Video card crash - nvlddmkm

Maverick827

A month or so ago I was wrestling with a very annoying issue while playing this game wherein my entire PC would freeze up on me. Whenever it happened, I would get this event Error:

The description for Event ID 14 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

The following information was included with the event:

\Device\Video7
12a4(2ac8) 00000000 00000000

I tried many things to resolve this issue including:

1. Virus scans
2. Monitoring my GPU temperature
3. Updating my video card driver: Nvidia 335.23 -> 337.50 (beta)
4. Uninstalling recently added device drivers (headset, mouse, etc.)
5. Re-installing Windows

Nothing worked. My video card was not overheating. I re-installed my drivers in safe mode just to be safe, I installed nothing but the bare essentials on the new Windows install before installing the game and testing it out.

Finally I found a solution on the Nvidia forums which involved installing EVGA Precision X and manually increasing my GPU fan speed to 70% - 75%. I did this for about a week, but I began to worry that I was wearing down my GPU's fan and I didn't want to have to deal with replacing it sooner than I had to, so I decided to just stop using EVGA Precision X and see what would happen.

That was on or around May 8th, because that's the last time I have that error in my event viewer. The error had been fixed, so I can only assume it was something on your (Zenimax) end, because I had done nothing else myself to fix it. I have been playing error free ever since until today.

I'm starting to get the error again; it has happened twice already today. Again, nothing has changed on my end. I have started running EVGA Precision X again and it seems to still fix the issue (though I have only been running it for a few hours successfully, so it's not the most reliable of tests).

I'm also getting a few graphical artifacts with the latest patch. Ghosts are completely invisible, I've seen some environment textures become very pixelated in black and white for a few seconds before reverting back to normal.

And then this happens occasionally (I've noticed it most when a Frost Atronach is nearby):



Specs:
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40 GHz
Crucial Ballastix Sport 8GB
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
EVGA GeForce GTX Titan Superclocked
Driver: 337.50 (beta)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Azuriel02

Altough I didn't get the same error with which you are having issue, I do have the exact same graphical issue on your screenshot since 1.1.2. (can't see ghosts anymore, and have the same screen as yours when there is frost astronach near).

I didn't find any way to fix this, which is why I am posting here, hoping that someone will find a way.

Maverick827

So it turns out that I had set the ESO launcher to Windows XP compatibility, which forced it to run with DirectX 9, which caused the invisible ghosts issue.

The reason why I set it to Windows XP compatibility was in my long-running quest to find a fix for my crashing issue. I must have encountered that as a possible solution and set it, because I don't remember doing so.

ESO crashed my PC three times tonight; this is really annoying. I don't mind it when the game crashes, but I do not like it when a game forces me to reset my computer.

Brabok

Of course i cant be sure but it sound like you may have a heat problem.
the fact that you had to raise your fan speed and it went well for a while and now is starting again seems to indicate either wear and tear on your heatsink or it may simply be clogging up with dust.
try cleaning it out and if that doesnt work maybe refreshing the heatsink paste under the grill. *If you are uncertain how to do it get someone who does or bring the graphic card to a professional PC repair shop/person*

Maverick827

I'd like to believe it's just a heating issue, but that doesn't explain the near month I was able to play without issue while doing nothing on my end to fix it, and its sudden reemergence directly following a patch.

I also don't have this issue playing other games. I just got Watch Dogs. I haven't played it much, but if anything can push my card towards the point of overheating, it's that. I'll try to play it some more and see what happens.

aradia222cub18_ESO

I just bought a Alienware x51 and it was delivered last week. I downloaded my games EVE online, STWOR and elder scrolls. EVE and STWOR Played fantistic.

Closed them and started played ESO. 45 min and my screen had filled with artifacts. . Tried to re start and the video card would not respond.
I have a 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600Mhz (2x4GB),NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 Ti with 2G GDDR5,2TB (64MB Cache) 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s, Windows 8.1 64-bit English

so why did the game crash my card ?

Audigy

Maverick827 wrote: »

A month or so ago I was wrestling with a very annoying issue while playing this game wherein my entire PC would freeze up on me. Whenever it happened, I would get this event Error:

The description for Event ID 14 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

The following information was included with the event:

\Device\Video7
12a4(2ac8) 00000000 00000000

I tried many things to resolve this issue including:

1. Virus scans
2. Monitoring my GPU temperature
3. Updating my video card driver: Nvidia 335.23 -> 337.50 (beta)
4. Uninstalling recently added device drivers (headset, mouse, etc.)
5. Re-installing Windows

Nothing worked. My video card was not overheating. I re-installed my drivers in safe mode just to be safe, I installed nothing but the bare essentials on the new Windows install before installing the game and testing it out.

Finally I found a solution on the Nvidia forums which involved installing EVGA Precision X and manually increasing my GPU fan speed to 70% - 75%. I did this for about a week, but I began to worry that I was wearing down my GPU's fan and I didn't want to have to deal with replacing it sooner than I had to, so I decided to just stop using EVGA Precision X and see what would happen.

That was on or around May 8th, because that's the last time I have that error in my event viewer. The error had been fixed, so I can only assume it was something on your (Zenimax) end, because I had done nothing else myself to fix it. I have been playing error free ever since until today.

I'm starting to get the error again; it has happened twice already today. Again, nothing has changed on my end. I have started running EVGA Precision X again and it seems to still fix the issue (though I have only been running it for a few hours successfully, so it's not the most reliable of tests).

I'm also getting a few graphical artifacts with the latest patch. Ghosts are completely invisible, I've seen some environment textures become very pixelated in black and white for a few seconds before reverting back to normal.

And then this happens occasionally (I've noticed it most when a Frost Atronach is nearby):



Specs:
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.40 GHz
Crucial Ballastix Sport 8GB
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
EVGA GeForce GTX Titan Superclocked
Driver: 337.50 (beta)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Is there a reason why you use Beta drivers? You should use the new Nvidia drivers,

http://www.geforce.co.uk/drivers/results/76224

I'd like to believe it's just a heating issue, but that doesn't explain the near month I was able to play without issue while doing nothing on my end to fix it, and its sudden reemergence directly following a patch.

Heat issue´s also depend on the environment and not only the own hardware. Lets say, your fans are dusted or you build the rig wrong use a not so good fan speed profile, then this might still work totally fine in the cooler seasons of the year, but might result in a huge issue during summer.

You can monitor the degree´s of every part on your PC, I would advice checking those.

I also don't have this issue playing other games. I just got Watch Dogs. I haven't played it much, but if anything can push my card towards the point of overheating, it's that. I'll try to play it some more and see what happens.

Different games strain hardware differently.

I also only noticed that my GPU was broken when I played AOC, at WoW it did run perfectly fine.

I know it sounds strange, but believe me when I say that no game is like the other. It also doesn't necessarly need to be your GPU, it could also be a broken VRam or CPU.

The GPU is the obvious thing as it obviously is what we define as "what we see", but there are many other parts as well that matter.

That said, I would advice to use the official NVidia drivers and not the Beta ones this might already fix the issue.

Maverick827

I did nothing and the game has been stable for a few weeks now.

For reference, I used the beta drivers because I already had the most up-to-date drivers and they weren't working.

I game in a small airconditioned room, so the environment rarely changes and hasn't changed since the issue started (and fixed itself, and then started again and fixed itself again).