Graphics bug in patch 0.9.11

Here are my observations + a video about the graphic glitches:

- It happens sometimes when the game has been running for a while in areas with lots of shadow / graphic effects (auras) activity (Alira's Camp, Pyramid, Act 2 Endboss);

- I can port back to the act settlement, usually no graphic glitches there;

- One of the first times it happened (this was with beta 9.10 patch, haven't played for some months before so i can't tell if it started with that version) i managed to continue without glitches by disabling shadow effects while being in the act 2 settlement .. the last times i tried this the client would crash when trying to change shadow settings;

- Usually i can switch shadow settings without problems after starting the game or playing for a little time;

- Switching shadow settings after a long playtime usually crashes the client even without those graphics glitches appearing (for example if i'm heading to Alira and want to keep my framerate high by disabling shadows);

- Maybe not related to the glitches but i mention it: alt-tabbing to desktop also stops working after some time .. i can solve this problem by changing from fullscreen to windowed fullscreen in the options.


Video

Here's a video from today, demonstrating the glitches.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?s3s4pm986olfbj6 (filesize 22 MB)


What happened before the start of the video?

- I was in the Pyramids on my way to the upper floors. Glitches started when a rare mob (killed others earlier) with auras came in viewing range;

- I die :) ... took some screenshots:
http://bilderhost.com/ImageHosting/14910_PoEgraphicalglitches1.jpg.html
http://bilderhost.com/ImageHosting/14911_PoEgraphicalglitches2.jpg.html
http://bilderhost.com/ImageHosting/14912_PoEgraphicalglitches3.jpg.html

- went back to act 2 town (graphics ok there) and decided to try again to switch shadow settings, knowing that this would probably result in a crash.

- Had the idea to test if it works in the act 1 settlement .. that area was immediately glitched when i arrived.

- Decided to fraps the incident .. couldn't alt tab out so i switched from fullscreen to windowed fullscreen ... now i could start fraps;

- running around a bit as you can see, act2 settlement still ok, back to pyramids, trying to switch shadow settings there .. game crashes at end of video.


Crashlog and system specs

Crashlog was hopefully sent; at about 8 pm 2012-07-25 UTC +2 .. just in case i'll generate some more today ;-)

Intel i5-3550 (4 x 3,3 GHz)
ATI HD 5770 (1GB video memory, manufacturer: Sapphire)
16 GB DDR3-1600 RAM
Win7 64bit professional

I'm running Catalyst 12.4 drivers, dxdiag didn't report any problems.

I haven't personally had this happen, but I was watching a stream last night. They were in the later parts of act 1, and all 6 of the people playing encountered the same glitch.

Some more obvservations:

- Today i started the game without activating shadows, also deleted the shadow cache folder.

- spent some time in act2 settlement checking and optimizing gear, then went to Waterfall Cave Level 2 and made my way into the pyramid section.

- after some time graphics glitches would start again (1-1.5 hours playtime until then) .. i started fraps and experimented with some ingame graphics settings.

Video link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?gaodppbt88welcp

- turning off postprocessing and switching 2x anisotropic filtering to trilinear filtering didn't remove the effects.

- switched form no shadows to basic shadows, client hang for a second .. still no changes.

- reverting the first 2 changes made the client crash. For the first time i got these error boxes instead of the usual "the client stopped working" stuff.





- As i mentioned in my earlier post: crashes because of changing shadow settings happened before even without graphics problems.

This has been happening to me with increasing frequency. Some observations:

The only way I know to cure the issues to to close and relauch PoE.

Heat does not seem to be a factor, as if you return to town it clears up. Usually happens indoors, in the Pyramid and in map runs.

My temps are in the 130F range on my system; no other games have issues.

While I cant say this applies to all of you, Ive noticed similar graphics issues in other games when using a video card that was slowly dying. One thing you might consider is pulling the video card and checking the tops of the capacitors (they look like little cylinders with silver tops that have lines etched in them). If any of the tops are bulging outward or even worse, cracked, its probably time for a new video card.

Im getting these too, but whats really weird, is it doesnt seem to be any one area, but always when i go afk for a extended amount of time. Happened in lionseye, the ledge, fellshrine, forest encamp, etc...