NVIDIA driver crashes for a specific game

[SPL Tech]

Did you try reinstalling overwatch/crysis? I see windows, but was the game(s) on a different drive??

It wouldent work if it was on a different drive. If you reinstall Windows you lose the registry settings so any programs installed on secondary drives wont work unless they are portable programs (which overwatch is not).

 

[EarthDog]

True...and?

I asked if he reinstalled the game as we dont know if its on the same partition, etc...im assuming so. One can simply 'reinstall' to the same path which 'installs' (reads/confirms files) the game and rebuilds the registy hooks. If its done that way it wont overwrite any corrupt files. With that in mind, it should be clear its worth asking.

 

[yoadknux]

True...and?

I asked if he reinstalled the game as we dont know if its on the same partition, etc...im assuming so. One can simply 'reinstall' to the same path which 'installs' (reads/confirms files) the game and rebuilds the registy hooks. If its done that way it wont overwrite any corrupt files. With that in mind, it should be clear its worth asking.

Hey guys, sorry for disappearing! I've been busy (just finished my M.Sc in physics!) but I read the entire thread.

I did not try installing Crysis to a different drive. I have 2 SSDs and 1 HDD so I could always give that a try.

Just a quick reminder: The goal here is to understand whether my 1080 is faulty and address the issues I'm experiencing. It completely crashes Overwatch, and it's specific to this GPU: I know it because I've tried changing literally everything and nothing worked. I plugged it to a different computer and fresh installed windows on a different drive and it still crashed. One other thing that happened is that I was getting those crazy artifacts on Crysis 3 as shown in the video in page 1. Now, those artifacts, from my experience, are usually related to an unstable overclocked card (Mine is at stock speeds, though there may be a factory overclock - I'll look). I don't think the GPU overheats (the core stays in the 70s after all), but maybe one of the thermal pads doesn't sit too well? Anyway, I suspected I have an hardware issue, so I tried literally every GPU stability test in the world, like all of them, Valley Heaven FurMark 3dmark realbench OCCT Kombustor god knows what else and I never crashed, never had a single artifact, played hours of Witcher 3, Battlefield 1, Deus EX (really sweet game by the way, looks so much better than crysis 3), Heroes of the storm, no crashes, no overheat, no artifacts.

But Overwatch crashes ("Your rendering device has been lost"). Crysis 3 artifacts. Crysis I think had a similar crash a few times as well ("dxgi_error_device_removed"). It's just so very puzzling to me.

I still haven't tried plugging the 1080 to a different PCI-E port... I'll give it a try. Could also try the increase the GPU voltage and power limit, and perhaps underclock the video memory (I think those artifacts are related to GPU memory? not sure though).

Hmm... Also been thinking about maybe flashing a newer GPU bios. I have the Gigabyte GeForce® GTX 1080 D5X 8G, which in other words is just the Windforce edition. I could try flashing the G1 Gaming bios, those cards are literally identical... It's not a difficult process, though I'm afraid it might void my warranty. Anyone knows anything about that?

I also contacted Gigabyte's support to hear their opinion. I'll post updates.

Edit 1: Flashing the G1 Gaming Bios did not help. Same artifacts, same crash. Going back to stock bios.

Edit 2: Moving Crysis 3 from SSD to HDD still results in artifacts.

 

[||Console||]

I have never played OW is there a console command to limit the Frame rate to say 200 ?

Have you tried with your CPU @ stock ?

Do you have a Digital Multi meter that you can check the 12v rail under load ?

 

[yoadknux]

I have never played OW is there a console command to limit the Frame rate to say 200 ?

Have you tried with your CPU @ stock ?

Do you have a Digital Multi meter that you can check the 12v rail under load ?

1. You can limit FPS in Overwatch. Doesn't seem to help. Haven't tried a "stronger" limit such as V-sync though.
2+3 : I've tried without OC, but anyway, the game still crashed even when I took the GPU out of my system and plugged it into a different computer entirely (so we're talking different PSU, RAM, CPU...) and it still crashed.

After the BIOS flash I've DDU'd the drivers and ran GeForce Experience with all it's optimizations... Probably a sample size, but saw no artifacts for now and OW didn't crash for about 20 minutes. I'll keep an eye at it.

Edit: Andd... I woke up next morning and insta-crashed Crysis two times. dxgi_error_device_removed.

 

[||Console||]

RMA it

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Could also try the increase the GPU voltage and power limit, and perhaps underclock the video memory (I think those artifacts are related to GPU memory? not sure though).

Visual artifacting in games (or just at the desktop in normal 2D mode) is almost never related to VRAM speeds or stability, that's typically a GPU Core problem. A bad or damaged core will cause that, for any number of reasons, unstable overclock, unstable at stock voltage and stock speeds (rare, but does happen), bad solder joints/solder connections under the GPU Core (typically happens more to cards as they get older and/or experience more heating and cooling cycles (whether or not it hits unusually high or "overheated" temperatures)).

It sounds to me like you've got bad hardware if this problem follows it no matter what PC it's in and/or whether or not it has a fresh OS and software/drivers loaded with it. Time to request an RMA in my opinion.

 

[yoadknux]

Hey guys! I've actually tried many different things, including getting a new mobo (and 4930k, and new memories...) but the real solution: returned the Gigabyte GPU and bought the MSI Gaming X 1080. No more crashes! Looks like Overwatch is a good stress test...


I think the PSU may have played a role here, and I'm not sure my PSU is strong enough to hold my system. The new GPU coil whines like crazy! My Seasonic X-series 650W now holds an overclocked 4930k (cooled by Corsair H80i), MSI 1080, 2x SSD, 1x HDD, 2x 120mm fans, 2x 200mm fans and a USB sound card. Think I may be pushing it...

What do you guys think? Could coil whine be a bad PSU indicator?

Edit: Nope, everything works perfectly. Gigabyte out, MSI in, Overwatch doesn't crash, Crysis doesn't artifact. If it looks like an hardware issue and smells like an hardware issue, it's an hardware issue...