Strange lines and triangles flashing on the screen.

[Murphoid]

This didn't used to be a problem it just started. Before it was running fine.

I thought maybe riva tuner was causing the problem so I had Riva tuner set all the settings back to default and uninstalled Riva Tuner.

I still got the strange lines and triangles flashing on the screen when I ran the game. These start after the into movie when the menus come up and continue through out the game.

I uninstalled and re-installed the video drivers.

I still got the strange lines and triangles flashing on the screen.

I completely uninstalled civ iv, re-installed, downloaded the patches and tried again.

Still getting the same problem.

Any advice?

(could it be the video card overheating?)

 

[Zydor]

Your main system RAM is below spec at 384Mb - you need 512Mb when running under Windows XP. The processor you have is 900Mhz, you need a bare minimum of 1.1Ghz processor speed, even the latter is pushing it a bit - really you need the recommended spec of 1.8Ghz. It will be a major upgrade to run it, probably a new box. If you do that salvage the FX5500, that should be fine with the game, fit that to the new box, save you some dosh

Regards
Zy

 

[Zanmato]

I can see nothing wrong with the spec other than it could do with a RAM upgrade, another 512 should be enough.

As for the graphic card, it's strange. If you have changing nothing in the software then it could be a developing hardware fault. I've seen other posts with similar issues and it might well be down to overheating and it's possibly damaged the card in some way. Do you get any graphic glitches in Windows in general or any other apps? You have the latest drivers and DirectX so it shouldn't be doing that. That said, the FX cards aren't coping with the game too well. I had to upgrade my old FX card.

Maybe check the BIOS settings and decrease the aperture size or AGP speed. Perhaps Rivatuner changed a settings somewhere but I doubt it. At a last resort, try another card if you can then at least you know where the fault lies.

 

[Zydor]

It will not run on that processor - its an Athlon MMX 900Mhz

Regards
Zy

 

[Murphoid]

It will not run on that processor - its an Athlon MMX 900Mhz

Regards
Zy

The processor reports as ~900 Mhz that is the NAME not the Speed. It is actually 1.2 MHZ. It IS in spec. The game is running and was running before without this small glitch.

Also 384 MB is in spec. Only 256 is required.

 

[Murphoid]

then it could be a developing hardware fault. I've seen other posts with similar issues and it might well be down to overheating and it's possibly damaged the card in some way. Do you get any graphic glitches in Windows in general or any other apps? You have the latest drivers and DirectX so it shouldn't be doing that. That said, the FX cards aren't coping with the game too well. I had to upgrade my old FX card.

Maybe check the BIOS settings and decrease the aperture size or AGP speed. Perhaps Rivatuner changed a settings somewhere but I doubt it. At a last resort, try another card if you can then at least you know where the fault lies.

I double checked the BIOS settings and everything is fine there. I fear it is a developing hardware fault but the core temp is in spec. I am going to shut down for an hour and see if it helps. I will also try re-installing Direct X if that doesn't work. Thank you for your assistance. I will post again in two hours and let you know.

 

[cpnichol]

Does it look anything like the pics in this thread?

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=145061

If so then you have the same problem as me, unfortunately unresolved. Mine's had flashing lines and triangles since I bought it in October, makes it rather unplayable. I've contacted customer support but they've not had anything too usefull to say, last I heard I'd been passed on to level 2 support.

CP

 

[Murphoid]

Does it look anything like the pics in this thread?

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=145061

If so then you have the same problem as me, unfortunately unresolved. Mine's had flashing lines and triangles since I bought it in October, makes it rather unplayable. I've contacted customer support but they've not had anything too usefull to say, last I heard I'd been passed on to level 2 support.

CP

That is EXACTLY what is my problem.

Incidentally, I reinstalled directx and shut down for an hour to let my system cool off. Neither helped.

 

[Zanmato]

That is EXACTLY what is my problem.

Incidentally, I reinstalled directx and shut down for an hour to let my system cool off. Neither helped.

Did you try lowering it to 32mb (BIOS aperture) and made sure fast write was disabled? Was suggested in the other thread provided. As you said it has started to do it so it does point towards a developing fault in video card RAM.

 

[cpnichol]

This problem doesn't seem to have anything to do with overheating on mine, as it is a constant problem even when I've just started my comp from cold. I have no problems with other games (Half Life 2, Far Cry, Dawn of War, Need For speed underground) only Civ 4.

Civ4 does say that my comp does not meet specs, though I dont see why

Amd 2Ghz
512mb RAM,
128mb GeForce MX 4000
XP

Only thing could be using on board sound.

Have latest directx, Gfx card driver and patch 1.52

Could be useful to know what (if anything) changed just before you started getting this problem.

CP

 

[Akhenaton]

Civ4 does say that my comp does not meet specs, though I dont see why

Amd 2Ghz
512mb RAM,
128mb GeForce MX 4000
XP

Service Pack? Your HW meets the MSR. It's not very helpful for CivIV to complain about not meeting the specs while still refusing to be spesific about what exactly is the claimed deficiency.

Is this coming from 1.52 or from original installed version? You could check the CivIV and InstallShield log for clues.

Only thing could be using on board sound.

It's usually not a strict requirement. It should be possible to play without sound. AFAIK all integrated audio HW codecs have DX9c support, it's just a matter of drivers, there is no HW requirement they couldn't meet.

 

[Murphoid]

Did you try lowering it to 32mb (BIOS aperture) and made sure fast write was disabled? Was suggested in the other thread provided. As you said it has started to do it so it does point towards a developing fault in video card RAM.

Yep. I saw that but it didn't help :,-( I am begining to think that I need a more powerful power supply for my PC. It seems to be a hardware problem. I just don't fully beleive that it is. The video card is only 5 days old and it worked on the first day without artifacting. And Setting different hardware option does have an affect of slowing down or speeding up the movies.

Alas. I am plum out of idears.

 

[Murphoid]

This problem doesn't seem to have anything to do with overheating on mine, as it is a constant problem even when I've just started my comp from cold. I have no problems with other games (Half Life 2, Far Cry, Dawn of War, Need For speed underground) only Civ 4.

Civ4 does say that my comp does not meet specs, though I dont see why

Amd 2Ghz
512mb RAM,
128mb GeForce MX 4000
XP

Only thing could be using on board sound.

Have latest directx, Gfx card driver and patch 1.52

Could be useful to know what (if anything) changed just before you started getting this problem.

CP

Something must have.

If I could only know what.

 

[cpnichol]

Service Pack? Your HW meets the MSR. It's not very helpful for CivIV to complain about not meeting the specs while still refusing to be spesific about what exactly is the claimed deficiency.

Is this coming from 1.52 or from original installed version? You could check the CivIV and InstallShield log for clues.

It's usually not a strict requirement. It should be possible to play without sound. AFAIK all integrated audio HW codecs have DX9c support, it's just a matter of drivers, there is no HW requirement they couldn't meet.

No service pack. The problem is flashing lines and triangles from "corrupted" graphics/text. Check out the thread in one of my above posts. I've had the problem since I bought it in October, through all patches to 1.52, I've updated all drivers + directx. It is still unplayable. To be honest I'm running out of patience.

My specs are as I've said, I don't think sound has anything to do with it.

CP

 

[Zanmato]

Yep. I saw that but it didn't help :,-( I am begining to think that I need a more powerful power supply for my PC. It seems to be a hardware problem. I just don't fully beleive that it is. The video card is only 5 days old and it worked on the first day without artifacting. And Setting different hardware option does have an affect of slowing down or speeding up the movies.

Alas. I am plum out of idears.

That is certainly a possible cause for the problem having a low power supply. Do you know what the watt output is of the PSU you have currently running? The brand of PSU can also have problems, some of the lesser known and generic brands aren't that reliable at times.

Have a look on here for recommended outputs for your setup.
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp

In most cases, 350W should be enough of most setups these days. The biggest draw on power is the graphic card and CPU. So if you just started using this new card it might not be getting enough power and it causing the problems on screen.

Another thing you might what to try is unplug all the external devices you're not using then try it again. Also, if you can check the amp ratings for your current PSU on the 12v rail. Usually it's printed on the side of the PSU.

 

[cpnichol]

Had a response from civ4 customer support. They said "apply patch 1.52" arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'd already told them that I'd got 1.52. Thats level 2 support!

CP

 

[BlobnStuff]

Hey everyone
I just joined the forums after looking for help with my problem with my newly purchased copy of Civ 4. After a few good go's playin it with the game running fine (apart from low framerate and chuggy cinematics) I got RivaTuner to see if i could boost my videocard clock speed, I did so and went from 200mhz to 250mhz and tried playin Civ 4, Massive Improvement!!!! All cinematics were runnin at full FPS and I was able to push the graphics options on Civ 4 to Medium . However after about 10 mins of playing I noticed the same lines and triangles that have been bugging the others on this post and I thought I guess its either these lines or low FPS, I chose FPS and I happily conitnued playing. Although about 1hr later the entire computer just turned off mid-game!!! I thought it was a power failure though a quick check of the lights proved otherwise. I examined my pc and cautiously turned it back on, I rebooted Civ 4 and the lines were back but then after half and hour this time the pc turned off AGAIN!!! What is going on with my computer, is it RivaTuner overclocking my videocard that is the problem or what!!! PLS Someone help me, other games have been working fine.

My Specs are:
Pentium 4 3.00ghz
1024 mb RAM
128mb ATI Radeon 9200SE
All updates updated.

I really hope theres an answer to this problem, someone out there must know. In the mean time I at least want to be able to play Civ 4 (an AWESOME GAME!!!) without my pc shutting down every half hour.

 

[Zanmato]

At a guess, if you're overclocking the video card it could well overheat and will cause the machine to shut down to protect itself. You could also cause damage to the card, one of probable causes of those lines appearing on screen is a damaged card or a overheating one.
As for the settings in Rivatuner, the only settings that you could change are to force the shaders down to 1.1. Some people have reported better performance using those overrides.
If you are intent on overclocking make sure you have a good cooling system or damage to the computer hardware will eventually occur.

 

[Akhenaton]

At a guess, if you're overclocking the video card it could well overheat and will cause the machine to shut down to protect itself.

This is what most likely is happening. I think it's quite obvious for BlobnStuff that if he wants to avoid this, then the first thing to try is to lower the OC so much that the artifacts disappear. The other alternative is to increase cooling so that the desired OC level can be maintained. One other thing to look at is the PSU, because it may be the overheating component and not the card. Other parts which may overheat under heavy GPU load are the PWM (power feeding components on the MB) and ofcourse the CPU too (getting hot air from the graphics card if it's not exhausted from the case and instead enters the CPU fan intake). However, these other parts have much higher thermal power themselves than a Radeon 9200SE (which might have passive cooling).

If you are intent on overclocking make sure you have a good cooling system or damage to the computer hardware will eventually occur.

Some damage occurs to computer HW all the time when it's been run even at factory clock (it's called electromigration). This phenomenon increases with current draw (which in turn increases with OC even if voltage is not increased at the same time).

However, it's not certain or even very likely that OC even beyond steep error rate increase thresholds will damage the HW much faster than that. Modern ICs are quite well protected against thermal failure so that they halt or raise error flags (which other components handle by shutting down). They tend to fry only in conditions when the temperature change is very abrupt or alternatively if the thermal protection suddently fails due to some additional condition (like voltage fluctuation).

 

[BlobnStuff]

Thx for the help il see if wot u said helps