Monitor crash during Civilization IV, help!!!

[MikeObi666]

I have been having this problem with most of the games I've been playing for a while now, but only recently has it become annoying enough for me to post on the internet about it. I've been trying to play Civilization IV, but every time I do, and start playing for a while, my monitor shuts off, and my computer becomes instantaneously unresponsive. This happens at random times, but only when I'm in a game, and it never takes the same amount of time for the "error" to occur. The only way I can recover from this error is to reboot my computer illegally. I have an ATI X600 graphics card, and have updated to the most recent drivers. I have also updated the drivers on everything else on my system. Any ideas, folks?

[Metr01973]

Is it like someone unplugging your monitor cable and the error message, is it "no signal input"? If so this was happening to me and it was a faulty card. I had just bought a new card and every few minutes it would be like someone pulling the monitor cable out but only when I was playing games. I'm not saying your card's faulty but it could be an option if it's new. Post your computers specs and we might be able to help. btw welcome to CTH.

[MikeObi666]

YES!!!! That's exactly it!!! No Monitor Input. That's EXACTLY what happens! YES! Someone who finally understands, thank the maker! Okay, here are my stats.

Athlon 64 3000+ 800mhz FSB
ATI X600 PCI-express graphics card 256 MB, drivers all updated.
Asus A8N SLi-Deluxe Motherboard.
Two optical drives, one DVD drive, and one DVD dual layer burner.
X-Dreamer II blue case
7 fans
Acer 19inch LCD monitor
Realtek AC97 Audio card, intigrated.
Intigrated Asus Network card.

I really need to get this fixed, and not have to buy a whole new Graphics card. I wanted to wait to update my whole computer until just before, or after, Windows Vista came out. Do you know how to FIX this problem, and if not, what would you recommend for a graphics card, ATI, or Nvidia?

Thank you so much!

[Metr01973]

Right, glad I can help. My card was brand new and as it turned out after 2 weeks of uninstalling this, reinstalling that, formatting my hard drive, new copy of windows, new PSU, it turned out to be faulty. I just sent mine back and swapped it for another which has been fine. This isn't much help to you though, so you've updated all drivers (for everything not just your graphics card) and it's still doing it (annoying, I know!) Have you tried different monitor leads? etc also have you got another card you could try, I had an old 5600XT lying about so I tested it with that and mine worked fine, that's when I knew that I had got a faulty card, I just want to make sure before I tell you I think it's faulty and you'll have to buy a new one. If this dosen't work then I wouldn't reccomend formatting your HD and reinstalling Windows as I was reccomeneded by the guys at Tech support where I bought it, this is just time consuming and a waste of time but you can try if you want to. But to be honest I think you have the same problem I had and that I'm afraid is a faulty card. If you do decide to buy a new card it's really down to personal preference which brand you go for. I like Nvidia and stick with them and my new 7800GS CO is fantastic and runs everything (well apart from Oblivion) maxed out @ 1280x1024 but Oblivion is damn close, I can run that @ 1024x768 maxed out. But it was expensive (£242 inc VAT+P&P). As you've got an ATI card I would stick with them unless this has put you off. I'm afraid ATI cards are not my strong point and I don't really know what card to suggest but I bet there are plenty of ppl on this forum that will, just make a fresh thread on which card to buy in the hardware section or similar. If you're going to go down the Nvidia road then I suggest - 6600GT (if your on a budget), 6800XT/GT (medium range), 7800/7900GT/GTX (high range). I bought my card to last me till Vista and DX10 comes out (about another year apparantly) so a good mid range choice for me would be the 7600GT which has taken over from the 6600GT and does quite well in bench marks. But like I said I would start another thread if you're going to buy a new card because the ATI's do have better benchmarks and someone somewhere will suggest something, LMAO. Hope this helped and please post to let me know what happens, atleast then I might be able to help somebody else.

[MikeObi666]

Well. I fixed it. It seems I needed to update my BIOs, I thought I had before, but I guess it didn't take effect or something. Anyway, I then set my Video Card to maximum quality, and the problem seems to be fixed. No errors, no nothing, and I've been playing my games for a long time. Thanks a lot, man, you helped me a lot!

(p.s. Sorry for the delay on the reply.)

[Metr01973]

Nice one! glad you got it sorted. btw thanks for replying as I hadn't thought about flashing your bios, hopefully I will be able to pass this on to someone if they have the same problems.

[aByss)]

Hi I have exatly the same problem (playing the game when it turns into black screen, then it says "no signal" and sometimes I can still hear some game sounds for few seconds... but restart doesnt help it i must off/on the source). Strange is that it happened sometimes in past, then long time seemed to be ok and now its back, today it did three times. And its happening to me only in games like Guildwars (mostly there) Neverwinter Nights and Warcraft 3 (in W3 usually few seconds after loading game), but never in FPS like Unreal Tournament 2k4 or Counterstrike. Do you have any special idea or I should try the same as Mike? Thank you anyways!

[Metr01973]

aByss, it's worth I try as it worked for MikeObi666. But there are things to try first. Make sure that you have updated drivers for your GPU (you've not listed your specs so I can't help you there). If you do update your drivers make sure that you uninstall the previous drivers first. If you have the latest driver and didn't uninstall the previous one first, then it might be an idea to do that and then run driver cleaner pro and remove any traces of the driver and then do a fresh install. It's always best to start off with a clean install as traces of the old driver (even if it's the same brand i.e Nvidia, ATI) can cause errors and crashes. If you do decide to flash your BIOS please make sure that you know what you're doing, because if you get it wrong it can cause no end of problems. just search for mobo manufactuers website and then find your mobo model number and then find the right BIOS version. Once again just make sure that you know it's correct. I've posted a link for driver cleaner pro below if you need it.
http://www.drivercleaner.net/professional.html