[Solved] Your display driver stopped responding and has recovered

Hi,

I have a Dell OEM XPS420 with a HD3870 OC card and have never had problems until I installed Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare and now I frequently get this error message within 2-10 minutes of starting a multiplayer game. I read on ATI's site what some of the possible problems may be. I have a few questions and need help. I followed their instructions to remove any old drivers and reinstalled the latest one and that solved the problem of the game crashing in single player mode and let me finish the campaign.

How can I figure out what sort of power supply unit I have or need?
How can I figure out if my card is overheating? Per Speccy my card is 61 - 62 degrees C.
Is there anything else I should be checking or running as a diagnostic? Please help and thank you very much for your help. Also here's a summary from Speccy (feel free to edit any irrelevant data):

Summary
Operating System
MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 33 °C
Kentsfield 65nm Technology
RAM
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 399MHz (6-6-6-18)
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0TP406 (CPU)
Graphics
SP2208WFP @ 1024x768
ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series (Dell) 61 °C
Hard Drives
1465GB Seagate ST31500341AS (SATA) 40 °C
625GB Western Digital WDC WD6400AAKS-75A7B0 (SATA) 35 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp DVD-ROM TS-H353B
TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F
VOVS 9270XE3 SCSI CdRom Device
Audio
SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
Operating System
MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2
Installation Date: 05 September 2008, 05:06
Serial Number:
Windows Security Center
Firewall Disabled
Antivirus Disabled
Windows Defender
Windows Defender Disabled
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Cores 4
Threads 4
Name Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Code Name Kentsfield
Package Socket 775 LGA
Technology 65nm
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Family 6
Extended Family 6
Model F
Extended Model F
Stepping B
Revision G0
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, EM64T
Bus Speed 266.0 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1064.2 MHz
Stock Core Speed 2400 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 266 MHz
Average Temperature 33 °C
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 4 x 32 KBytes
L1 Instructions Cache Size 4 x 32 KBytes
L2 Unified Cache Size 2 x 4096 KBytes
Core 0
Core Speed 2394.2 MHz
Multiplier x 9.0
Bus Speed 266.0 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1064.2 MHz
Temperature 34 °C
Thread 1
APIC ID 0
Core 1
Core Speed 1596.2 MHz
Multiplier x 6.0
Bus Speed 266.0 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1064.2 MHz
Temperature 36 °C
Thread 1
APIC ID 1
Core 2
Core Speed 2394.2 MHz
Multiplier x 9.0
Bus Speed 266.0 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1064.2 MHz
Temperature 28 °C
Thread 1
APIC ID 2
Core 3
Core Speed 2394.2 MHz
Multiplier x 9.0
Bus Speed 266.0 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1064.2 MHz
Temperature 34 °C
Thread 1
APIC ID 3
RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 4
Used memory slots 4
Free memory slots 0
Memory
Type DDR2
Size 4096 MBytes
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 399.1 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 6 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 6 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 6 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 18 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 2T
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 4
Slot #1
Type DDR2
Size 1024 MBytes
Manufacturer Samsung
Max Bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part Number M3 78T2863RZS-CF7
Serial Number
Week/year 31 / 08
SPD Ext. EPP
JEDEC #3
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 18
tRC 24
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 333.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 16
tRC 21
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 266.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 4.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 12
tRC 16
Voltage 1.800 V
Slot #2
Type DDR2
Size 1024 MBytes
Manufacturer Samsung
Max Bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part Number M3 78T2863RZS-CF7
Serial Number
Week/year 31 / 08
SPD Ext. EPP
JEDEC #3
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 18
tRC 24
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 333.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 16
tRC 21
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 266.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 4.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 12
tRC 16
Voltage 1.800 V
Slot #3
Type DDR2
Size 1024 MBytes
Manufacturer Samsung
Max Bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part Number M3 78T2863RZS-CF7
Serial Number
Week/year 31 / 08
SPD Ext. EPP
JEDEC #3
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 18
tRC 24
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 333.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 16
tRC 21
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 266.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 4.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 12
tRC 16
Voltage 1.800 V
Slot #4
Type DDR2
Size 1024 MBytes
Manufacturer Samsung
Max Bandwidth PC2-6400 (400 MHz)
Part Number M3 78T2863RZS-CF7
Serial Number
Week/year 31 / 08
SPD Ext. EPP
JEDEC #3
Frequency 400.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 6.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 18
tRC 24
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 333.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 5.0
RAS# To CAS# 6
RAS# Precharge 6
tRAS 16
tRC 21
Voltage 1.800 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 266.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 4.0
RAS# To CAS# 4
RAS# Precharge 4
tRAS 12
tRC 16
Voltage 1.800 V
Motherboard
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Model 0TP406
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model X38
Chipset Revision 00
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model 82801IR (ICH9R)
Southbridge Revision 02
BIOS
Brand Dell Inc.
Version A06
Date 06/23/2008
Graphics
Monitor
Name SP2208WFP on ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series
Current Resolution 1024x768 pixels
Work Resolution 1024x740 pixels
State enabled, primary
Monitor Width 1024
Monitor Height 768
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series
GPU RV670
Device ID 1002-9501
Subvendor Dell (1028)
Technology 55 nm
Die Size 190 nm?
Transistors 666 M
Release Date Nov 19, 2007
DirectX Support 10.1
DirectX Shader Model 4.1
OpenGL Support 3.0
Bios Core Clock 777.00
Bios Mem Clock 1126.00
Driver atiumdag.dll
Driver version 8.14.10.798
Temperature 61 °C
Core Voltage 1.216 V
BIOS Version 113-B47301-105
ROPs 16
Shaders 320 unified
Bus Width 256 Bit
Pixel Fillrate 4.8 GPixels/s
Texture Fillrate 4.8 GTexels/s
Hard Drives
ST31500341AS
Manufacturer Seagate
Form Factor 3.5"
SATA type SATA-II 3.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ATA8-ACS
48-bit LBA Supported
Serial Number
Interface SATA
Capacity 1465GB
Real size 1,500,301,910,016 bytes
S.M.A.R.T
01 Read Error Rate 113 (099 worst) Data 000354A1C6
03 Spin-Up Time 092 (092) Data 0000000000
04 Start/Stop Count 091 (091) Data 00000026E9
05 Reallocated Sectors Count 100 (100) Data 0000000001
07 Seek Error Rate 081 (060) Data 00086E98F1
09 Power-On Hours (POH) 086 (086) Data 0000003068
0A Spin Retry Count 100 (100) Data 000000001E
0C Device Power Cycle Count 097 (097) Data 0000000C56
B8 100 (100) Data 0000000000
BB 100 (100) Data 0000000000
BC 100 (094) Data 000022006E
BD High Fly Writes (WDC) 069 (069) Data 000000001F
BE Temperature Difference from 100 060 (048) Data 002A140028
C2 Temperature 040 (052) Data 0000000028
C3 Hardware ECC Recovered 044 (028) Data 000354A1C6
C5 Current Pending Sector Count 100 (100) Data 0000000000
C6 Uncorrectable Sector Count 100 (100) Data 0000000000
C7 UltraDMA CRC Error Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
Temperature 40 °C
Temperature Range ok (less than 50 °C)
Status Good
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #1, Partition #0
Disk Letter I:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number 35710820
Size 1397GB
Used Space 1349GB (97%)
Free Space 49GB (3%)
WDC WD6400AAKS-75A7B0
Manufacturer Western Digital
Form Factor GB/3.5-inch
Business Unit/Brand Desktop/WD Caviar®
RPM/Buffer Size or Attribute 7200 RPM with 16 MB cache
Interface/Connector SATA 3 Gb/s with 22-pin SATA connector/SATA 1.5 Gb/s with 22-pin SATA connector (Mobile)
SATA type SATA-II 3.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ATA8-ACS
48-bit LBA Supported
Serial Number
Interface SATA
Capacity 625GB
Real size 640,135,028,736 bytes
S.M.A.R.T
01 Read Error Rate 200 (200 worst) Data 0000000000
03 Spin-Up Time 158 (157) Data 00000013DB
04 Start/Stop Count 096 (096) Data 00000010D9
05 Reallocated Sectors Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
07 Seek Error Rate 200 (200) Data 0000000000
09 Power-On Hours (POH) 081 (081) Data 000000364D
0A Spin Retry Count 100 (100) Data 0000000000
0B Recalibration Retries 100 (100) Data 0000000000
0C Device Power Cycle Count 097 (097) Data 0000000CF4
C0 Power-off Retract Count 200 (200) Data 000000000F
C1 Load/Unload Cycle Count 199 (199) Data 00000010D9
C2 Temperature 112 (101) Data 0000000023
C4 Reallocation Event Count 199 (199) Data 0000000001
C5 Current Pending Sector Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
C6 Uncorrectable Sector Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
C7 UltraDMA CRC Error Count 200 (200) Data 0000000000
C8 Write Error Rate / Multi-Zone Error Rate 200 (200) Data 0000000000
F0 Head Flying Hours 082 (082) Data 0000003373
F1 200 (200) Data 007B41BA67
F2 200 (200) Data 008FF4E359
Temperature 35 °C
Temperature Range ok (less than 50 °C)
Status Good
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #0
Size 54.8 MB
Partition 1
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #1
Disk Letter D:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number CE857E8A
Size 15.0GB
Used Space 14.6GB (98%)
Free Space 404MB (2%)
Partition 2
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #2
Disk Letter C:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number E887A482
Size 581GB
Used Space 464GB (80%)
Free Space 117GB (20%)
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp DVD-ROM TS-H353B
Media Type DVD-ROM
Name TSSTcorp DVD-ROM TS-H353B
Availability Running/Full Power
Capabilities Random Access, Supports Removable Media
Config Manager Error Code Device is working properly
Config Manager User Config FALSE
Drive E:
DriveIntegrity TRUE
Media Loaded TRUE
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 0
SCSI Target Id 1
Size 6.57 GB
Status OK
Transfer Rate 4744 KB/S
Volume Name COD4MW
Volume Serial Number
TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F
Media Type DVD Writer
Name TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F
Availability Running/Full Power
Capabilities Random Access, Supports Writing, Supports Removable Media
Config Manager Error Code Device is working properly
Config Manager User Config FALSE
Drive F:
Media Loaded FALSE
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 0
SCSI Target Id 2
Status OK
VOVS 9270XE3 SCSI CdRom Device
Media Type DVD-ROM
Name VOVS 9270XE3 SCSI CdRom Device
Availability Running/Full Power
Capabilities Random Access, Supports Removable Media
Config Manager Error Code Device is working properly
Config Manager User Config FALSE
Drive G:
Media Loaded FALSE
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 2
SCSI Target Id 0
Status OK
Audio
Sound Cards
AMD High Definition Audio Device
SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
Monitor Webcam (SP2208WFP)
Live! Cam Virtual
Playback Devices
Speakers / Headphones (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC) (default)
Line 1 (Live! Cam Virtual)
Digital Output Device (SPDIF Out) (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Recording Device
Line In (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Peripherals
HID Keyboard Device
Device Kind Keyboard
Device Name HID Keyboard Device
Vendor Unknown
Location USB Human Interface Device
Driver
Date 6-21-2006
Version 6.0.6002.18005
File C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\kbdhid.sys
File C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\kbdclass.sys
HID-compliant mouse
Device Kind Mouse
Device Name HID-compliant mouse
Vendor Unknown
Location USB Human Interface Device
Driver
Date 6-21-2006
Version 6.0.6001.18000
File C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\mouhid.sys
File C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\mouclass.sys
HP Officejet J4500 Series
Device Kind Printer
Device Name HP Officejet J4500 Series
Location USB Printing Support
Driver
Date 11-5-2007
Version 61.73.242.0

Did you manually OC the card? If so, set it back to defaults and see what happens.

No, I got it new as an OCed card. I also made sure it's still on the default OC settings. Also, I've seen some odd distorted horizontal lines with a medley of pixelated colors show up randomly lately. Also, today I tried to play the game again and the graphics card temp got up to 80 degrees C. I read somewhere on ATI's site that heat can buildup in card if there isn't enough thermal solution on card between heat sink fan and processor. Is this something that has to be maintained? Can heat buildup possibly be due to not enough power from PSU? Is there a way to determine if my card may be going bad or if I need to check the thermal paste or redo it?

Pallimud, I have the 375W unit. I didn't do anything with the heatsink I'm not really sure how to or iif I'm qualified enough to mess with it. I feel comfortable swapping the PSU I can handle that. Is there any way to know for sure if it is the PSU before replacing it? I suppose I could take it in somewhere like microcenter and have it checked? Also, it may be worth replacing the PSU anyway if it is the graphics card. If I get a better one it'll probably require more power anyway. Is this something that commonly happens where a more graphics intense game draws more power and then causes these types of problems (after working fine for years and not having any problems at all)? Additionally, I imagine micro center could check out my graphics card too. I'm just trying to save money and learn a few things by doing it myself. However, I'm just at the stage where I know enough to be dangerous. I take the necessary precautions before opening the case and touching things. Do you think Dell would take any ownership if it is the PSU even though the 1 year warranty is expired? I know I'm being overly optimistic - just thought I'd ask.

Most importantly THANK YOU for all of your help and looking forward to your response.

An update:
I replaced the PSU with a PC power & cooling 500 watt silencer and still had the same problems. Then, I replaced the graphics card with a XFX HD 5770 and everything is wonderful.