Display driver has stopped working and has recovered (Win 10, GTX 960)

[Frihman]

I am having an issue with my graphics and/or graphics driver. Whenever I play a graphically demanding game like BF4, Fallout 4 etc., i get an error message stating something like "Display driver has stopped responding and has recovered" and then the game crashes. This error message pops up randomly when i'm playing, but sometimes it doesn't pop up at all. Games that aren't as graphically demanding like CSGO for example doesn't seem to have this problem. Graphics drivers are up to date.

I have searched around the internet like a mad man trying to find the solution. I have found other threads with similar problems, but none of them had a solution that fixed my problem.

Thanks in advance


Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
CPU: i5-3570k
GPU: GTX 960 2GB
Power Supply: EVGA 500W

 

[n0ns3ns3]

Is your card overclocked ?
What are the temperatures of your card while gaming ?

 

[Frihman]

Is your card overclocked ?
What are the temperatures of your card while gaming ?

I have used kboost on EVGA precisionX (Don't know if that counts as overclock).
The temperatures are around 75c when gaming.

I tried for the second time completely uninstalling my graphics drivers using DDU. I have played for about 1.5 hours since then without crashing. I might have solved it but i'm not sure.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

I have used kboost on EVGA precisionX (Don't know if that counts as overclock).
The temperatures are around 80c when gaming.

I tried for the second time completely uninstalling my graphics drivers using DDU. I have played for about 1.5 hours since then without crashing. I might have solved it but i'm not sure.

kboost is not overclock, it locks the voltage and clock of the gpu/memory on their highest values. This way card consumes more electricity and generates more heat. I would suggest not to use it as it prevents from card to use less power for lower loads.
My guess is that you have problems with heat. try to play with the side panel of the case open and check the GPU temperature while gamin. it supposed to be in 60-75 range. The gpu drops the temperature very quickly, so use sensors tab in GPU-Z or the graphs in EVGA precision to see the in game clock/temperature behaviour.
In idle (desktop) the gpu clock supposed to be very low.
If the open side panel reduces your GPU temperature by 10C or more, you will have to work on the airflow within the case or continue to play with open case.

 

[Frihman]

I have used kboost on EVGA precisionX (Don't know if that counts as overclock).
The temperatures are around 80c when gaming.

I tried for the second time completely uninstalling my graphics drivers using DDU. I have played for about 1.5 hours since then without crashing. I might have solved it but i'm not sure.

kboost is not overclock, it locks the voltage and clock of the gpu/memory on their highest values. This way card consumes more electricity and generates more heat. I would suggest not to use it as it prevents from card to use less power for lower loads.
My guess is that you have problems with heat. try to play with the side panel of the case open and check the GPU temperature while gamin. it supposed to be in 60-75 range. The gpu drops the temperature very quickly, so use sensors tab in GPU-Z or the graphs in EVGA precision to see the in game clock/temperature behaviour.
In idle (desktop) the gpu clock supposed to be very low.
If the open side panel reduces your GPU temperature by 10C or more, you will have to work on the airflow within the case or continue to play with open case.

Ok, thanks for the reply. I am writing this directly after my game crashed so it is not fixed.

I don't think kboost has anything to do with it since i had problems before i used it.

Below are links to screenshots of when my computer is idle and when it is in game. (BF4)

Idle: http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/69db/ig981dhk96s2708zg.jpg

In game: http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/25d5/e5afbdxjwx7ct67zg.jpg

 

[n0ns3ns3]

I explained what kboost does.
And your card seems to be overclocked.
That's what you supposed to have:
Base Clock: 1279 MHz
Boost Clock: 1342 MHz
With 1475 it's logical for the card to crash. Specifically with no added voltage.

 

[Frihman]

I explained what kboost does.
And your card seems to be overclocked.
That's what you supposed to have:
Base Clock: 1279 MHz
Boost Clock: 1342 MHz
With 1475 it's logical for the card to crash. Specifically with no added voltage.

So you're basically saying that my card's clock is too high? If so, do you know how to fix it?

EDIT: Turned off kboost and the idle clock speed is down to about 130 mhz. In game clock speed is the same as before.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

I have no idea how they were changed
Can you post a screenshot of GPU-Z details of your card ?

 

[Frihman]

I have no idea how they were changed
Can you post a screenshot of GPU-Z details of your card ?

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/365b/sp9osxz4e5pkzr9zg.jpg

 

[n0ns3ns3]

That seems much more logical.
So make sure your EVGA precision is not starting with windows (that way any overclocking should not happen), reboot the computer and try to play.
If you continue to experience driver crashes, post again.

 

[Frihman]

That seems much more logical.
So make sure your EVGA precision is not starting with windows (that way any overclocking should not happen), reboot the computer and try to play.
If you continue to experience driver crashes, post again.

Ok, thanks. Will try to play again as soon as I can and i'll come back to you with the results

 

[Frihman]

That seems much more logical.
So make sure your EVGA precision is not starting with windows (that way any overclocking should not happen), reboot the computer and try to play.
If you continue to experience driver crashes, post again.

I uninstalled PrecisionX and tested the clock speed with GPU-Z. It's still at around 1475mhz while gaming. Haven't yet fully tested if it will crash or not.

 

[Frihman]

That seems much more logical.
So make sure your EVGA precision is not starting with windows (that way any overclocking should not happen), reboot the computer and try to play.
If you continue to experience driver crashes, post again.

I've played for a good 3 hours now atleast and i'm still experiencing crashes.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

That seems much more logical.
So make sure your EVGA precision is not starting with windows (that way any overclocking should not happen), reboot the computer and try to play.
If you continue to experience driver crashes, post again.

I've played for a good 3 hours now atleast and i'm still experiencing crashes.

In my experience, Nvidia driver crashes on overclocked systems. I like to overclock myself. So those crashes usually disappear when the GPU/RAM clock reduced to a value closer to their defaults.
I have no idea how your card is getting to 1475MHz when it supposed to be reaching 1342MHz. It could be a result of software like EVGA precision that is still present on your system or modified video card bios.
I would use the EVGA precision to "underclock"/force the card to it's default values of:
Base Clock: 1279 MHz
Boost Clock: 1342 MHz
and see what happens. If it's stable, would just use this profile.