Black Screen + cursor - Crashes with error message; RendererError, ATI graphics

Just vanilla Civ5 and it crashes during game play. Does not crash reproducibly - i.e., not on specific turn, or after re-load, or at certain game event/trigger/video (as far as I can tell).

My Error reads: FGX RendererII Present Failed hr=DXGI.ERROR.DEVICE.REMOVED Driver Failure

What I've got:
Civ V GotY Edition, DVD
AMD Phenom X3 720
XFX 4870 Graphics
Windows 7 Pro, 64bit
4 GB RAM


What I've done:
I've updated my AMD drivers.
I've turned the graphics all the way down, and even reduced the screen resolution.
I've got the most recent patches.
I've even verified with Steam, even though I've got an install DVD.

Still happens. Driving me nuts - I've had the game six months and it's never played more than an hour without crashing.

Moderator Action: Renamed the thread for some clarification.

There is the same error here, but related to Nvidia graphic cards.
The problem is essentially that for power saving purposes the performance of the card is turned down during the game, but then fails when more power is needed again.
In that case the power saving settings can be adjusted via the Nvidia driver, but I'm not sure if this is also applicable for ATI cards. Would be good if you could have a look at your driver settings .

The_J said:

Moderator Action: Renamed the thread for some clarification.

There is the same error here, but related to Nvidia graphic cards.
The problem is essentially that for power saving purposes the performance of the card is turned down during the game, but then fails when more power is needed again.
In that case the power saving settings can be adjusted via the Nvidia driver, but I'm not sure if this is also applicable for ATI cards. Would be good if you could have a look at your driver settings .

Click to expand...

Thanks. I just found the other thread. Not sure how to tweak the power settings on the graphics card tho.

sprang said:

Thanks. I just found the other thread. Not sure how to tweak the power settings on the graphics card tho.

Click to expand...

I am not sure where, but I think that if you opened up the Catalyst, it would have to do with 3D and/or power management. I think the key is to disable any energy saving process and let the card run in maximum mode.

timtofly said:

I am not sure where, but I think that if you opened up the Catalyst, it would have to do with 3D and/or power management. I think the key is to disable any energy saving process and let the card run in maximum mode.

Click to expand...

I can't find any power saving options for the GPU in Catalyst.
I've looked at the 3D settings, but nothing looks like it would force the GPU to run more.

Maybe I need to run a movie in the background? That would be lame...

timtofly said:

I am not sure where, but I think that if you opened up the Catalyst, it would have to do with 3D and/or power management. I think the key is to disable any energy saving process and let the card run in maximum mode.

Click to expand...

sprang said:

I can't find any power saving options for the GPU in Catalyst.
I've looked at the 3D settings, but nothing looks like it would force the GPU to run more.

Maybe I need to run a movie in the background? That would be lame...

Click to expand...

I've tried the "Core Threads" suggestion at 2K games, as well as turning off the Catalyst AI for the game. Also tried running it with the graphics at max again - maybe if the game is working at max load for the GPU, it'll stay busy enough to not dissappear? Nope. Nothing works yet. Still get the Renderer error message.

I think the Nvidia 3D settings you are looking for can be found by using the Nvidia Control Panel inside your Windows Control Panel.

Under the 3D settings in the left-hand menu, select "Adjust image settings with preview".

Then in the right-hand box that opens up, click on the button for "Use my preference emphasizing:" and then move the performance slider from Quality to Performance.

Hope this helps.

I've had the same issue with my new RazorBlade Pro. Kind of ironic as it is pitched as a gaming computer. Read lots of threads and tried all the recommendations without success. Contacted Razor and told to uninstall video driver and use prior driver from their site. No go however.

I came across an interesting post about same problem that was resolved when a Razor game controller was unplugged from a computer. Hmmm. That's intriguing..... I uninstalled Synapse 2 software that controls the touch pad on my RazorBlade Pro and now I can play for hours. Problem solved. Reinstall Synapse 2 software and crash in ~ 10 minutes. Tried various settings within Synapse but no luck.