Consistent crashes

[WeezelDS]

Hello,
I've installed civ4 multiple times on the same computer after several format/re-installs and it consistently crashes in a very ugly way. Usually about 10-30 turns into the game suddenly the screen is replaced with a bunch of repetitive boxes full of randomly colored pixels. The music continues and moving the mouse makes some of those boxes change, but its completely unrecoverable. It requires a reboot. I can reload the game and play a few more turns and then get the same thing. If I make it out of antiquity after several reloads, the game generally runs okay after that. My install sequence is install civ4, patch civ4, install bts, patch bts. This has been a consistent problem for years, doesnt matter if I'm playing a vanilla game, a gotm or a bts game. Updated video drivers and reformatted countless times. Its not an overheating issue as other games are far more resource intensive and never have a problem. I'm running WinXP and installing from cd-roms. Its an amd 3400 w/ a gig of memory. Sometimes I get lucky and it works, but its pretty much ruined the game.

Any help would be appreciated

 

[ori]

you'd be surprised how taxing Civ4 is on the graphics card
could you post a screenshot of the problem? also please post your dxdiag results file

 

[WeezelDS]

Thanks for the reply

I cannot get a screenshot w/o a camera because it causes the machine to crash...so bad that a reboot is necessary.

I've attached my dxdiag file

I've switched to the game Master of Magic from like 1996 because it runs smoothly

Thanks again

 

[ori]

sorry, I currently have erratic online time so my response time is slow.
The dxdiag looks fine and drivers seem to be uptodate - could you check the windows event viewer/manager to see if there are any error messages relating to that crash there?
is there any specific time it takes for it to happen?
is the computer making any unusual noises when this happens?

 

[WeezelDS]

Thanks for the reply...no need to apologize, I appreciate the help regardless of timing...

Oddly enough, I played the GotM for August (vanilla) and had no problems through 520AD...on a hot day (in case it is an overheating problem)...perhaps it is a BtS issue...

Next time it happens I'll be sure to note any events in the windows event viewer...

Normally within the first 100 turns or so it starts crashing, and it occurs instantly w/o warning...no beep codes...

Thanks again

 

[ori]

the game is quite taxing on the graphics card and I would still assume that its mostly a heating issue (for the card) - with noises I was more looking for louder than usual fan noises. Is this a pc or laptop?

 

[WeezelDS]

Its a desktop...no extra sounds....i've even got an extra jerry-rigged fan attached to the video card...but yeah, the symptoms scream overheating...

 

[ori]

did you try looking into the machine to see if there is any dust buildup close to the graphics card?

 

[WeezelDS]

Its fairly clean...I think wut i should do is download one of those programs that can monitor the temp of the gpu and log it as I play, then analyze that and the windows event viewer like you said to determine if its a temp issue w/ the vid card...I've abandoned civ4 for now and have been playing an old tbs game called master of magic...classic...

Thanks for the help ori

 

[WeezelDS]

The latest BOTM crashes after a single turn...nothing in the windows event viewer...and my place is fairly cool today...