Nvidia Display Driver Crash

Status
Not open for further replies.

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860
I have a really annoying problem with my video card. Basically, the video card drivers crash 1 to 2 times a day which totally disrupts my computer use/gaming. My brother has the exact same setup and hardware (i guess you could call it the control) except he uses a regular HDD whereas mines an SSD, that shows the rig works fine, it just seems to be mine having issues.

What happens?
1. Firstly the screen, mouse, sound locks up at regular intervals then unfreezes briefly etc etc.
2. After about 30 to 60 seconds the screen goes black.
3. The display comes back with normal function and in the bottom left a notification is displayed saying the "drivers have crashed and recovered etc".

When it happens:
Mostly noticed watching flash videos (youtube etc) or playing games

I have tried:
1. Driver versions 301.42, 304.79
2. Reformatting PC

I haven't tried clean sweeping the old drivers off, I have only uninstalled drivers using windows "uninstall a program". I don't know if that could cause driver conflict?

Any tips or advice would be great that I could try, I am really unsure what else to do.

Thanks
 

El Tigre

Honorable
Jul 10, 2012
771
0
11,160
Use Driver Sweeper to clean up the bits left behind when you uninstalled the old drivers. Then try installing the latest drivers again. Make sure your BIOS is set to AHCI as SSD's needs to use that setting for correct operation. You can also try clearing your CMOS. to do this, first unplug the computer, then take out the little button cell battery off the mobo, then wait a few minutes, then put it back in and try again. Also whenever you clear the CMOS, you will have to set the settings to AHCI again.

It should look something like this in your BIOS settings.

bios_ahci.png
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860
AHCI is all set properly. I just downloaded driver sweeper, I'll give that a go now.

Thanks

UPDATE: just driver sweeped by PC but left the nvidia chipset untouched (only uninstalled display and physx, is that correct?) anyway, everything went smoothly. I guess time will tell if it's all good. I also did a custom install of the drivers and left out stuff i didnt need like HD audio and 3d vision.
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860
Did driver sweeper the other day and it all went smoothly. Reinstalled driver but drivers still crash. I'm not sure what I should do.

Any tips or things to try would be great.

Also, a few months ago I used some GPU monitoring tools (i have since formatted), they wouldn't be causing any problems would they?
I also have had a pure red screen happen also once or twice.


Thanks
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

Thanks mate,

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce OC
CPU: i7 3770k - stock speed
RAM: 16GB G-Skill Ripjaws
MOBO: Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H
PSU: Antec 750w Modular
SSD: Patriot Pyro SII 120GB
OS: Windows 7 Home Prem

If there's anything else you need please let me know

Thanks

edit: also two sata 2 HDD's and an external HDD via e-sata
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

fresh windows install, fresh video card drivers (latest 2 or 3 versions) still having issues
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

I tried Lucid prior to re-formatting but stopped using it since I had nothing but trouble with it.

I believe I have set IGP from auto to disabled IGP in the bios

update: just checked in bios, Integrated Graphics is indeed disabled
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

Sure do, got my good old trusty 8800gt, that thing has never failed me.

Does it sound like just video card problems to you? Or can other components cause the Video Card drivers to crash?
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

no worries. my current video card crashes at least once or twice a day so i'll leave the 8800gt in for a few days, maybe a week and see how it goes, if it doesn't fail then i'll certainly notice the difference.

i'll get back with the results in a week or <


thanks
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860


I have switched it over to the 8800GT, everything is running fine so far (touch wood) after many hours of youtube/gaming/general use

I noticed that the 8800GT fans are much louder when it is installed in this new case i got (corsair 500R) compared to my old antec 900 when i play MW3 max settings, that gave me a hunch that maybe the internal case is hotter than my old one. On that hunch I search on google and came up with a post saying that overheating could cause the drivers to reset?, although I can't see how this is happening to mine since most of the time I'm just on youtube when it happens and the GPU is presumable under little stress; compared to hours of BF3 max settings with no problems.

Also when the drivers crash it effects my onboard sound simultaneously (the whole screen and sound will freeze at the same time intermittently). I thought if it was just purely the video card crashing the sound would remain intact?

So far, it seems to be the video card at fault but I need to do a day or 2 more testing. If it is indeed the video card, that raises the question if it's a hardware fault or simply the current drivers are buggy

Thanks
 

verbalizer

Distinguished
making progress mate, bravo..
me personally I would RMA the card, should be under warranty and eligible for RMA..?
I call them Giggle-Bytes (Windforce OC) can be buggy, I sure you have seen all the postings on forums,
most GPU issues (besides HD Radeon) are Giggle problems.
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

I believe it has 3 years warranty, I'll keep digging for solutions, maybe wait for some new drivers then resort to returning it if all else fails.

Cheers
 

verbalizer

Distinguished
since you have already reformatted Windows, no need to try that again I would not think.
so let's try drivers again.
custom install and then select clean install option.

let me know..

edit:
mouse beat me to it, didn't know about the latest release, is that beta.?
 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

I can't seem to find that version 305.53. How can I get a hold of that one?
I haven't tried 304.48 either.

I have tried 301.42 WHQL, 304.79 BETA both has issues.

 

Simo606

Honorable
May 11, 2012
292
0
10,860

My most latest install was using that very method with no success (304.79 version)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.