Hi guys, I have a PIII 500MHz m/c. my problem is that whenever i play Max Payne afetr some time say 5 mins my monitor shuts off. i have an asus v7100 magic card and 128mb ram. help me. happens with Medal Of Honor too and not with any toher games.

The games are setting a refresh rate/resolution too high for your monitor to handle. Id say that the monitor is somewhat clapped out if it works for a while then doesn't, but you should be sure that it is the screen that is causing the problem. If you're sure it is then just go to the game's control panel and set a lower resolution. It is possible that intense 3d graphics are causing your graphics card to overheat, install some additional cooling in the case and near the graphics card. Do not put the graphics card fan/heatsink side directly beside any other card.

No setting for refresh rate in these games. there i sno problem with the card too since other games like Q3A and Unreal Tournament work perfectly.

There may be a problem with the card! check it isnt overheating as some games will use more intense features than others. Q3a and unreal are fairly old games, wheras Medal of Honor is newer and therefore uses the G-Card more. Using the argument "there is no problem because x game works properley" could also be applied to say the monitor was fine, but it isn't, and seeing as the monitor deals with nothing more than rays of photons fired at a glass screen in lines, it is highly probable that the graphics card is the issue here. Does the monitor come on again after key combo presses such as alt-tab, alt-F4, ctrl-alt-esc ? if not then there is a system wide fault that can only be one of 3 things: Monitor, Graphics card, and Processor. Graphics card and processor errors would be caused by overheating, monitor problems would be caused by incorrect setting of the refresh rate, but as only 2 games cause this error then it is either a custom refresh rate/resolution within these games that causes the error, or a system overheat caused by intense processor usage. Does your monitor OSD/self diagnostic pop up after the failure saying "no signal" or similar. If so then there is nothing wrong with the screen. Please describe the cooling arrangement of your computer, and the position of the graphics card, as overheating may be the cause of your problem.

If key combos do work then its a software issue and you should install the latest drivers for everything esp the graphics sound and directx. Actually, you should do this anyway. i don't know why this wasnt my first response.