'No Signal' Message when gaming.

[kevmesh]

I've had my PC built for a good couple of months now but since the first day of using it for gaming, I've been having quite a bit of trouble.

First off, I'll tell you what components I have:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz
Graphics Card: Point Of View 8800GT
RAM: 2X1GB Kingston DDR2 667MHz
Sound: Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme
HDD: Seagate 250GB
OS: Windows XP SP3

Now for the problem...

I game a lot but it seems my computer doesn't.
Whenever I try to play certain games, such as, Americas Army or Guild Wars my monitor appears to turn itself off and has a message saying 'No Signal' but I am still able to hear the sound looping in the background.
I have left it like this for a few minutes to see if it will sort itself out but it doesn't.
I have been reading many other forums for possible fixes and a lot of people are saying it could be driver related. I am currently using the latest drivers from Nvidia website - Currently version 175.19.
I also read that it could be something to do with RAM so I changed my memory timings to 4-4-4-12.
Another thing was to roll back to some earlier drivers, which I also did, I can't remember which version they were though.
I also read that it may help if I change my PCI-E slot to 105MHz which didn't help either.
I have tried many different things to try and fix this problem but I am having no luck whatsoever.

I have also ruled out overheating because the last time I checked I got this error while my GPU was at 62 degrees.
My CPU is usually averaging at around 35 degrees.

I did search for posts similar to this before I posted but I couldn't find anything so I apologize if I have duplicated a post or something.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[mike99]

PSU!! Make and model, if it cost less than$50 - 60, get a better one.
Check http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

Mike.

 

[kevmesh]

At the moment I'm using this PSU:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/135101

 

[dokk2]

no signal ,,eh,,,last time i had that one ,,turned out t'was my video cable,but then it was older than the hills and had newer moved,anyhow you have a hardware problem either the video card or the psu,check your external connection from your 'puter is it tight and firm?,if you can try a more powerful psu,and do check all your connections,,i mean all of then !!.....and..make sure that your video card is 1,firmly seated,and 2,not overheating,,you did plug in the extra connection [6 pin] to the edge of your 8800,,hmmmm.

 

[dokk2]

just a thought try using the onboard sound,it seems that i've read/heard of some folks having problems with sb ,,cardz/drivers,and you might consider looking at a p35 mobo,i recommend the msi neo 2 series,using one myself,yum,yum furthermore unless one is a real fanatic today's onboard 8 channel sound is not bad,and with that 8400 you will never take a performance hit,using a q6600 myself,just got rid of my sb,card,cheap 5.1

 

[mike99]

Sounds like video driver is crashing. Try updating the driver, or roll back if you are using latest.Run Memtest86 overnight just in case it's a memory error.

Mike.

 

[pjumpleby]

if you have two vga/dvi connections on your graphics card next time it happens swap it over to the other connection and see if you have a signal. happened to me once with a game on my laptop, it was outputting the game to the external vga and turning off the laptop screen. if this is the case you will need to find out how to disable the second output and/or change the games graphics settings to use the primary output. worth a try before you reinstall or end up spending money

 

[kevmesh]

Thanks for all your replies, everyone.

check your external connection from your 'puter is it tight and firm?

I don't think this is the problem, it all seems as tight as it can be mate.

At the moment I can't try a new PSU because all the other computers in my place are relics, I'll have to wait 'till I can get some spare cash.
The 6 Pin is plugged in, yes

just a thought try using the onboard sound

I'll give this a go in a bit and let you know if it worked or not.

@ Mike99 - I'm positive, that if it is a driver issue for my card then it cannot be fixed with any drivers released at the moment. I have tried so many drivers now but nothing seems to work. I will run Memtest tonight though and let you know how that goes

@ pjumpleby - I do have two dvi connections, I've not heard of this being a problem for anybody else yet I'm hoping you're onto something mate

 

[kevmesh]

I've now tried all suggestions except changing my PSU and nothing has worked.

I've also not been able to use memtest over night yet, either.

 

[Cadell]

I believe your computer is knackered Kev!

 

[AldoTeo]

what are you guys doing?! buddy, what monitor are you using? cause it sounds like the certain games you are having problems with have the resolution set to high for your monitor to handle! try a bigger monitor (17" or bigger) cause i'd almost bet my mom on it being your monitor almost...
but just changing the res ingame should solve the problem set it all right down just to test...

 

[kevmesh]

I have already tried this, mate.
At first, I played for maybe 10 minutes max on a game like Guild Wars, playing full screen 1440x900. I then went on to try it at a smaller resolution at full screen but that didn't work either. The next thing I tried was playing it windowed which was extremely terrible to play but it worked! (For a while) Now, I have Guild Wars set to the lowest possible graphics options and a low resolution.

I'm using a 17" Monitor at 1440x900

 

[mi1ez]

JIHAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JAAA I OWN!

I have to say, as moronic first posts go, this has got to be well up there...

 

[kevmesh]

I have now tried a different monitor too with no success.

 

[Cadell]

I believe your computer is knackered Kev!

 

[Cadell]

I advice you take your PC and throw it out of the window whilst doing 15 backflips over Mount Everest - blindfolded-, whilst making me a cup of tea.

 

[Cadell]

I believe by, removing the video card, washing it under a cold tap with FAIRY LIQUID D:, placing it back into the base-unit, restarting the pc and watch it fry may be amusing also.

 

[Guest]

Hey, if its a perticular peice of hardware thats malfunctioning, you might have to replace it,

did you get warranty on anything?

 

[jitpublisher]

Try checking your power saving settings in Windows and your BIOS. Could it be that during full screen play, your power settings are simply not detecting anything going on for some reason, and shutting down the monitor?

 

[Cadell]

I smell MOOSE

 

[kevmesh]

Hey, if its a perticular peice of hardware thats malfunctioning, you might have to replace it,

did you get warranty on anything?

I have a warranty on all of my parts but I'm not sure which parts are malfunctioning.
I've read on other forums that there are plenty of people experiencing the same problems with the 8800 series graphics cards.
Some people have replaced every part in their system to try and fix their problems but for most, if not all, that didn't work.
I don't want to go through all of the hassle to be just as gutted as I was before.

@ jitpublisher - I have all of my power settings in windows set to 'Never'.
Also, this problem not only occurs when I'm playing Full screen but in Windowed as well and I manage to play Call of Duty 4 for hours without anything going wrong.
When it comes to checking my power settings in the BIOS, what exactly am I supposed to look for?

Thanks

 

[stridervm]

I suggest you try changing video card drivers. Usually that's the first thing I do when it happens. Second is hardware failure.

 

[kevmesh]

I've tried a lot of drivers, including the Omega drivers.
Today, I had tried to original ones that came with my card but that hasn't worked. I'm gonna remove these drivers with Driver Cleaner Pro and install the latest ones again and I'll tell you know how it goes.
Cheers.

 

[Cadell]

I just completed my first potty lesson.

 

[kevmesh]

I just removed my previous drivers and have installed the latest drivers from the Nvidia website - This hasn't helped a bit.