Games crash to desktop

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big_half

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Sep 13, 2011
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18,510
Hello,

My gaming pc constantly crashes to desktop while playing games. (Crysis, Crysis 2, DX Human Rev, BF 2, COD MW2, etc) and its killing me!

The hottest of the two graphics cards doesn't exceed 91C, tried many gfx driver versions, CPU at 50C at crash, games updated to latest patches..

On occasion it pops up with something like 'Your graphics driver has failed, and has successfully recovered'

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit at 2560X1600 resolution.

Please help!!

Hardware as follows:

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7 Motherboard
Intel I7 2600K
16GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 XMP
2X SLI Gigabyte GTX580 GV-N580UD-15I
Corsair Force 3 120 GB SSD
WD Caviar Black 2TB HDD
Corsair HX 1050 PSU
NZXT Phantom case w/ all optional fans
 
Solution
Been reading around and it seems the BIOS stock voltage for the GTX580 max is around 1.138.Theirs a lot of people saying that you can get a BIOS update to unlock the voltage more but you won't need that.

Bump up the voltage to 1.100
Be sure to watch your temps.Raising the voltage will increase the temps.

big_half

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Sep 13, 2011
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18,510
Hi, thanks for the prompt response!

I haven't overclocked the cards at all, not confident enough :) Today it didn't get over 86C, but it still crashed. (I've heard they're rated for 103C)

I think it gets so hot because the cards are a bit less than a cm away from eachother, as the bottom card doesn't get over 70C, but the other slots in the motherboard are 8X slots, so I would prefer not to use them.

I did actually try setting both fans at max, but it still crashes, and it seems to automatically restore the fan speed to auto when it happens..?

Any other suggestions?

Cheers


 
I see you have a 4 way board but I'm guessing in 2 way it only supports the top 2 slots?

Theirs is almost little to no difference between x16 and x8 slots.Use the x8 slot if you can.But on newegg they list your board only supporting the top 2 slots for 2 way.Might be wrong.

Try using ATI Overdrive or MSI Afterburner to manually set the clock speeds back to the default for the GTX580.

Stock Clock for the GTX580 are as follows:
Core Clock: 772MHz
Shader Clock: 1544MHz
 

big_half

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Sep 13, 2011
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Hey,

That improved it. (they were barely over that though) It took a fair while to crash this time but still not in the clear. You might be onto something with the clocks/voltages etc. Would you say the card(s) are faulty?

I have contacted nvidia about it and they're releasing a 285.xx driver update very soon apparently to resolve stability issues many people are having, so I might wait.

Do you have any other suggestions in the meantime?

Your help is much appreciated!

Many Thanks
 

bucknutty

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Start with a spread sheet and go at it methodically keep track of every change. Randomly changing stuff will just confuse the issue. I would try removing one card for a few days in an attempt to isolate if one card is the problem. If it still crashes then swap the cards. If it still crashes then it is most likely not the cards (unless they have the same flaw). If one card crashes and the other does not, you can then try reducing clocks or replacing that card. If the system continues to crash when testing each card individually chances are both cards are fine and the issue is elsewhere like ram. My first guess is one of the cards is a little wonky, second guess would be the ram.
I actually had to RMA one of my MSI GTX470s when it was only 3 months old, because I was getting random blue screens, and the good ole crash to desktop with the windows message “the video driver has stopped responding and has been successfully restarted”. It took me about 2 weeks but I isolated one card that blue screened unless I under clocked it by like 100mhz.
 

big_half

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Sep 13, 2011
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Hi,

I have gone and systematically cycled the hardware, with a crash every way I try.

I removed a card, crash, swapped it with the other, crash, took all the ram out except for a 4gb stick, crash, did the same with all the ram sticks, crash, tried under clocking the processor, crash, tried the beta 285 nvidia driver, crash!.. :'(

I have done as advised and moved the second card to the lower pci-e port to allow better cooling, which does indeed keep them well under 75C now.

The clocks etc according to MSI Afterburner are as follows:

(identical on both)

Voltage: 1000 mV
Core Clock: 795 MHz
Shader Clock: 1590 MHz
Memory Clock: 2004 MHz

Can you please advise what voltages/clocks you would recommend to increase stability. (I would prefer not to underclock them, as a few games use nearly 100% on both cards at 2560X1600 on max settings and I want to keep them running smoothly)

(Would they run better overclocked?, can Gigabyte tell if this has been done if a warranty claim arises? - other than a melted card obviously)

Cheers guys!

 

big_half

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Sep 13, 2011
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Hi, I cannot understand that page, its not in English. I tried using the Gigabyte Easy Boost program to 'Auto Flash' them but it says 'there is no update available here'. Weird though, as the Nvidia system information has a different 'video BIOS version' listed for each card?..

1) 70.10.17.00.01
2) 70.10.20.00.01

Both cards do crash on their own though..
 

big_half

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I've been playing for a while at 750MHz. It has had moments where the game totally locks up for a about 10 seconds, then it continues. But it sucks that I have to clock it back.. Would increasing the voltage at the stock clock help? If so, to what level its on 1000mV at the moment..
 
Been reading around and it seems the BIOS stock voltage for the GTX580 max is around 1.138.Theirs a lot of people saying that you can get a BIOS update to unlock the voltage more but you won't need that.

Bump up the voltage to 1.100
Be sure to watch your temps.Raising the voltage will increase the temps.
 
Solution


Well, i'm pretty sure gigabyte will have an English section to ?
 
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