Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 drivers crashing

[gammarik]

Hi all

As the GeForce forums are down, i thought i'd ask here

I have a custom build desktop computer with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 GPU, and it has begun crashing from time to time. It mostly happens when i watch youtube video's and play games at the same time. Suddenly my screens goes black for a moment, pop up again, and i see a message above the taskbar saying something about that the driver has been restored. I am using Stardock WindowFX, and when i installed that it went crazy. I couldn't do anyting without the drivers crashing, so i wrote to Stardocks support, and they told me to downgrade my drivers to the original drivers for my card (GeForce 285.62 Driver) and it stopped the constant crashing, but it is still crashing from time to time (same as before in started using Stardock WindowFX). I am thinking that the card is overloaded and therefore crashing, but come on, Youtube videos and Guild Wars 2? My dad suggested that the card has dust in the cooling and getting a bit overheated, lowering the perfomance.

So do you guys have any ideas of what could be causing it? Could it be some settings that are setup wrong? I would highly appreciate any help!

Also: I have been looking for a guide that shows how to take the plastic cover of the card, so we can clean it, but we can't find any. Can one of you link me one? The card is ASUS branded, but an GeForce GTX 285 GPU.

Thanks in advance

/gammarik

 

[mace200200]

Try using that drive sweeper program to completely erase, and reinstall the newest drivers, I can remember some people doing that to fix problems. But if your card is dusty and getting hot, it wouldn't make the driver fail, it would make your whole computer shut down with a blue screen, so heat can be ruled out.

 

[gammarik]

Try using that drive sweeper program to completely erase, and reinstall the newest drivers, I can remember some people doing that to fix problems. But if your card is dusty and getting hot, it wouldn't make the driver fail, it would make your whole computer shut down with a blue screen, so heat can be ruled out.

Can i use the build in Windows Uninstaller feature in the windows control panel to uninstall it? Or does Nvidia have a program for that?

 

[Deemo13]

What power supply are you running? And what are the rest of your system specifications?

 

[gammarik]

What power supply are you running? And what are the rest of your system specifications?

My specs are:
AMD Phenom II x6 1045t
Nvidia GeForce GTX 285
16 GB RAM
Power LC6650GP3 v2.3 650W Power Supply

 

[gammarik]

I just tried uninstalling the drivers, but after restarting, Windows started reinstalling the drivers, using "found new hardware" and reinstalled Driver Version 285.62, which was the one i had before.. I will give it another shot and come back here afterwards..

 

[gammarik]

Nope, clean reinstalling the drivers didn't work... I have turned off WindowFX, and the constant crashing is fixed, but it still crashes a lot...

 

[nforce4max]

Your psu is junk and clean your card.

 

[gammarik]

Your psu is junk and clean your card.

Okay. Can you recommend a new better PSU?

 

[nforce4max]

If you want to keep it somewhat affordable while leaving room for later upgrades.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

 

[mace200200]

The LC power supply you have now is made by great wall right? They aren't the absolute worse brand in the world but still not very good, that corsair linked above is very nice, better than anything I would ever be able to afford but I don't think the OP is going to shell out $200 for a new PSU when he doesn't know for sure that is the problem. For a GTX 285, you'd get along fine with a less fancy PSU like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095
theres also a 520 if you want to save the $10 on it but I would just buy the 620.

If you want a Gold rated one, this is a better buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182073

 

[gammarik]

The LC power supply you have now is made by great wall right? They aren't the absolute worse brand in the world but still not very good, that corsair linked above is very nice, better than anything I would ever be able to afford but I don't think the OP is going to shell out $200 for a new PSU when he doesn't know for sure that is the problem. For a GTX 285, you'd get along fine with a less fancy PSU like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095
theres also a 520 if you want to save the $10 on it but I would just buy the 620.

If you want a Gold rated one, this is a better buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182073

True, but in my country these you linked are a lot more expensive, and my budget is quite low.. Can i be sure that buying a new PSU will fix the problem? I don't want to completely ruin my budget if it can't fix the problem.. Is there anything specific is should look for in the specs in a new PSU, so i can find a less expensive one?

 

[mace200200]

True, but in my country these you linked are a lot more expensive, and my budget is quite low.. Can i be sure that buying a new PSU will fix the problem? I don't want to completely ruin my budget if it can't fix the problem.. Is there anything specific is should look for in the specs in a new PSU, so i can find a less expensive one?

If you get a new PSU you need to get one that is rated 80+ bronze, 80+, then make sure its built by a good company, Seasonic, CWT (Corsair), Antec, etc... I like to use this chart, it's nice because it also shows results from different tests done on each unit.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page541.htm

Also I can't tell you for sure that a new PSU is going to fix your problems, but if you need to replace the GPU it'll be nice to have it running off a new quality built PSU so you don't have to worry about it blowing up.

 

[gammarik]

I got the idea that it could be a software bug, and as it most of the time happens when i am watching youtube videos, it could be a Flash bug, so i have switched the youtube player to HTML5 to see if it fixes anything. So far it hasn't crashed yet Crossing fingers for that was it!

 

[gammarik]

Okay, so i had the card out, to get the Serial Key and Model Number as i was going to contact ASUS about it, and i thought i would try cleaning the fan and colling carefully with a vacuum cleaner. And now it seems to be working! I haven't had a crash yet (It was a couple of hours ago)! I am a bit amazed that it worked. I have 2 ideas for what could have been wrong: I could just have been the cooling that was bad because of the dust in it (there was a lot!), or it could have been one of the 2 6-pin power connectors that was not plugged in correctly, so the card didn't get enough power.

Now that i am thinking back, i remember something similar, not quite the same but similar, happening when i first got the card, and i had a super lousy power supply, without the right connections (only one 6-pin). As far as i remember, at first it was completely useless, as it was crashing all the time, so we get an adapter that could take another connection (can't remember which one) and converted it into a 6-pin, and it ran alright, but not completely smooth (I think it was something similar to what happenedhere).

Well, the important thing is that it seems to be working!

Thank you all, for helping! I will be saving up for a better power supply, and hopefully sometimes soon i can get one!

Have a nice day!

/Gammarik

 

[nforce4max]

Vacuum cleaner = sometimes instant death to static sensitive parts.