Nvidia 180.48 - Causing Serious Problems

[bradk_1749]

So as a lot of you know there is this "Stutter" issue with the new Nvidia drivers, which many users are having with Left4Dead...

For those of you unfamiliar here is the problem I am having:
I can play for about 4-8 minutes without any issues, flawless graphics, then I hit this "lag" which feels like CPU lag, as it freezes my graphics, and makes the sound loop over and over.. this "stutter" happens for about 20 seconds, every 40 seconds or so.

I initially thought it was because my card was overheating however I checked the temp, and at full load it was around 79.C so it's not that.

My Specs are
Nvidia EVGA 8800 GTS 640MB
MSI p6N platinum Mobo
Intel Core 2 CPU 6600@2.40GHZ
4 gb of Corsair XMS RAM
Windows XP Service Pack 3..

Here are some pictures of my temps, and netgraph in Left4Dead, while the "lag" is occuring
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17779871@N00/3094527328/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17779871@N00/3094527294/ (this one is L4D using netgraph 3
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17779871@N00/3094527256/ my temps here

Interesting Points:
1) My pings spikes with the issue, however in single player it still happens ( so it's not internet lag )
2)Disabling Multi-Core Rendering in the in-game Video Options does not fix it
3)I ran DxDiag, had a second sound tab, uninstalled the one that wasn't my sound card
4)Already ran a virus/malware/spyware scan
5)Running in window mode doesn't fix it
6)Flawless graphics, everything maxed out, runs great for 5 minutes, then it happens. Never happened until I installed the 180.48 Drivers..
7)rolled back the drivers, uninstalled, safe mode boot, driversweeper to clean the old nvidia files out, then installed - problem remains
8)Upgrading to the newest 180.84 Forceware drivers that came out yesterday did not fix it
9)I also updated my sound card/mobo drivers.
10) I ran MSCONFIG and ran a "Selected Start UP" Where I disabled start up items as well as Ended all Services that weren't Microsoft Related... (left4dead.exe still ran 100% cpu)

This problem happens in Call of Duty 5, and Left 4 Dead. (only 2 games I have installed)

If anyone has anymore questions or would like a dxdiag, please let me know and I will answer promptly! Thanks for your help!
Brad

 

[lucuis]

Your processor temps are wicked high for that voltage. Try reseating the heatsink, or turning up the fan if it's not alrady maxed out. Also to rule out the graphics heat causing the issue, crank up the fan speed.

I had a slightly similar problem with the driver failing and recovering when i played deadspace. My graphics card was getting too hot, hitting a very max of 82C that i seen. But was normally around 79C.

Only two things i can think of.

 

[swifty_morgan]

I didn't read anything about you trying a different driver so don't be in a hurry to blame that particular one. Game settings should be looked ( in game panel ) at as well as video card settings ( video control panel ).

You should run a scan for maggot ware. Try turning off things like instant messaging and kill all apps while gaming. ( virus scanner, etc).....if you are running Norton .. uninstall it and get something free like avg.

Get EVGA precision and increase the fan speed as mentioned above.... for the vid card.

Try cleaning the processor & heat sink and fan and put new smootch on it and PROPERLY reseat it. If it's cocked or the pins are not installed right it won't cool right. Best way to do it is remove the mobo so you can see the "pins' when they come through the board.

Pull the side off the case to allow extra air into the box. Poor ventilation will cause this.

Service pack 3.... what made you install that ?

 

[bradk_1749]

Hey Swifty, tried every driver, back into the 177.xx's all the way to the new forceware 184.84's that just came out

I will be sure to try turning off IM's and virus scanners I am running NOD32..

A critical update took me to SP3 I believe...

I have increased the fan speed, and will try that... If this doesn't work I'll reseat the HSF on my CPU and let you know..

What are standard temps for those voltages Lucuis?! Thanks so much for your help guys, you are all awesome!!

 

[bradk_1749]

Update:
I beefed up my CPU fan and now I am not getting the lag issue at all.. it must be because my CPU is a chokepoint..

http://flickr.com/photos/17779871@N00/3095148061/sizes/o/

My temps look really hot for the CPU, I am running an E660 Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz in a Socket 775
What Heat Sink/fan should I upgrade to? The zalman 9500 a good one? It appears my current stock one isn't cutting it anymore!

 

[swifty_morgan]

TBH the stock heat sink and fan should be fine if your not over clocking. Try and clean it up and apply arctic silver or some other smootch on it and re-seat the heat sink. might be all you need. Wonder if it's one of those that are all aluminum vs one with a a copper core ?

the Zalmans are fine but a little expensive and a pain to install if you're not used to them. Sunbeam core contact freezer, xigmatek, arctic freezer pro, etc.

let us know how you make out.

 

[gcfmathew]

Yo. I had this SAME EXACT issue with MSI8800GT 512 w/ an E8500 @ Stock Settings. Though the only game I had stutter was in L4D. L4D happens to be the only multi threaded app/game I have. TF2 and Warhammer ran with no problems.

My Video card loads @ 60C and my CPU @ 42C.

I tried every fix possible and nothing work.
Final Fix = get rid of the drivers.

Remove drivers, run registry sweeper, reinstall older drivers.

As soon as I rolled back to a 178.xx driver I had no issues. Then again, you said you disabled dual core mode in L4D and still had the lag. I did not have the lag anymore when I disabled dual core.

gluck.

 

[lucuis]

Hey Swifty, tried every driver, back into the 177.xx's all the way to the new forceware 184.84's that just came out

I will be sure to try turning off IM's and virus scanners I am running NOD32..

A critical update took me to SP3 I believe...

I have increased the fan speed, and will try that... If this doesn't work I'll reseat the HSF on my CPU and let you know..

What are standard temps for those voltages Lucuis?! Thanks so much for your help guys, you are all awesome!!

Normal temps at that voltage would be somewhere around high 50s to maybe 60C max. But that's high even for the stock cooler. I remember maxing out around 70C on the cores at 1.28v running my Q6600 at 3.0ghz, on the stock cooler.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

Ya these drivers are a bug fest. My cousin with his 2 8800 GTS 512s lag like hell on older games such as Oblivion and The Witcher (he prefers them to all the newer games...). How nVidia could make official drivers worse than their BETA counterparts is somewhat shocking.

 

[lucuis]

So far i've had no problem with these drivers, however i'm not running SLI. I'll post back if i have any issues.

I've played thus far on the new drivers;

Wheel of Time (1999) works great BTW Great game, Story etc is solid, and the graphics are amazing for it's age.

 

[bradk_1749]

Yeah no idea what exactly happened, but either way it affected a setting somewhere that made the game run more dependent on the CPU or put more info to it or something...

Not really sure, either way I went ahead and ordered a Zalman 9500 to put on there, how much thermal paste should I be putting on the processor before adding the new heat sink?!

 

[lucuis]

I'm pretty sure it comes with instructions, but generally you put enough to cover the top of the cpu, but not so much it oozes over the sides.