Artifacting is an error that can occur in a computer’s graphics processing unit (GPU). When artifacting occurs, visual artifacts (distortions or anomalies) appear in the output of the GPU. Artifacts can be caused by a number of things, including hardware or software defects, overheating, or simply running the GPU at too high of a speed.

Let’s understand everything in this tech guide step by step.

What is Artifact or Artifacting?

In simple words, artifacting is an anomaly that occurs when the video signal from a computer or video game system is corrupted. Artifacts can be caused by a number of things, including hardware defects, software bugs, or simply interference from external sources.

In natural science and signal processing, an artifact or artefact is any error in the perception or representation of any information introduced by the involved equipment or technique.

Wikipedia

It occurs when something appears in a digital image that wasn’t originally there. This can be caused by a number of things, including a malfunctioning camera sensor or bad compression of the image file. Artifacts can also be caused by viewing an image on a screen that is not calibrated properly.

Artifacting in GPU

Artifacts in GPUs’ are visual distortions that appear in games or other applications due to errors in the graphics processing unit (GPU).

Artifacts can take many different forms, but the most common is “screen tearing,” where the image on the screen appears to be split into two or more separate pieces. Other common artifacts include “flickering,” “snow,” and “static.”

Causes and fixes of artifacting in GPU

GPU artifacting can be caused by a variety of things, including overheating, driver issues, and hardware defects.

1. Overheating

In simple words, overheating generally occurs when the GPU is running too hot and is thermally throttling.

  • The first reason could be that your case airflow is poor and not providing enough cooling for your GPU.
  • The second reason could be that your GPU is overclocked and running at a higher than normal voltage, which can cause it to run hotter than usual.
  • The third reason could be that your GPU is simply defective and running at a higher than normal temperature.
Fix:

If you suspect that your GPU is thermally throttling or overheating, you can try increasing your case airflow or lowering your GPU clock speed to control the overheating. Overheating is the most common cause of artifacts, and can usually be fixed by increasing the cooling of the GPU.

2. Not enough power

The GPU is not getting enough power and is being undervolted. This problem is most likely to be caused by power supply. When power supply doesn’t provide enough current to support the overall hardware of the system.

  • It can be due to the old power supply on a new system.
  • Or you have upgraded your graphics card (GPU) but it cannot supply enough power.
  • Sometimes, GPU’s have manufacturing defect(s).
Fix:

The first thing to try is to increase the power supply to the GPU or try replacing it with a new one. If that does not solve the problem, then the GPU may be faulty and need to be replaced.

3. Faulty GPU

There is no single answer to this question as the cause of the problem could be any number of things.

The first step would be to narrow down the problem by testing the GPU in another system to see if the issue persists. If it does, then the GPU is most likely the culprit and will need to be replaced.

If the problem does not persist, then it is likely that something else in the system is causing the issue, such as a faulty motherboard or power supply.

4. Driver issues

Sometimes, drivers can also cause artifacts and this probably the most easiest problem to solve in this whole GPU artifacts issue.

Fix:

On Windows, you can simply update your Windows by going into settings > update > select check updates. If there are any updates, click on update and then on install. Lastly, restart your computer and test if this fix the problem.

If the problem is still not fixed, then download the latest drivers from the GPU manufacturing website and update your PC with them.