I feel your pain - I've had this problem across several cards and whilst increased cooling has reduced the occurance of the issue, over time it tends to creep back and cause issues again.

The stretched polygons you can see are called artifacts, and what is causing this artificing is corrupt memory. The memory is corrupt due to overheating as people have mentioned. Many graphics cards today are being absolutely hammered by more and more demanding games, and as a result, the physical memory on these cards are cookin' because by the large they are left uncooled by the manufacturers.

You can buy memory coolers from most decent PC hardware suppliers which you should ONLY apply on a fresh and new graphics card (as it will invalidate your warranty). You are however, entitled to exercising your warranty and requesting an RMA from your vendor. Once you have recieved a replacement card, it may be worth purchasing additional cooling (especially if you have a card that is more susceptible to these issues than others) or just RMA it again when the problems re-surface.

I really should hate myself for knowing this but: If you own the Nightlife expansion (the expansion that introduces compatability based on specific requirements - as opposed to simply star sign compatability), you need to obtain a potion that allows you to change a sims "Turn Ons" and "Turn Offs". I believe every sim has one in their inventory by default, and you can buy more from one of the stores in-game.

I hope this helps. :)

Like greatmax1 said, sounds like you've only just discovered CSS.Rattlesnake_8

What a wonderfully polite and politically correct way to call someone a nub. ;)

As long as you don't spwan rape I don't see anything wrong with it.fivex84

Actually spawn/base rape is actually a game mechanic. Whilst server admins try to discourage it - if the server utilises autobalance - it is a good mechanic for encouraging team balance. (Irritated players disconnect, the teams get balanced)

depends on what type of camping you do. there a more agressive camping, that you can see a lot in Battlefield series, where the sniper is actually hunting for people, or protecting his team from a better top view position. but those campers that take advantage of spawn, and just do nothing are really stupid players, with no sense of team work or game spirit.
Magatsu23

I hate to say it, but the Battlefield series made some seriously decent advances to the world of DM. That is why I can't understand when people try to undo or backtrack on the proven and defining mechanics that pushed the genre forward (I'm talking the abolition of bunnyhopping, the emphasis on teamplay, the expansive fields of play and of course the varied methods of play)

I avoid the "affordable" gamer cards such as nVIDIA's x600 range and also the expensive (and usually buggy at first) launch cards such as the x800 range.

The 7 series was by far one of the best as we saw a very decent x9xx range, which pushed the capabilities of the successful 7800 so that I needn't bother with the 8xxx series and just have to wait for the 9xxx series.

I doubt nVIDIA will milk a series as much as they did with the 7 series, and will presumably continue the model that was used throughout the 8 series (launch with a top-notch card and just build around that with minor modifications.