Games crashing with overclocked PNY GTX 760

[KILLAFROSTBYTE]

System specs: Motherboard: Gigabyte Ultra Durable GA-970A-UD3
CPU: AMD FX 6300(with C
RAM: 2 sticks of G.SKILL RIPJAWS X
GPU: PNY GTX 760 XLR8 Enthusiast edition(overclocked)
PSU: NZXT 650 Watt Bronze
os: Windows 7

Before I go further,I'd like to say this is my first post here on tom's Hardware so go easy on me

I recently bought a GTX 760 factory overclocked from PNY and heres the link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133498

GPU works fine for basic tasks on my computer like web browsing, streaming shows, etc. but when it comes to playing demanding games it crashes almost everything I throw at it. Splinter Cell Blacklist and AC4: black flag came free with my card and can barley get through 10 minutes before the games crash. same happens with Battlefield 4, Max Payne 3, etc. One frequent crash shows that "Nvidia Display Drivers have stopped working and recovered" with Blacklist.

Problem might be related to the overclock and GPU BOOST 2.0.Tried lowering the mhz and memory clocks but blacklist and other games still crash on occasion, although I notice crashing becomes noticeably less frequent when I do lower speeds. Also the packaging says the cards speed can boost up to 1176mhz but on precision x, I notice when playing blacklist that the GPU clock goes even higher to like 1254mhz with a voltage of 1200, without increasing/decreasing clock speeds or messing with settings. Is that normal?

My question is what would be the stable recommended settings for a GTX 760? Also would PNY RMA my card if the clock speeds are unstable? I am hoping I could get some helpful replies to my issue and am curious if anyone has a GTX760 factory overclocked to share their experiences.

 

[theadler]

First, I would say to make sure you have the latest drivers for your GTX 760. Second, do you have adequate airflow through your system? If so, try using Geforce Experience. It will set optimal settings for your games based on your system configuration. Your power should be sufficient for what you're running. If you have the latest drivers, try uninstalling them, downloading a fresh copy and install again. If you are still having problems, it might just be a bad card. I use to buy PNY cards years ago because they were cheap, but when it comes to this stuff, you get what you pay for. I had tons of problems with games crashing with PNY cards.

 

[KILLAFROSTBYTE]

Sorry for not responding back but I had actually found out what the problem was. My last attempt was to re lower the clock speeds using precision x and I decided to hook up my TV to my pc so I could monitor the GPU while playing BF4. I quickly realized that on full load the card quickly jumped to over 1250mhz as the max. On the box it said that boost speeds go max to 1176mhz so I put a cap of about -60mhz and voila the card stopped crashing. In can play any game no problemo now! I could send it to be RMA'd but this is a very minor issue. As long as I set precision x to activate on startup I'm fine! Might consider a custom bios for the card to return it to stock speeds or similar in the future. Next time I buy a card I going to make sure it isn't overclocked...

 

[theadler]

Overclocked cards aren't bad, just beware the brand you buy. Shop for quality over price. You can't get the best of both when it comes to this stuff, you have to sacrifice one for the other.