VGA monitor going blank during 3-d game play on new computer

this rules out the cpu and board. your graphics card is causing the trouble. if you can acertain that it isn't overheating, the card is probably defective.

Definately not a monitor problem... monitors don't crash computers.

Is your DirectX up to date?

Have you tried an uninstall of your video drivers and then a re-install?

UPDATED log of what's been done

This is a SUMMARY of the problem, and the steps I have taken so far.

THE PROBLEM:

At apparently random intervals into playing some 3D games the monitor goes black. In a couple of seconds, the green light next to the power switch starts flashing (like it's in standby mode).

Occasionally a sound effect will loop 2-3 times before going silent, as if the system were hanging.

The system fans keep running, and the MoBo lights stay on.

The numlock key will no longer toggle the numlock light afterward (on stays on, off stays off).

Restarting the monitor does nothing - the light goes green, then returns to flashing mode.

Rebooting the computer with the reset key brings the system back normally.

Note that I am not overclocking, never have overclocked, and never intend to overclock.


WHEN IT OCCURS:

Playing 3D accellerated games, at apparently random intervals. It can happen in intense graphics moments, or simply at the start-up screen. Shortest duration a game was up was about 45 seconds, longest was about 25 minutes. It can happen if the game is left idle as well.

Games when it has occurred:

Pirates of the Caribbean
Mechwarrior IV Vengeance
Medieval Total War (a game that ran fine on my 7 year old Voodoo 2 system)

Various 3D demos of games
BREED (FPS+ vehicles) demo
Tachyon (Space fighter sim) demo
Armored Fist 3 (tank sim) demo
Comanche 4 (helicopter sim) demo

Games when it has NOT occurred:*

*At least not during the hour or more of time I played.

Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader (2D)
Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun (2D)
Homeworld: Cataclysm (3D)
IL2 Sturmovik (3D)

It NEVER occurs during non-gaming computer use, internet use, etc.

Some demo games's missions are short enough that they can be played through entirely, closing out the game normally, thereby ruling out any given file or process as the cause.

My system:

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard
--SLI set to single card mode

AMD Athalon 64 3800+ (512 cache)

1xNVIDIA GeForce 6600GT GPU, 128 MB DDR3, PCI express, SLI capable (not using), DVI

2x 1 GB RAM, DDR400, ULTRA brand
--2GB total

ULTRA 500w power unit
Seagate 120 GB SATA hard drive
BENQ CD/DVD R/W

Recycled my Gateway Plug&Play CRT monitor (VX900)
--It is 7 years old but has not given me problems ever

Windows XP Home Edition, service pack 2


WHAT I HAVE TRIED (that has not worked):

*Changed / lowered refresh rates, graphics quality, color quality, and screen resolution

*Upgraded all WinXP patches

*Changed NVIDIA driver to ver. 66.93 - newer versions (70.90) are reported as buggy.

*Upgraded ASUS A8N-SLI deluxe BIOS to 1011 (final)

*Various game patches installed

*Removed all extra drives except primary (E:, a SATA hard disk)

*Used prime95 to stress test the MoBo, RAM and CPU. 45 mins of smooth testing, none failed, system temps (CPU, RAM, MoBo) remained below 52c.

*Turned off ASUS Cool'n'Quiet utility - reported in online forums as causing system shutdowns. Later uninstalled it.

*Turned off all power management settings in Windows

*Checked the BIOS automatic power-down settings - all set well above the values I have observed just prior to shutdown.

TEMPERATURE TESTING:

*Reworked inner cables for better airflow - all round cables

*Installed extra fans (2 front, 2 rear front-to-rear airflow), as well as CPU fan, chipset fan, side panel fan, GPU fan, and powersource fan.

*Monitored GPU temps during regular computing and 3D gameplay. Temp values do not rise outside of tolerance ranges. However, the NVIDIA monitor does not leave a log of temps behind, so I have had to alt-tab out of games at intervals to record manually the temps - meaning if there is a sudden spike I could not observe it.

3D gaming: highest recorded GPU temp 53c, CPU stabilizes at 50-52c (measured by ASUS probe, which leaves a log).

(note: I have a Big Typhoon large CPU cooling fan ready to install, but I am using the OEM packaged CPU fan atm. Since the temps are not implicating a problem, I don't think installing the BT will help this issue.)



PROBLEMS THAT MIGHT BE RELATED:

On initial install, Windows XP found four items of hardware that it tried to find drivers for - but failed. At the time we were just trying to get basic computer operations working, so I had XP ignore those.

Since this problem cropped up I went back to find them in Hardware Manager, they are all listed as unknown, and three of them map onto the XFX NVIDIA graphics card - even though the graphics card itself is recognized and installed. I do not understand this - is Windows not properly understanding components of my graphics card? THe fourth item is something associated with setting up RAID systems, which I am not using.


Also The mobo chipset fan suggests that its max speed is 6600 rpm, it regularly runs at 8000+. The mobo temps are not out of range, but this fan seems to be running very fast for some reason.

Is it possible to do that without buying a totally new power supply?


It was also asked if I had updated Direct X - just installed Direct X 9c. I am certain I had Direct X 9 before, and might have had 9c, but maybe this will do the trick.

Hello and welcome to Techspot.

You could also try turning off(if on) fastwrite in your bios, as this can in some systems cause instability issues with your videocard.

It was suggested earlier in this thread that you run the memtest86+ programme.

Unless I`ve missed it, I can`t seem to find any reference to you running it.

Download the programme from www.memtest.org Let it run for at least seven passes. If you don`t have a floppy drive, then there is an iso version, that you can burn to cd, and then boot from that.

If that checks out ok, then I would have to conclude that it`s your videocard that`s the culprit.

Regards Howard :wave: :wave:

this is an indication of a serious hardware problem. replace the video card yourself or have a local technician test another card under the same conditions.

Found a new possible problem.

nVidia Monitor View, a monitoring program for temp, bus speeds, and voltages, is reporting that my CPU voltage is at 3.8v, and is stating that that is TOO MUCH.

Also, the GPU memory bus speed is close to it's redline at 1000.

Any clue how to fix these issues?

I don`t wish to appear rude but, please follow the advice given.

I.E run the memtest programme, Then if it`s ok change the videocard.

Regards Howard

Just let me get this straight, is it the 3.3v rail that is giving 3.8v, or is it vcore which is 3.8v?

If it's the former, it indicates a faulty PSU, if it's the latter, your cpu is a phoenix that arise from the ashes every times you run it, as vcore should be set to 1.5..
That (the latter) might just be a faulty reading either from the program or from the hardware. Download another utility that supports your motherboard and see if that gives the same error...

Oh, and Howard, if he were to follow the advice in the order they were given, he really should investigate the PSU first, as I mentioned it on the prev page

Yes indeed he should. I forgot about that one lol

Regards Howard

1) Not rude at all, thanks for the redirection. Basically I've been learning each thing along the way, and Memtest at first would not work, kinda scared me, but I got it sorted :bounce: .

Ran Memtest86+ v 1.55 with NO errors after 13 complete passes (overnight).

Complete memtest info:

Athlon 64 (0.13) 2412 MHz
L1: 128K 19773MB/s
L2: 512K 4913MB/s

Mem: 2048M 2005 MB/s
Chipset: nVidia nForce4 (ECC: disabled)
Settings: RAM: 201 MHz (DDR402) / CAS: 3-4-4-8 / Dual Channel (128 bits)

WallTime: 10:13:41
Cached: 2048M
RsvdMem: 276M
MemMap: e820-std
Cache: on
ECC: off
Test: std
Pass: 13
Errors: 0
ECC errors: <blank>


2) Not sure how to test the PSU. It was asked earlier if the cords were hot - checked external cord to wall, cool, and internal cables, all cool, after 10 hours of runtime.

ASUS probe 2 reports the Vcore to fluctuate steadily from 1.488v to 1.504v
It reports the 3.3v rail in a range from 3.264v to 3.328v
These are steady with no spikes over the last several logs (3 days worth).

nVidia monitor is woefully inadequate at telling me detail, just has the CPU with a red dot next to it and pop-up help stating that red is bad.

3) Turning off fastwrite - I do not see anything in my BIOS that is called 'fastwrite' - could it be under a different name? Can you tell me more what to look for?


I'm completely willing to try to get that vid card traded out, and I'm still under grace period, but I wanna make sure I've covered my bases first.


THANKS TONS again for all the help.

Tla

Thank you, the Asus probe was reporting values that are quite normal. So that shouldn't be a problem. And since the cables are cold, they are not the cause of the problem...

There should be a setting in the BIOS where you can enable/disable fastwrite.
I can't remember under which menu heading it is... Try looking in your mobo manual, it should say.

I'm not really able to come up with any more suggestions, aside from turning the card in for another replacement...

I Got the problem too

Yeah this problem has NOTHING to do with the monitor, the sound turns off and the pc ceases to function. I am 99.9% sure this is a graphics card problem. I have a Saphire ATI 9250 card in my pc and when i play SOME games it does the monitor off routine. I motherboard came with an integrated 9100i chipset but it thieved my ram and made games run slow and choppy, so i got a new card. Previosly i could run FarCry(the low ram made it freeze momentarily) but when i got the new card it would occasionly do the monitor thing. Other games are sacred and Monopoly Tycoon. Monopoly Tycoon is the interesting one because that gives the option of using the graphics card or using software renderer. It works fine in software mode but when u select Direct3D you get the problem but occassionly instead the system freezes but the monitor shows a haze of colors that u cant make out that scroll down. I have this game installed on the other pc at home that does not have a "graphics card" but has 64meg shared video memory, this allows the game to run in Direct3D easily without any problems.

I hope this information is helpful for someone to help solve these problems.

p.s I almost forgot, i know this not monitor related because i have ran the games over my TV as well(tryed both at the same time as well) . I also doubt the cooling fan issue because i have ran other games like KOTOR and KOTOR2, monopoly 3, Guild Wars. It may be a Direct3D thing because i remember that the KOTOR games required cards with openGL capabilities.

p.p.s I just tryed lowering the color depth of the game and changed to window mode. It increased the time b4 an error. Also i don't know if this means anything but on one such occasion instead of the monitor turning to standby mode, a message from my monitor came up saying

Attention:
33k / 0Hz Frequency out of range

Hi guys, Im new to this forum and came across this discussion and am very interested in what the final out come was for Tlaloc.

My basic CPU:

2.4GHz Pentium 4 on an ASUS board.
1 gig of DDR ram.
GeForce FX 5600 128MB DDR (now 10 days past the return policy).
Soundblaster Live X-gamer


I've recently started to play Guildwars, a new 3D on line game. Everything ran superbly for a month after getting this card. It could handle anything this game threw at it, all at top speeds. In the last week, I've been have the exact same problem described in your postings. I've tried the things you have all suggested, and even a few that were not in there.

I'm at a total loss now. The card is beyond taking back and I don't have a lot of expendible cash to go out and buy a video card, at least not unless I am absolutley sure that is the culprit.

So, is there an end to the drama? I am just wondering what was done in the end and if the final solution was indeed successful.

Thanks a bunch!!!

Darb

only idea

Yeah a friend of mine said that the only solution he could think of was a clean reinstall, i havn't done it yet, i'm going to wait until the end of the uni year and buy a new hard drive because i don't have anywhere to back up all my stuff incase the install goes wrong, but if you have the time to, do a clean re install of XP and it should fix it.

I did a windows repair and it seemed to have done the trick..so far.

Here is what I followed if anyone needs to try it....

XP Repair install
1. Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.

2. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
3. Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.

do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
4. Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.

5. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, read this Warning#2!

6. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.

7. Reapply updates or service packs applied since initial Windows XP installation. Please note that a Repair Install from the Original install XP CD will remove SP1/SP2 and service packs will need to be reapplied.


Hope it works for you too!

Darb

Hi guys,

After trying everything I could try documented above, and learning a ton about my computer (the up side), I finally took the card back to the store 1 day before the turn in expired.

However, we had a flood in my apartment, so my wife unintentionally threw out the box the card came in, so they would not exchange it. I came home defeated, plugged it back in, and checked the manufacturers website to see if they would exchange it.

Turns out there was a BRAND new driver out that very day (well, not a beta, a brand new final driver). I installed that,


and

now everything works fine.

Thank the silicon gods!

Thanks to everyone that helped out. At minimum this thread will hopefully help folks make a checklist of things to try.

Tla

i am having the same trouble, sorry for the old thread, although i am running the same gear

A8N-SLI
EN6600GT's

Just wondering what drivers you were using?

anyone else experienced this?