Age of Empires III display problem

I'm having a problem with AOE 3 and display. Here is my system information
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
2gb ram
XFX 7800 GT 256mb PCI-Express video card
AMD 4400+ X2 Dual Core processor
2x 250gb SATA3gb configured as Raid0
Samsung 21.3" LCD monitor (1600x1200 @60hz native)

Minimum is meet to play the game. When I run the game I've had the title
screen lock up, another time it was supposed to go to the main screen but
went black and I could hear the music playing still (had to power off PC).
But mainly when I do get into the game and I'm sitting at the main screen I
see tearing/flickering. I've got the latest NVidia drivers. I've altered
settings for the graphics but it's always there.

Any ideas?

Forgot to mention
I'm running Windows XP64

Hardware issues can cause freezing, black screens and other
errors. Also, your drivers should always be kept up to date.

Try the following steps one at a time to try and resolve the issue.
I hope this helps. Please post back if you have any questions! :-)

1. Update DirectX and your Chipset, Sound, &Video Drivers:
For all Video / DirectX / Game and Hardware Issues, I have a
Checklist of Solutions at: http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk

2. Dust your fans, vents and components using a 1/4" paintbrush
and a hose vacuum. Use compressed air for hard to reach places.
Set a housefan to blow cold air into your case to expose an over-
heating issue.. If it works add more fans or replace defective ones.
Use this Motherboard Monitor Utility: http://mbm.livewiredev.com

3. A faulty power supply can cause STOP errors, random reboots,
and black screen lockups. One way to test for that is to check the
wattage sticker on your power supply and then calculate your need
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ (Min. 350 for gaming)

4. Test your RAM using: http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

This is a completely brand new system I built this past weekend.
1. DirectX is latest version
2 Fans are all clean
3. PSU is brand new Thermaltake 680 Watt, I've check all voltage
4. RAM was tested.

I played AOE last night and it last for 5 minutes before freezing up in
the game.
I then rebooted and decided to try Call of Duty. No problems, no display
issues, no freezing.

Could it be Windows XP 64bit that's causing the problem?

Interesting that you mention the x64 Processor, here's the official verdict:

Supported processor
Age of Empires III requires a minimum of a 1.4 gigahertz (GHz) processor. Additionally, the processor must support Streaming SIMD
Extensions (SSE). Processors such as the 1.4 GHz Athlon Thunderbird do not support SSE. Your hardware must pass a system check when
you start the game. If your hardware does not pass the system check, you will receive the following error message that states that
Age of Empires III does not support the processor:

Age of Empires III requires a processor that supports the SSE instruction set. This computer does not appear to support SSE, so the
game will not attempt to run.The processor is supported if it meets the speed requirement and passes the system check when you start
Age of Empires III.

For more information about processor-related issues that you may experience when you play Age of Empires III, click the following
article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909534/) When you install or start a Microsoft game, you may receive an error message that states
that your computerâ?Ts processor does not meet the requirements for the game

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907884

seems like you are not the only one with problems w/ aoe3. I built a
completely new system this weekend and it locks up as soon as i get to the
main screen.

athlon 64 3200 running at 2.5 ghz
1 gb ram
ati rx1600 pro 256 graphisc card
lastest drivers on everything. i just downloaded them.
i am really frustrated also.

[Vekspec]

hi, i was just searching google when i saw ur forums. i was searching for AoE 3 flickering.

seems i also have flickering problems. im running a laptop (Core 2 Duo, 3gb ram intel x3100 video card), it's brand new HP, but my problem could be video card related. im running at min settings. however when i saw that other members were having similar issues but using a x64 system, i realized that it could be my OS. im running Vista Business x64.

I just reinstalled my AoEIII after not playing for severa months. Nothing
hardware wise has changed but I am not getting any video after the initial
splash screen. I've run the dxdiag and everything checked out ok, also with
DirecX files. My AoEII runs fine. What do I check next?