My nVidia card crashes constantly. Ideas?

edited May 2014 in Hardware
Ok this has been a thing now for about a month or so. (It's been happening since I got my new computer, it happened even when I turned it on the first time.) My PC bugchecks with 0x116 (that's a video card timeout in stupid speak) when I used the 3D on it sometimes (which is all the time). Sometimes it works great and I can game for hours. Other times I can't even log on. It's random, annoying, and I have no ideas what to do about it.

/endrant

I've determined that it's the Windows driver that's causing the problem, as I can go full-blast 3D in Linuxes just fine without a single crash.

My card reports as a NVIDIA Quadro NVS 295, the driver's version is 332.50 (which is latest), and my OS is Windows 7 Professional (for reference, it's the same computer I tried an old Wifi card on not long ago).
Any ideas?

Comments

  • Did you try with an older driver? Sometimes the latest is not always the greatest.
  • What is the wattage of your power supply? Is it adequate, or are you trying to run a high end nVidia card on a 320 watt manufacturer PSU?
  • There doesn't appear to be anything high end about that card, the NVS line is their low end options.

    CUDA Cores 8
    GPU Memory Specs:
    Memory Size Total 256 MB GDDR3
    Memory Interface 64-bit
    Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) 11.2
    Thermal and Power Specs:
    EnergyStar Enabling Yes
    Maximum Power Consumption 23W
    Acoustics Fanless heatsink

    Now that being said, I once owned a GeForce 7200 fanless card and the thing would go over 100 FAHRENHEIT while idling.... do check its control panel or get any other GPU temp monitor to see how its doing during load.


    Quadro/NVS/Tesla/GRID Desktop Driver Release 331

    Version: 332.76 WHQL
    Release Date: 2014.3.14

    From their website, THAT is the latest driver, so yours is slightly older, but regardless the quadro drivers are supposed to be held to higher standards for quality and stability.

    Its rather odd that you'd only encounter problems in Windows and not in Linux, that *should* rule out a hardware issue. I'd still suggest trying to find a different video card (doesn't have to be anything new or good at all) and ensure that the operating system itself is stable.
  • Typical Linux VS Windows hardware boxing match. It's most likely hardware to a extent VS how the OS catches the info on the hardware to work. It might not be the nVidia driver at all but Windows's bus driver for the PCI-E. I've had a few cards work fine in Linux, BSD and even OSX and crash in Windows. See if there is a updated driver for the PCI-E itself.
  • mmmkay, sooo
    - Obtain new driver
    - Check for PCI-E problems/driver updates.
    Got it.

    As for Kirk, I don't know what my voltage is, but I think it may be what's plugged in with it:
    - Computer (the one with the BSoD card)
    - Surround sound system
    - Wii console
    - Two monitors
    - Color printer
    - I think I keep my DS charger on it too.
    - and a lamp

    That's a six strip with a six strip plugged in to the first six strip, so it may not have enough power anyway. I'll try plugging it in in it's own outlet.
  • As for Kirk, I don't know what my voltage is, but I think it may be what's plugged in with it:
    - Computer (the one with the BSoD card)
    - Surround sound system
    - Wii console
    - Two monitors
    - Color printer
    - I think I keep my DS charger on it too.
    - and a lamp

    That's a six strip with a six strip plugged in to the first six strip, so it may not have enough power anyway. I'll try plugging it in in it's own outlet.
    I was speaking about the power supply in the computer...not the power strip it's plugged into. That won't make any difference.
  • Kirk wrote:
    As for Kirk, I don't know what my voltage is, but I think it may be what's plugged in with it:
    - Computer (the one with the BSoD card)
    - Surround sound system
    - Wii console
    - Two monitors
    - Color printer
    - I think I keep my DS charger on it too.
    - and a lamp

    That's a six strip with a six strip plugged in to the first six strip, so it may not have enough power anyway. I'll try plugging it in in it's own outlet.
    I was speaking about the power supply in the computer...not the power strip it's plugged into. That won't make any difference.

    In that case I don't know. It came with the computer (which I got from a family friend).
  • Open up the side of the case and look at the label on the power supply. It should be indicated on there somewhere.
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