Random Black Screens

[Falk]

I bought a new computer along with Colonization. Now I get random black screens when playing Colonization (and the same happens in BtS). After every ~3 minutes the screen turns black for several seconds.

I also played a lot Team Fortress 2 and HL Episode 2 and there I only got a black screen twice and only for like 1 second. In the Civ games it happens all the time.

So my guess is that my graphics card (Gainward HD 4850 Dual Slot) is broken somehow and has the most problems with some effect in Civ4. Looks like it gets too hot, but the ATI program says it's only at ~50° (Celsius that is) during a Col game. And I wonder why it has problems with Civ, but works pretty well with Half-Life.

I've updated all drivers I can think of and double checked all the cables.

What else could I do? Or is the card definitely broken/f***ed/kaputt? Any help is appreciated!

 

[Shurdus]

I bought a new computer along with Colonization. Now I get random black screens when playing Colonization (and the same happens in BtS). After every ~3 minutes the screen turns black for several seconds.

I also played a lot Team Fortress 2 and HL Episode 2 and there I only got a black screen twice and only for like 1 second. In the Civ games it happens all the time.

So my guess is that my graphics card (Gainward HD 4850 Dual Slot) is broken somehow and has the most problems with some effect in Civ4. Looks like it gets too hot, but the ATI program says it's only at ~50° (Celsius that is) during a Col game. And I wonder why it has problems with Civ, but works pretty well with Half-Life.

I've updated all drivers I can think of and double checked all the cables.

What else could I do? Or is the card definitely broken/f***ed/kaputt? Any help is appreciated!

With a broken card I would expect way more frequent hickups and visible artifacts in the screen. You have updated all drivers, so that stock answer is not a solution here.

Have you checked the forums or technical support pages of your card manufacturer? You may find some valuable info there. Sometimes drivers can conflict with each other, any known issues can be found there.


Do you get black screens when watching movies too? If so, I would expect the software is not to blame, but then your card might be.

 

[Falk]

Do you get black screens when watching movies too? If so, I would expect the software is not to blame, but then your card might be.

I have watched a music DVD of 70 minutes length and experienced no problems.

My brother bought the exact same card - we just tried to play Colonization on his computer and had the same black screens. I guess two broken cards is highly unlikely. Since we also have the same mainboard, you might be right and there's a driver conflict or something.

The Gainward page is very unhelpful. Havent found anything there yet.

 

[Krupo]

I bought a new computer along with Colonization. Now I get random black screens when playing Colonization (and the same happens in BtS). After every ~3 minutes the screen turns black for several seconds.

I also played a lot Team Fortress 2 and HL Episode 2 and there I only got a black screen twice and only for like 1 second. In the Civ games it happens all the time.

So my guess is that my graphics card (Gainward HD 4850 Dual Slot) is broken somehow and has the most problems with some effect in Civ4. Looks like it gets too hot, but the ATI program says it's only at ~50° (Celsius that is) during a Col game. And I wonder why it has problems with Civ, but works pretty well with Half-Life.

I've updated all drivers I can think of and double checked all the cables.

What else could I do? Or is the card definitely broken/f***ed/kaputt? Any help is appreciated!

I had this happen to me (using GeForce 8800, one of the newer is not newest stable drivers), in both this game and Spore.

I think I realized the problem came down to me leaving the system alone and the screensaver kicking in.

If you're in Vista when you exit you may get a message "the graphics drivers stopped working, but we fixed it!".

What you're describing sounds like that problem.

If a reboot fixes things, great - it did for me.

Otherwise, consider updating your graphics drivers or playing with the Col detail settings if that doesn't help... reboot was key to fix it for me.