In addition, visual artifacts may be caused by the video cable connecting your monitor to your GPU. This article presents multiple methods you can use to resolve the artifacting issue on your system.
1. Use a Different Video Cable
If you encounter artifacts, try using an alternate video input cable with your system. A defective cable can disrupt communication between the GPU and your monitor, leading to artifacts. Therefore, switch out your video input cable to see if the problem persists. You can also try different ports on both your GPU and monitor to determine if that resolves the issue.
2. Turn off G-Sync (if applicable)
G-Sync is a feature in some monitors designed to eliminate screen tearing. However, if you are using a monitor with G-Sync support and encounter artifacts, the feature may be malfunctioning. First, access the monitor’s settings menu to find and disable the G-Sync function. Alternatively, use the NVIDIA Control Panel to turn it off.
3. Reinstall Graphics Drivers
Corrupted or outdated graphics drivers can also cause artifacts on your monitor by preventing proper communication with the GPU. To resolve this, a clean installation of the graphics drivers is necessary.
4. Reseat Graphics Card
If your GPU is not correctly inserted into the motherboard, this could lead to screen artifacts. This is especially common after moving your computer or if the GPU was never fully inserted initially. To fix this, you’ll need to reseat the graphics card to ensure it’s properly seated.
5. Disable MPO
Multiplane Overlay (MPO) is designed to reduce the workload on your CPU and GPU. However, after a recent NVIDIA update, it has been causing artifacts.
6. Clean your Graphics Card
Overheating due to dust buildup in your graphics card’s fans can also lead to artifacts. Cleaning the graphics card is necessary in this case. Use gentle bursts from an air blower to remove accumulated dust from the GPU fans. After cleaning the fans, make sure the rest of the graphics card is dust-free. Then, reinsert the graphics card into your system and verify if the issue persists.
7. Check your GPU
In cases where the graphics card itself is defective, artifacts on the monitor are a common symptom. A damaged GPU might be unable to render graphics properly due to an internal issue. To confirm this, test the GPU by installing it in a different computer system. If artifacts show up, unfortunately, your GPU may be faulty. Conversely, if there are no artifacts, another issue may be causing the problem, and you can continue with the next method.
8. Reinstall Windows
If none of the above methods has worked, a fresh installation of Windows may be the solution. This will help to eliminate any software-related problems causing the artifacts. Before reinstalling Windows, it is highly recommended to format your hard drive and start with a clean slate. Consequently, make sure to back up important data to avoid loss; you can use this guide to back up your data. Refer to this guide for detailed instructions on performing a clean installation of Windows. This should address the issue with artifacts in Windows. If the problem continues post-installation, consider contacting the official Microsoft support team or seek assistance from a local PC repair professional.
