Screen turns black when gaming?

It is the only game I play because of time and memory constraints. I can play for 5-10 minutes before it blacks out and then, after 20+ minutes of trying to get my computer up and running, it will black out within a minute or two of playing. I have the X1600 in my MBP.

FYI:
For Netiquette reasons: Sorry I did not read all the posts careful enough. >Actually Tom_1st posted the link above for the first time here in this topic. >Thanks.

No problem - interesting though that we had the same instinct on this 🙂

*I know, if apple releases a firmware update which will basically just increase the fan speed - something is wrong! Mind my words...*

(still hope that it's not the problem since i own a mbp myself)
ToM

EJulien-

So you're using an ATI video card and running system 10.4.10 and you're getting a black screen of death? How about trying the free Flat Out 2 Demo from Apple's downloads section, or the free Nexiuz 3D game linked to earlier in this thread and report back if you get the black screen. If you are having the issue on an ATI GPU and older system version that could be useful information to know.

Tom_1st - That's what I'm worried about too, especially after reading the article at Inquirer. iStat Pro reported my GPU diode at 100° Celsius and up whenever I tried to use the 9600M GT. With heat that high, surely permanent damage has already set it. I noticed the issue got worse and worse over the days I was using it.

If the GPU is completely faulty I can't imagine what's really going to be done about it. I don't see Apple (or any company) doing a complete recall.

Exactly, this is my major concern too. What is doing Apple about this? I'm sure they are aware of this situation because I see many threads in this forum related to this problem.

If this issue can be fixed with a firmware or software update, what aren't they releasing it already? If the thing is hardware related, how are they going to manage this situation? No word from them at this moment. In Spain there is a lack of stock for the MBP so the few stores selling them don't do replacements in the 14 first days, and leaving the computer there for an uncertain amount of time is not an option for me as I'm an independent consultant and need the tool to do my job...

At least some word from Cuppertino would make my living easier 😟

I have the same problem when gaming in Windows Vista (don't have any Mac games, so can't test that).

A week ago I played the game Dead Space for about an hour without any problems. Yesterday I continued and now I'd get the black screen and the looping sound in about 1 to 2 minutes. I noticed that the fans were still running quite slow while the laptop was very hot. Using smcFanControl I manually set the speed to 6200 rpm. Now it appeared to work fine but still after 20 minutes I'd get the black screen again. I tried it twice and both times it would happen after about 20 minutes...

I guess I'll wait a bit to see if they can fix it in a software update, otherwise I'll call them to get the logic board replaced....

Or, at least call Apple Support with the problem. That way at least they're noticed one more officially has the BSOD.

I did it, and I'm now waiting for their callback when they've analyzed the data I sent them.

I guess there we have the answer. Not a very surprising one.

Hmm I'm in a dilemma. should I buy my new MBP now and then keep changing it, until I get a working rev. B3 or wait until the B3 is out.. hmm I really don't know at this point.

BTW thank you, for the link.

I'm a bit confused. The linked article talks about Nvidia 9300/9400 chipsets on MacBooks. But, reading previous posts, i saw that everybody have problems with Nvidia 9600M card (not with 9400M chipset) on MacBooks Pro. Am I missing something? Maybe the revision numbers are the same for both 9400 and 9600 chipsets...

I'm in a dilemma too. I'd like to order my first MBP this week but I'd also like to play some games with it.

I'm suffering from this problem to. The only thing I've tried in osx is running spore with maxed out settings but it didn't make the computer crash.

In XP running fallout 3 I've tried i bunch of different drivers with no difference. The thing is even if I max the fans with SMCfancontrol and lower the game setting to minimum the game crashes after 5 minutes to two hours. But it is better then with the fans at standard settings

I've logged the temperatures leading up to the crashes and they are high but not thermal protection high, this is four examples:

Seconds GPU HD0 Core 0 Core 1 Core Ambient
80197 83,0 34,0 77,0 77,0 83,0 0,0
80200 83,0 34,0 77,0 76,0 82,0 0,0
80203 83,0 34,0 76,0 77,0 83,0 0,0

42709 80,0 33,0 70,0 72,0 80,0 0,0
42712 80,0 33,0 73,0 73,0 80,0 0,0
42715 80,0 33,0 73,0 73,0 80,0 0,0

56814 73,0 33,0 62,0 62,0 73,0 0,0
56817 72,0 33,0 61,0 61,0 71,0 0,0
56820 71,0 33,0 60,0 60,0 71,0 0,0

69928 79,0 34,0 72,0 73,0 79,0 0,0
69931 80,0 34,0 73,0 73,0 79,0 0,0
69934 80,0 34,0 73,0 73,0 79,0 0,0

Message was edited by: meckis

I've had crashes with command & conquer kanes wrath as well, but after switching to 16 bit resolution on my desktop and turning up the fans to 4500 rpm it works.

still, i am not cool with that 😟

I wish that guy was wrong, but he sure seems to know what he's talking about. I'm getting my computer replaced, which is the only thing that seems to work for most people. But if this guy is right then corrected parts won't be in these computers until January or February. I am stuck in a no-win situation I guess.

Add another one to the list. I was able to play WoW successfully by using the 9400 chip with low settings. Using the 9600 chip I was able to play with no problems by entering /console maxfps 30 in the chat window. Without that command the fans kick into high gear and the system locks/goes black within five minutes.

Kevenly,

I was running 10.5.4 when I got the BSOD. I'll try the Flat Out 2 Demo. The crashes have wiped out some fonts and I've had to reload Adobe Acrobat Pro. I hesitate to crash my computer intentionally as I don't want to lose important files.

The work around by shauny89 along with smcFanControl drastically lengthened the duration I was able to play Titan Quest in Windows XP SP2 before getting the "black screen of death". It went from 10 min to about 6 hours. Most games do not need the 9600GT working full speed to maintain the highest graphical rating. I will continue to do this, until Apple releases the firmware or software needed to fix the problems in Windows, for fear of getting a Macbook Pro with problems in OSX. For those of you with problems in both. I would send in and try your luck with the replacement.