Black Screen when playing games

[chineseman]

I'm having a problem where my monitor/video card will shutdown after a couple seconds or minutes of playing a game that stresses my video card in the slightest. When I try playing Bioshock or Team Fortress 2 the video dies at the menu screen or within seconds of loading the level. I also play World of Warcraft and I can play for hours without a hitch although the problem will sometimes arise if there's a lot happening on the screen. My monitor light will switch from green to orange as if going into screensaver mode, the screen goes black, and I can still hear audio for about five seconds before it goes into a loop, and the computer eventually shuts off after a couple mins. Everything works fine while browsing internet, listening to music, or watching videos and I'll have no problems if I leave it on for days just as long as I don't attempt to play Bioshock or TF2.

Here's a list of my components to the best of my memory and I've included a CPU-Z file since it's the only diagnostic tool I know of. I'm sure other poeple have had this problem so I hope a resolution can be reached. Thanks ^^

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6400
ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4
SAPPHIRE 100176L Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Western Digital Raptor WD360GD 36.7GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
PC Power & Cooling TURBO-COOL® 510 AG (I think this is the model, this was a replacement one they sent me when I had to RMA my first one)
Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS
Dell 2005FPW


CPU-Z 1.41 report file

Processor(s)
Number of processors 1
Number of cores 2 per processor
Number of threads 2 (max 2) per processor
Name Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
Code Name Conroe
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2.13GHz
Package Socket 775 LGA
Family/Model/Stepping 6.F.6
Extended Family/Model 6.F
Core Stepping B2
Technology 65 nm
Core Speed 1601.4 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 6.0 x 266.9 MHz
Rated Bus speed 1067.6 MHz
Stock frequency 2133 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, EM64T
L1 Data cache (per processor) 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache (per processor) 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache (per processor) 2048 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
Chipset & Memory
Northbridge Intel P965/G965 rev. C1
Southbridge Intel 82801HB/HR (ICH8/R) rev. 02
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 2048 MBytes
Memory Frequency 400.4 MHz (2:3)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 5.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRCD) 5 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 5 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 18 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 2T
System
System Manufacturer System manufacturer
System Name System Product Name
System S/N System Serial Number
Mainboard Vendor ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Mainboard Model P5B-E
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version 0402
BIOS Date 09/12/2006
Memory SPD
Module 1 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Corsair
Module 2 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Corsair
Software
Windows Version Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c

 

[engiNURD]

If you haven't already, try using Driver Cleaner Pro and uninstalling your vidcard drivers, then updating to the latest ones.

However, your problem is most likely an overheating GPU. Touch the GPU HSF to see how hot it is (ground yourself properly before doing so). If its too hot to touch, you most likely need better cooling. You can try re-seating the HSF and re-applying some thermal compound, but it may need replacement. Another way you can test is taking the sidepanel off and pointing a room fan into the case, while running/looping 3DMark.

 

[chineseman]

Thanks for the info, I uninstalled my old drivers and used the cleaner and updated to the catalyst drivers released on the 10th but I think it made it worse somehow. Now my WoW crashes all the time too :O I don't think the video card is overheating because I took the side panel off and the card has remained cool for the past two hours even when I tried stressing it and ended up crashing. Could the problem be something else besides the card or drivers? I reformatted a week ago because I thought it might be the drivers but it didn't fix anything. The only thing I can think of is maybe the power supply is borked since it was a refurbished unit but I don't know if the error I'm getting would be caused by psu failure.

Edit: Crap now it's crashing while I'm browsing the internet

 

[engiNURD]

It could be the PSU. Have you run memtest to test your RAM? You can run Orthos Small FFTs to test your CPU. You can try speedfan and check your voltages. If you have a multimeter, that would be even better. Theres also a section in the BIOS that should report voltages.

 

[Standpoint]

Before even opening your thread, I thought to myself "I bet he has an ATI Saphhire brand card". I have no idea of the solution, but I have had this exact problem w/ 4 different Saphhire ATI cards over the last year on 5 different PCs. I was never able to come up w/ a solution. I tried using custom coolers, and found that the temps were not the problem with the cards. Ive tried many different drivers, no luck either. I figured I had a large run on bad cards, until I used one of these problem children in a rig I just built for my son. He can play any game w/o this ever happening, while the same card in both my machine and a friends would.

I suspect it to be some kind of issue w/ the motherboard model(Nforce 4) or some driver related to the motherboard.

Sorry, no solution, but hope it helps. It has driven me crazy over the last year, since I have tried everything I can think of w/o success.