[Troubleshooting Help] Nvidia Driver Stopped Working

[tech1greek]

Hello everyone,

Seeing if I can get some help / guidance troubleshooting an issue I am experiencing.

I custom built the system in 2012 running Windows 8 64Bit, and it ran without a hitch for over 1 year until one day I started experiencing freezing, locking up and recovering from video failures. After it happened a few times I updating my Nvidia Drivers to the latest build but found that issues continued to persist. I tried rolling back, updating to Beta, nothing seemed to solve the problem. At that point I RMA'd the video card, and after 2 weeks installed it and found that the issues were reoccurring, so I upgraded to Windows 8.1 thinking instead of clean OS install of Windows 8 I would update to 8.1 and reinstall with new drivers. The issues would even happen on simple things like browsing the web, the display would disappear and the rarely recover, most of the time, freeze and not show any display until a reboot. The issue continued to persist, I eventually began thinking it was a motherboard issue. I didn't use the PC for a few weeks and began looking at replacements. However after a few weeks of not using the system I found it was no longer experienced lock-ups and Nvidia Driver failures, I checked Event Viewer and did not see any events. I then continued using VM's on that box, played some XCOM (one of my favorite games). It was although the issue went away, which I assumed an auto driver update from Nvidia solved the issue. Until last night when I tried to play Crysis 2, experienced a lock-up and upon reboot I discovered a Nvidia Driver stopped working. I have already RMA'd the video card and it didn't solve the problem. I am now stuck as to what I should look at next? Do I reinstall Windows 8.1 cleanly? Do I replace the motherboard? Is it a power supply issue? Memory? I should add that I am using the latest BIOS, drivers from the manufacturer and that my warranty on my motherboard is expired. Thoughts? Suggestions?


Here are the core components:

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80637E31230V2

Galaxy 56NPH6HS4IXX GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) GC 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video

CORSAIR XMS 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX32GX3M4A1333C9

SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready ...

OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-180G 2.5" 180GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80637E31230V2

 

[Ketchup]

If this is the only issue you are seeing, it's got to be the card or it's drivers. I know a lot of people say Windows 8.1 runs well through the Store upgrade, but there are also plenty who have the best results with a clean install.

At this point, I would try a clean install of 8.1 before more parts-swapping.

 

[tech1greek]

I can certainly try that, just need to back up a few times, anyone else concur that it sounds like a Windows + Driver issue and not the motherboard causing the driver to stop working? Seems odd it would crop up and fail with multiple different drivers.

 

[UaVaj]

this is on of those stupid power saving fails.

that is a known problem with NVidia 500 series especially the 580 (own two of them on two different machine). it is caused by the game/program (wow-mop in my case) not telling the gpu to draw enough voltage when the gpu is loaded and causes the video driver to crash/recover. in severe cases the screen will artifact and will cause the game to crash out to windows.

all you have to do is bump the voltage of the card up and the problem will go away.

good luck.

 

[tech1greek]

this is on of those stupid power saving fails.

that is a known problem with NVidia 500 series especially the 580 (own two of them on two different machine). it is caused by the game/program (wow-mop in my case) not telling the gpu to draw enough voltage when the gpu is loaded and causes the video driver to crash/recover. in severe cases the screen will artifact and will cause the game to crash out to windows.

all you have to do is bump the voltage of the card up and the problem will go away.

good luck.

Thanks that may be helpful, if only it was that easy though. Looking at the BIOS it doesn't seem like I change the GPU voltage, I downloaded MSI Afterburner, and it doesn't seem to allow Voltage change for the video card either. I understand that it's possible I need a BIOS update to be able to up the voltage. Also if going to a fixed voltage I think 1.0V to 1.050V is a safe range? Not sure what would be a good setting, using Z-GPU I am seeing as low as 9.95V - 1.005V.

Suggestions?

 

[vailr]

I would suggest upgrading to a PCIe 3.0 video card. There's a "generation mismatch" when using a PCIe 2.0 video card in a Z77 chipset (PCIe 3.0 capable) system. Sell the old card on eBay to recoup some of the cost.

 

[tech1greek]

I have considered that, much easier to swap a GPU than a new mobo, I was looking at the refurb EVGA, seems the 650 is the best value right now for PCI-E.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130962

 

[Mem]

Well known driver issue with 4xx and 5xx cards,driver wise normally latest beta solves the issue like here https://forums.geforce.com/default/...ay-driver-feedback-thread-released-11-27-13-/


Thread on the problem here ,
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...-460-560-gpus-updated-for-nb-12-5-13-page79-/

From page 50

WE have created a new test driver for Geforce 460/560 GPUs:

Windows 7/Windows 8 64-bit GeForce Desktop GPUs

http://geforceforums.s3.amazonaws.com/64-bit.zip


Windows 7/Windows 8 32-bit GeForce Desktop GPUs

http://geforceforums.s3.amazonaws.com/32-bit.zip


If you are able to, please download and install this driver and let us know your results. Once again this driver is based on driver 331.58 but introduces a newer fix. If you tested this driver, please email me your results to driverfeedback@nvidia.com and state if this driver fixed your issue, improve/worsened your stability issue and also include any dmp file you may have while using this new driver. Thank you for your time.

Last option is try older driver like 314.22 drivers,they were solid for me on Win8/8.1.

I've been lucky since the latest 331.93 beta have solved my 560TI issues,as you can see from the thread above Nvidia are aware of the problem that many users have.