[Guide] Weird graphic artifacts in games on laptop

Hello,

I know the title may seem a little weird, and I hope this helps someone, but a few weeks ago I was trying to play Aion and I kept getting these weird artifacts (image). The "artifacts" are the green junk flying all over the screen.

I am running on an HP laptop with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 with switchable graphics with an Intel(R) HD Graphics.

The issue was that my drivers were out of date, so I first go to AMD to get my updated graphics, download the manager, and it doesn't work. I get an error saying that the manager wasn't compatible with my current hardware and software, which is weird because it was working before. So after a few days of headaches and support help, I'm pointed towards HP's website and to get the drivers from there. So I did and now Aion and a few of my other games work just fine.

In a nutshell:
1. Check your laptop manufacturer's website first, check for drivers there
2. if that doesn't work, ask for help from support
3. if support is throwing you through an endless loop of finger pointing, check the chipset manufacturer (AMD or NVIDIA most likely) and check there.
4. if you cannot find the proper drivers or manager/client, go ask support

I'm typing this up because I was thrown through such a loop for so many days trying to find the proper drivers that if I can help just one person, then it'd be worth it, whether they be apart of this website or someone just needing the right help.

It wasn't fun to not be able to play my games for three days. I hope this helps someone!