Please help with Nvidia Driver/EVGA cards

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 10:10

Installed the GeForce 340.43 Driver as this is a new build (as of the 07/07/2014)

Running Watchdogs at 4k resolution with everything at maximum apart from Anti-Analysing which is set to FXAA. I am getting around 45-55fps (during game-play) and 90fps (during cut-scenes) which seems fine but then the GPU driver crashes randomly.

There is no other noticeable issues on screen. The crash can occur during cut-scenes or in game-play. I have not been able to get past the first mission due to this.

Same issue with Arma II/Dayz. FPS are around 35-40fps at 4K. Play for 5 mins and the driver crashes.

Have tried to roll back to 337.88 Game Ready WHQL drivers and still same issue here also.

I am not sure what is wrong to be honest. I have posted to both Nvidia & EVGA to ask if they are aware of issues but nothing back from them.

Further to this it also happens with a single GPU as with the Sli setup, (obviously with lower FPS mind).

Could maybe someone help or suggest what I could try to fix this as I currently can't play any game at 4k other than Sims3 which gets around 130fps.

All the games while running are smooth and look amazing otherwise but this is just a little bit stressful after getting her built.

Spec is as follows:
CPU: I7-4790k overclocked to 4.7GHz @ 1.311vcore
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H105 with Corsair SP120 fans
GPU: Sli EVGA GTX780 ACX Superclock 6GB factory overclock /340.43 Driver
RAM: Kingston 16GB (2x8GB) @ 2400MHz/11-13-13-33-2t
OS/Game Hard Drive: Samsung 840Pro 256GB SSD
Media Hard Drive: Toshiba 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6GB/s 64MB Cache
OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit
MB: Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 7
PSU: Superflower Golden Green HX 750w
Monitor: Samsung U28D590 28" 4K 60Hz

Gregster · 10 Jul 2014 at 10:53

What happens when it crashes? Does it lock up or BSOD?

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:01

It locks up and black screens. After around 1-2min it goes back to desktop and the little notification in the corner states "nvidia display driver stopped responding and has recovered."

Stanners · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:07

Curlyriff said:
It locks up and black screens. After around 1-2min it goes back to desktop and the little notification in the corner states "nvidia display driver stopped responding and has recovered."

Try underclocking the card to rule it out.

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:14

Have used EVGA precision X to underclock the cards. Same issue at moment.

mmj_uk · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:17

Have you tried setting your CPU/memory to stock?

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:18

Have just found out that it does the same at 1440p resolution on both games even though I am getting 90fps on Watchdogs (game-play) 140fps (cut-scene) and 50fps on Arma II/Dayz.

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:19

Have you tried setting your CPU/memory to stock?

Yep, same issue at the moment.

mmj_uk · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:24

Curlyriff said:
Yep, same issue at the moment.

Just to clarify by stock I meant memory at 1600mhz, I'm assuming you have really high spec memory?

CyberCrow · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:25

Have you got a sound card installed

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:27

mmj_uk said:
Just to clarify by stock I meant memory at 1600mhz, I'm assuming you have really high spec memory?

Yep, CPU back to 4.0GHZ and RAM at 1600mhz

Ram is: Kingston 16GB (2x8GB) @ 2400MHz/11-13-13-33-2t (XMP Profile) so just turned off the XMP Profile and ran at stock.

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:27

No sound card, using on-board.

Gregster · 10 Jul 2014 at 11:50

My advise is to run each card in the top slot separately to see if it still does it. If it does it for both, I would say it is a bad driver install, so use DDU (display Driver uninstaller) and do a complete clean install. If it only does it for one, that card would be the culprit and would need an RMA.

Keep everything else at stock.

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 12:02

My advise is to run each card in the top slot separately to see if it still does it. If it does it for both, I would say it is a bad driver install, so use DDU (display Driver uninstaller) and do a complete clean install. If it only does it for one, that card would be the culprit and would need an RMA.

Keep everything else at stock.

Cheers Gregster,

I will try a complete clean install again tonight. I have already tried the cards individually and it happened with both still.

I chose express install last time. Is it worth doing advance and selecting what is needed instead? If so what can I avoid to install.

mmj_uk · 10 Jul 2014 at 12:10

I tried one of those ACX coolers on my 780Ti reference before I went water and I found the back of the card to get really hot compared to stock cooler, I'm just wondering if the VRM's might be overheating or something? have you tried setting fans to a fixed setting of 80% or so to see if that helps?

The trouble with those oolers imo is that they keep the core really cool so the fans are less inclined to spin up high, but the VRM's rely on the cooling from the fans and don't have a huge chunk of metal attached... just another possibility especially with SLI.

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 12:34

I tried one of those ACX coolers on my 780Ti reference before I went water and I found the back of the card to get really hot compared to stock cooler, I'm just wondering if the VRM's might be overheating or something? have you tried setting fans to a fixed setting of 80% or so to see if that helps?

The trouble with those oolers imo is that they keep the core really cool so the fans are less inclined to spin up high, but the VRM's rely on the cooling from the fans and don't have a huge chunk of metal attached... just another possibility especially with SLI.

Oh that is interesting to hear. That could be a possibility, I will take a look tonight at the fan settings also.

Would some back plates help in regards to the VRM?

Gregster · 10 Jul 2014 at 13:23

Curlyriff said:
Cheers Gregster,

I will try a complete clean install again tonight. I have already tried the cards individually and it happened with both still.

I chose express install last time. Is it worth doing advance and selecting what is needed instead? If so what can I avoid to install.

I have chosen all options when installing after having issues and nothing cured it. DDU clean install and then just the normal install worked when I did have issues. Hope that works for you or we are looking deeper

EVGAdominik · 10 Jul 2014 at 14:48

Hi, at which line have you contacted EVGA customer support. Are you able to test the cards in a different system, of a friend or family member? This would be the most timple way to make sure if there is an issue with the graphics cards. Have you already opened the cards? Generally with a SLI setup I would alsways suggest to put some high quality thermal paste on the cards and also set up a custom fan profile. When you touch the back of the Classy cards they do get hot but this is no problem and should not occur any driver kick issues.
Have you set the NVIDIA control panel to to max perfromance and also the windows energy settings? When you open the precision Tool and double click on the three windows the whole vital page will pop up. You can run this in the background, start the game play till it crash and have a look if there was any vital that act wired before the kick happened. Have you already tried to use different power connectors from the power supply? What you can also try for testing is to disable PCI.E Gen 3 in the motherboard BIOS and have a look if this will change anything. Have you installed Experience with the drivers?

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 15:44

Hi, at which line have you contacted EVGA customer support

I dropped a post on EVGA forum after I registered the cards (thinking of the step-up scheme for the 6GB Ti's hopefully).

Are you able to test the cards in a different system, of a friend or family member? This would be the most simple way to make sure if there is an issue with the graphics cards.

I haven't got the availability of another system unfortunately.

Have you already opened the cards? Generally with a SLI setup I would alsways suggest to put some high quality thermal paste on the cards and also set up a custom fan profile.

No and no. Kind of assumed they would be ok and the paste provided would be good enough, however I have some arctic silver 5 at home I could open up and use if that's any good? I assume no issues warranty wise if I do so?

When you touch the back of the Classy cards they do get hot but this is no problem and should not occur any driver kick issues.

OK, that is good to hear. Would some plates help anyways? They are cheap enough I can always put them on even if it is only a minor help.

Have you set the NVIDIA control panel to to max perfromance and also the windows energy settings?

Yes the control panel is set to maximum performance and I always max out the energy settings to make sure nothing causes interruptions/issues from that side.

When you open the precision Tool and double click on the three windows the whole vital page will pop up. You can run this in the background, start the game play till it crash and have a look if there was any vital that act wired before the kick happened.

Will take a look at this tonight when home. This is my first EVGA product and so no real experience with Percision X at moment. This is also my first Sli setup so yeah, small learning curve to get this right.

Have you already tried to use different power connectors from the power supply?

The power supply is semi modular and only has two cables for GPU power connection so have none to swap out too.

What you can also try for testing is to disable PCI.E Gen 3 in the motherboard BIOS and have a look if this will change anything.

Again something else I can take a look at as soon as I am home tonight.

Have you installed Experience with the drivers?

Yes I have, I have used the settings suggested and even turned them down from the recommend with this issue being persistent.

Curlyriff · 10 Jul 2014 at 15:51

So, so far I have to try the following:

disable PCI.E Gen 3 in the motherboard BIOS
try a complete clean install again tonight using DDU (display Driver uninstaller)
Set custom fan profiles accordingly
Open up the GPU and replace thermal paste
Maybe add some back plates to keep the VRM cooler