GTX 580 driver problem

[NBraz]

Hello all,

 

I'm having a weird but also funny problem with one GTX580 from Palit that i have on one of my workstations. When in 3ds max the driver crashes constantly even with simple web browsing. It just freezes and eventually the driver crashes with the infamous "nvidia driver has crashed and recovered".

 

I tried:

 

1) Reverting drivers all the way back to 270.51 beta and even installing tweakforce drivers (yes, i cleaned them with driversweeper before installing new drivers).

2) Disable hardware acceleration on flash

3) Going to nvidia control panel and setting Vertical sync to OFF and Power Management to "Prefer maximum performance"

4) In nvidia control panel i also changed the Use my preference emphasizing "Balanced" instead of the default "Quality".

5) Upping the voltage incrementaly until 1.1mV.

 

None of the above solved my problem. If i replace the gtx580 with a Radeon HD5450 things work perfectly fine. Same rig.

 

Yesterday when it froze i decided to smack the case and... voila it started working again Depending on the frequency that i render I eventually have to keep smacking it every 10-15-20min. My guess is that the problem is just dust accumulated probably on the pcie power connectors making bad contact. I'll have to find the time to clean it today with a compressed air can. What do you guys think? Has anyone of you had any problems with driver crashing in a GTX 580?

Edited June 3, 2013 by NBraz

[NBraz]

For someone stumbling this thread in google, as embarasing as it may sound the pci-e retension clip that broke of a few months ago, which by the way wasn't a problem with less heavy graphic cards, was the culprit and was causing the driver crashes. Installed in the second pci-e slot and it works like a charm. So, if you think that the latch is useless, well it's not

[NBraz]

Spoke too soon Driver keeps crashing. Tried every fix imaginable and nothing works.

[Dimitris Tolios]

Which Vray version / platform?

Is Vray updated?

[NBraz]

Forgot to edit the main post. It happens even in windows with simple browsing and not only with vray framebuffer. Slapping the case "unfreezes it" for brief moments until eventually the driver crashes after a few more slaps

[Dimitris Tolios]

What kind of PSU do you have?

Is the card old? Could be overheating -> maybe opening it up and blowing it / dusting it off could help, if not, try taking the cooler apart and cleaning up / replacing the TIM (thermal paste) between the cooler and the GPU core.

 

Fermi cards run ridiculusly hot (natural for those to run in the high 90s) and that cooks up / prematurely weathers the TIM that dries up. A consecuent strong vibration (i.e. removing the card or moving / kicking the case) might lead to the cooler being moved and the dried TIM fragments not letting it set back to contacting the GPU lid good enough to dissipate all the heat.

 

Cleaning up and replacing TIM helps a lot with temps, and it is recomended for powerful cards being used a lot in hot environments.

[NBraz]

PSU is an Antec 750W TruePower. This workstation ran the GTX 470 and GTX 590 without any problem. I don't think overheating is the problem as it runs 63º idle and 70º on 3ds max.

 

I've already replaced the thermal paste with artic silver and cleaned everything thinking it would improve temps a bit but it just lowered it 1ºC maximum. I'm left to think that maybe i didn't mount the cooler correctly because i don't remember the gpu having such issues before replacing the thermal paste. It's unlikely but you never know... I read somewhere that when re-seating the cooler the pressure on the video ram has to be just right or it will lead to multiple problems. Will have to re-check that Thanks for your input Dimitris