by NickCPC » Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:56 am
D3D is another name for DirectX, the framework/language your graphics card uses to understand instructions on what to render from games. Make sure you're on the latest version by installing this:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=35The Steam help topic also suggested that you make sure you've updated Windows - have you run Windows Update? What operating system are you running, if it's if it's 7, are you on Service Pack 1/if it's Vista, are you on SP2/if it's XP, are you on SP3?
I'd also make sure all your old GPU drivers are completely gone - try running Driver Sweeper (
http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/) and then redownloading drivers from AMD directly -
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspxIf none of that works, it would probably be easier to just back up everything, then reinstall Windows and your Steam games. You should monitor your GPU temperature though.
I also disagree about having a side panel off, it's completely dependent on the case you have. I have an Antec 300 with a GTX570 and an Intel Core i5 2500K heavily overclocked on a Thermaltake Frio, and when both are under full load (Folding@Home for instance), I drop a good 7-8oC by removing my side panel.
Gaming Rig :: Intel Core i7 3930K 4.5GHz, Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5, MSI GTX560Ti TwinFrozrII, Crucial M4 64GB SSD, 4GB Corsair 2000MHz DDR3, Corsair H100 + Scythe Gentle Typhoons, BlackGold BGT3620 DVB-T2, Fractal Arc Midi, Samsung F3 1TB, Seagate 7200.11 750GB, Seagate ST2000DL003 2TB, Seasonic X-650, 7 Ultimate x64 | Work Rig :: Dell Studio 1735, Intel T8100 2.1GHz, 4GB RAM, Corsair P64 SSD, AMD MR HD3650, 17" 1440x900, HW337 backlit keyboard, 8 DevPrev x64