Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding...

[KevSC1]

This problem started for me a few days ago out of the blue. I hadn't recently installed any new programs or drivers. It began with just the screen freezing for a second and then returning to normal with the error message "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered." I was running an EVGA NVIDIA 8800GTS 640MB card at the time. Nothing on the computer is overclocked nor has it been. Then the next day the error started to happen more frequently so I upgraded the drivers to the most recent release 191.07 WHQL. After this I started to see a lot of screen artifacts and began to run some diagnostic tools like FurMark, each time I tried to run this it would eventually freeze up the OS, resulting in either a BSOD with nvlddmkm.sys (0x00000116) to blame or just freeze up the screen and never come back until a system reboot. All of the temperatures were always within operating ranges. I tried cleaning out the drivers and installing various releases, as well as pretty much every posted solution I could find, but nothing helped. Attached are some of the pictures of the artifacts I was seeing. I decided to contact EVGA who told me to RMA the card as it was under warranty. Since there were graphic problems in the BIOS they thought it had to be the card malfunctioning and not the drivers, etc.

I thought all would be well and good from here, So i popped in the only spare graphics card I have which is a BFG NVIDIA 6200OC PCI. Unfortunately the problem continued to some degree. I no longer have the graphic artifacts, but I am still getting the "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered." error whenever I try to do anything even minimally graphics intensive, for example looking though the pictures I posted at a fast pace, or even run the Windows Vista performance rating diagnostic. I decided to go ahead and do a fresh install of Vista, and even with that I am still getting the error message. Note that the OS was current with all updates in both cases.

I was hoping it was simply a defective graphics card, but even with a new card and a clean install of the OS, I am still getting the error message. All of the images are from when the 8800GTS was installed. I have done all the basic stuff like checking the HDD, RAM, virus scan, etc. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what could be causing this problem?

DXDiag can be viewed here: http://sharetext.org/V25

Images of the artifacts on the 8800GTS:


















Below are some screenshots of what now happens to the monitor when it freezes. With this card (6200OC) I can't even get more than a few seconds before the driver crashes and the screen goes all scrambled.





This is from running FurMark or something similarly graphics intensive, here the computer completely freezes and has to be rebooted manually. If I even dare run a game it just crashes the driver and recovers with the game still running every 15 seconds. If I am using the windows performance diagnostic to rate the computer then it will show this kind of screen for a few seconds and then recover back to the desktop showing the error message "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered."


Computer Specs:

Motherboard: Asus Striker Extreme
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q6600 @2.4GHz
Memory: 4GB Patriot (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800, PDC24G6400ELK
Hard Drive: 2x Samsung 500GB HD501LJ, and 2x Samsung 500GB HD501LJ in Raid 1
Video Card: BFG NVIDIA 6200OC 256MB PCI (Was EVGA NVIDIA 8800GTS 640MB PCIe, now on RMA)
Operating System: Windows Vista 32-Bit SP2
Sound Card: Onboard, SoundMax
Power Supply: Thermal Take 700W W0106RU
Cooling: Swiftech H20-120 CPU Cooling Kit With Apogee GT, CORSAIR XMS RAM Cooler CMXAF1, Multiple Case Fans
Monitor: Acer 22" Widewcreen X223W, Running at 1680x1050
Browser: FF/IE8
Optical: 2x LITE-ON DVD-RW SATA LH-20A1L


Please let me know if any other information might be helpful.

Thanks,
Kevan

[KevSC1]

Update:

I decided to go ahead and try installing Windows XP on another HD to try and see if I would get any errors there. I installed XP and got all the Microsoft updates and latest drives and then ran FurMark. It ran without any problems at 640x480, 1680x1050, etc and even with 16x AA on. In my Vista installation the computer will freeze up after about 20 seconds at 640x480 without AA. I did notice one type of graphical problem in the Windows XP installation however, the images are attached below, these were simply screen shots taken from within Windows.

Screen Shots taken in Windows XP via Print Screen:













Does anyone have any further thoughts as to why I am having trouble in Windows Vista but not XP? I am pretty sure I have tried all the conventional fixes for the nvlddmkm.sys error. The motherboard is still under warranty and it has been suggested that this might be the root of the problem, but since I was not able to replicate the problem in XP, but getting artifacts or BSODs I am weary when it comes to RMA'ing the motherboard without any hard proof that it is the cause.

Thanks,
Kevan

[powerarmour]

Does the NVIDIA 6200OC PCI work ok in XP...?, Vista does use the GPU when you have Aero enabled, which is why the problem is likely to be worse on that OS if the card seems faulty. I'd say in this case it still seems like you have a faulty card, or a faulty PSU driving it.

[KevSC1]

Does the NVIDIA 6200OC PCI work ok in XP...?, Vista does use the GPU when you have Aero enabled, which is why the problem is likely to be worse on that OS if the card seems faulty. I'd say in this case it still seems like you have a faulty card, or a faulty PSU driving it.

The card worked fine in XP as far as running FurMark and any other benchmark program, however I did see some artifacts in XP as shown in my previous post, but I did not spend too much time trying to troubleshoot to see what the cause could be in XP as it is Vista that I am more concerned about. the 6200OC is a brand new card, and doesn't have any direct power connection to the PSU like my 8800GTS did. The 12V reading from the PSU always stays within reasonable levels during the testing.

Thanks,
Kevan

[daglesj]

I've seen that before. If you get artifacting...99% of the time its the card on the way out.

The card is pooped.

[KevSC1]

I've seen that before. If you get artifacting...99% of the time its the card on the way out.

The card is pooped.

Well I can certainly buy that the 8800GTS had some hardware malfunction since it had artifacts in the BIOS screen, however this 6200OC is a brand new card...the chances of them both being bad is pretty slim. Any chance that mobo/PSU could be at fault or perhaps even killing the cards?

Kevan

[KevSC1]

So the problem has been fixed...for now. I decided to go ahead an see if the 6200OC could be faulty as well so I picked up an NVIDIA GeForce 210 512MB while I await my RMA replacement for the 8800GTS (a GT 250 512MB). Indeed my luck is just horrible, the 8800GTS died and then the 6200OC just happened to have been a bad card from the start, now all is well with the 210.

Thanks,
Kevan