Civilization 4 crashing pc

[Elum]

Hi
Im having troubles with civilizations 4, my system crashes progresively more frequently as I get further into a game. Starting from a single crash once per 2h to once per turn. The screen goes black and audio stops, the system does not respond at all. The only way to continue is to restart.
I have read about alot of crashing issues but I have not seen many solutions for this problem.

I have tried
changing GFX drivers - no affect

updating game version (I was using retail version still :x) - no affect

updated system drivers - no affect

changing some graphics settings (including running in windowed mode) - no affect also

fiddling with the ini gfx options - no affect

fiddling with Graphics card settings - no affect

optimizing memory (closing all other programs, setting new page size etc ) - no affect

increase AGP aperature size 128mb >>> 256mb - no affect


System specs
AMD 64 3500+
1024 MB DDR RAM
XFX GeForce7600 GS
Nforce3 Chipset mobo

I hope someone a solution to this problem or some suggestions to try for graphics settings that dont crash

Edit: Updated things I have tried - not gonna write the specifics becuase I cba to document it all, but ill write specifics if I find something that has an affect.

 

[IluDeR]

I've got the same problem.

I've tried, the Nvidia drivers rollback with no results (i couldn't rollback to 71 because of the version of the GPU, only to 84.21). I've disabled the audio, movies, changed the audiocard, disabled audio aceleration, reduced the graphics to low and nothing worked.

Any help or ideias please?

Thank you in advance....

 

[Elum]

adding my Dxdiag

 

[Zanmato]

It should work well on those specs you have. It is odd that higher-end rigs have problems with the game. However, you could try a few tweaks and see if it improves it at all. There is a coding bug in the game that does appear to affect 6800 cards so perhaps your cases are another such example of this issue.

You could try these out:
- Reduce the overall memory usage in Windows, granted you have a good amount already but closing any apps or tasks you think are surplus to requirements can only help further.

- Go into the nvidia control panel through the Windows 'Display' control panel. Set the AA to off or app-controlled and 'Image Quality' to Performance or High Performance.

- Increase the AGP aperture if your cards use that port. To change it you will need to enter the BIOS setup and find the setting usually located under 'Advanced Chipset Features'. Increase it to either 128mb or 256mb.

Hope it helps, if at all.

 

[maximus pianus]

It sounds like a memory lack!

However it could be an overheating problem: try to lower your card or main CPU frequencies (or if you are very unprofessional open your case ) to see if this is the problem... AMD 64 3500+ and XFX GeForce7600 GS are very power expensive and produce a lot of heat as well!

 

[Storm68]

My rig isn't that advanced, but I have the same problems. I can play for a short while and then crash, or just crash outright when the game starts. There is no rhyme or reason to the crashes. And the PC will either hang until I hard boot the PC or it will just restart itself with no error reports or info in the admin or system logs. Here's my specs:
AMD AthlonXP 2400+
Biostar M7VIQ Mobo (yeah, I need an upgrade)
MSI GeForce FX5200 w/ 128MB of ram
SB Audigy 4

I've run my drivers back from the latest release (running 84.26 currently. Was running 91.31). I've also tried all the suggestions from the stickys with no success. I've stopped trying quite some time ago hoping to see a new patch for the game, but I've not seen anything in months. Does Warlords contain the latest patch. If so, I'm not buying a $50 game just to see if the latest rev works. That's nuts. I'll post my Dxdiag too.

 

[Elum]

You could try these out:
- Reduce the overall memory usage in Windows.....

- Go into the nvidia control panel through the Windows 'Display' control panel. Set the AA to off.....

- Increase the AGP aperture if your cards use.......128mb or 256mb.

Tried these, neither had any affect.

However it could be an overheating problem: try to lower your card or main CPU frequencies (or if you are very unprofessional open your case ) to see if this is the problem... AMD 64 3500+ and XFX GeForce7600 GS are very power expensive and produce a lot of heat as well!

Its definetly not overheating, the AMD 64 processor is the coolest running processor i'v ever had ~42 degrees while during gaming
Also the "crash" can occur after loading a save file and repeating your actions exactly as you did before the last crash. Smells like software conflict or somthing. If it were an overheating problem it would be entirely random. And as with all the other crash threads I have read, this problem is entirely limited to Civ4. I run World of Warcraft, Half life 2, Tomb Raider (the new one with pc crushing graphics), Prey - basicaly alot of graphic demanding games, and wow is a wonderfull game that chews up memory like nothing. None of these games cause overheating.

 

[maximus pianus]

I run World of Warcraft, Half life 2, Tomb Raider (the new one with pc crushing graphics), Prey

and you have problems to run a TURN based game...

obviously, in this case, the heat is not the problem

 

[IluDeR]

and you have problems to run a TURN based game...

obviously, in this case, the heat is not the problem

Heat is not the problem...I've notice that increassing the graphics instead of lowering them, reduces the crashes. This migth be related to the Dx 9.0, maybe the game uses old resources that are unstabled. Also, i've activated the log and python errors. I've been getting errors inside game, small windows that says the file and line of the error. This ocours when i hover a specific city or part of the map. I will try to post the save.

 

[IluDeR]

Does Warlords contain the latest patch. If so, I'm not buying a $50 game just to see if the latest rev works. That's nuts. I'll post my Dxdiag too.

yes....you must install the latest civ patch to run ir

 

[Storm68]

Nvidia has released a new driver (release 91.47 on Sept. 1st). I was having issues with only 2 other games similar to my problems with Civ 4. They are now running. I'm going to install and run Civ4 this week and see if the issues are resolved. The release notes for the latest driver did note that the Nvidia software was having issues keeping track of heat on the GPU... perhaps this is a solution to many Civ4 players problems with Nvidia cards???

 

[Hanno]

Just adding my voice. Everything I want to say, has already been said here.

 

[Elum]

No hope
did a fresh install of windows and it still didnt work. I hope a patch gets released to fix this. The game used to run perfectly with my old GFX card (Radeon9800 pro)

 

[panagos]

I have the same problem. Has anyone worked out a solution?

 

[Levon]

Sometimes when I build a wonder or something like it the computer crashes and when I was playing hotseat with my cousin, it crashed but I wasn't building a wonder or anything.

 

[bonobotheory]

Is that the overclocked "Extreme Edition" card, or their normal one? I have a factory-overclocked eVGA 7800GT that was stable on every other game, but gave me constant lockups on Civ4. Reducing the speeds to normal fixed the problem.