GTX 460 Malfunction

[Quacky]

I have a GTX 460 2GB video card, a 3.6 GHz eight core AMD processor, and an ASUS MSA99X EVO motherboard. I love how it works...when it works. I've had it for a couple months now, and I have constant problems with the graphics driver crashing. Sometimes my screen just goes black for a little, then comes back with an error message telling me my display driver crashed and recovered. Other times it just freezes and I have to crash my computer for it to come back. It is becoming intolerable!!! What can I do? Could it be the video card socket on the motherboard? It is a huge video card.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Peettreedish]

try rolling the driver back in the device manager, see if that fixes it.

 

[Quacky]

How do I roll it back in the device manager? I looked around and couldn't figure out what you meant.
Edit: Never mind, I found the button, but it is disabled. I've updated my driver a few times and the problem has persisted.

 

[Peettreedish]

right click on the video card in the device manager and select properties. when the dialog box opens, goto to driver tab and click rollback driver. this only works if you recently installed a new driver and then the problems started. This can happen if windows automatic updates downloads and installs it for you.

 

[Peettreedish]

sorry didnt read the whole thing there, if rollback drivers is greyed out the the driver is either not being detected properly or has never been updated.

 

[Quacky]

Well, it's been updated, so it must not be detected properly.
I've looked into it more, and apparently this is a widespread problem involving Nvidia/microsoft compatibility. Maybe there's more to that for me, since sometimes my display won't come back on until I fiddle with the cables or restart my PC. I just don't know.

 

[Quacky]

296.10 (Newest one)

 

[smorizio]

start by checking that you have all the bios fixes loaded for you mb there are a few for that board. i then take a look at the ram in your system and see if it on the mb qal list. if it is i run some memtest on it to rule out a bad bit of ram. i would then download cpu-z and hardware monitor and watch your gpu temps and power supply voltages. if the gpu is getting to hot from a fan that not working or fan profile that set wrong you could get heat lock ups. the other issue is under load your ps could have power or ripple issues causing your gpu to lock up.

 

[Quacky]

Okay, Bios fixes. Where can I find those? Sorry I can't figure out everything for myself, but I am familiar with computer graphics, not computer mechanics.
I did try a few things:
I installed memtest on a USB and booted off that. I'm not sure what it was supposed to do...once, on the windows startup screen it showed some extra text, and then abruptly turned off. Does that mean it failed? It never came up with any extra sceen, but once it said 'formatting windows', and then it just started up normally. Aargh! I have no idea what I am doing.
For graphics card overheating: I rendered a lengthy scene on the GPU for about thirty six hours, and although it got really hot, it never failed. The display driver ONLY fails when I am interacting with the computer myself. Makes no sense.
I am currently downloading the 301 Beta Nvidia driver.

 

[Quacky]

Okay, it's not definitive yet but I haven't had any more crashes after I installed the 301 driver. Only problem is, it has errors with my GPU renderer. Okay, I can handle that for a little while if it fixes my trouble, but I hope they release a completed version of the 301 driver soon.

 

[Quacky]

Thanks for the help! The 296 driver must have been the problem. Unfortunately, I can't use the 295 with Cycles (renderer) either. I'll just have to be patient.

 

[Quacky]

Never mind. It happened again.