or under 18 years of age) Postscript. Your english is flawless!
Thank you for this quick answer! Well, I checked the fan and it is functioning properly. Well, it is turning, whether it is enough or not, I don't know ^^ I have a few spare fans, maybe I could try to (temporarily) connect an extra one near the card to see if it changes anything? I really hope this is the reason, it would be simpler to rectify. Really, thanks a lot for your help.
Good luck. One other thought. You rebuilt 4 months ago ... in the winter ... yeah? At this time of year people's homes start to get too warm because the heating is still on but God has turned up the outdoor thermostat, too. I often find I am opening windows, not for fresh air but to cool down. Oops, this could turn into a thread about global warming.
I'd also like to offer my best wishes to you. One more question..... did this happen with your previous setup?
Have no idea - but your English is fabulous! Even better than mine! Well. Mine is mostly words I've made up myself.
