Freezing, Crashing, BSOD!

[Dude_Shortcouch]

So as the title implies, I've been having a lot of problems with random freezes that lead to crashing of the client. On occasion, it even causes a BSOD and I need to reset the whole computer. Usually what happens, is all of the animations cease. People start to run in place (They still move, but they sort of "ice skate" around), I can't see any AoE that forms, none of my attacks are animated, etc. Also, all NPCs within a certain range will stop spawning, nor can I run out of a certain range. Like, I'll hit an invisible wall and be stuck there. Usually, a freeze or a crash will happen about 20 or 30 seconds after all these things begin to occur. When the client freezes and crashes, even if there's no BSOD, I need to restart my PC in order to log back in, otherwise it just crashes upon loading in.

I've tried reinstalling, updating my drivers, cleaning out my PC, just about everything I can think of. I dont think it's my video card because I can run any other game just fine. Any ideas on how to fix this? It's increasing in severity and is happening more and more often now. Very frustrating D:

[xeonotrix]

hi i had some issues as well but the support forums seems dead for any help. I had to figure out my problem on my own. What are you computer specs?
What gpu are you using nvidia or ATI? How much ram you have?

Best Regards
xeonotrix

[KraggyKor]

This is a hardware problem almost without doubt, most probably overheating: BSODs are very, VERY rarely caused by user-land software and while obviously device drivers are often to blame, in my experience this sort of 'many things failing at once, kinda' problem is likely to be down to software.

I know you said you 'cleaned it out' but that doesn't mean the gfx card (the most common culprit in this sort of problem) isn't to blame if the cooler isn't up to it.

Yes, I know you say it's only this game, many reports will include such a comment, however that doesn't mean it's the game's fault: FFXIV does drive gfx cards harder than, say WOW or LoTRO (in my personal experience) but ultimately a gfx card should be designed to handle sustained heavy loads.

CHeck your working temps, both CPU and GPU.

[xeonotrix]

I disagree , i had crashing issues , and the system would either hang with a white screen, recover or reboot. Now on his case it may be hardware related. Software can cause issues with the hardware it controls.

This is a hardware problem almost without doubt, most probably overheating: BSODs are very, VERY rarely caused by user-land software and while obviously device drivers are often to blame, in my experience this sort of 'many things failing at once, kinda' problem is likely to be down to software.

I know you said you 'cleaned it out' but that doesn't mean the gfx card (the most common culprit in this sort of problem) isn't to blame if the cooler isn't up to it.

Yes, I know you say it's only this game, many reports will include such a comment, however that doesn't mean it's the game's fault: FFXIV does drive gfx cards harder than, say WOW or LoTRO (in my personal experience) but ultimately a gfx card should be designed to handle sustained heavy loads.

CHeck your working temps, both CPU and GPU.

[wicked-one]

anyway, an Dump or ErrorCode would be helpful for the BSOD but mainly, OP Can only check his system cause a remote diagnose is rarely sucessfull here..

[Dude_Shortcouch]

I figured as such, I'm downloading a program right now to monitor my heat levels. I didnt' really want it to be the case, but the more I think on it, the more I think it might be the graphics card that's messing up. Thanks for the replies guys!

[Delni]

I have this same problem.
Videocard: Nvidia GTX 770 (4gb) with Driver: v.335.23
I think latest Nvidia driver (or FFXIV patch :P) caused this problem, because after I updated Nvidia these problems started. Going to test this out!
Most interesting part is that playing FFXIV causes computer (Videocard) to make low buzz/drone sound. Then I tried other game (in this case ARMA3) and there wasn't sound.

[Dude_Shortcouch]

I use a GTX 460. I had heard about the driver problem before and tried reverting back. Still kept crashing. I wonder if it was on FFXIV's end, because I didn't have this issue until 2.1 dropped. That's when it started happening.

That said, I've done some testing. I just played until I crashed using HWMonitor to watch my temperatures. GPU maxed out at about 76 c, which is pretty low. I don't think overheating is the issue, unless the card got damaged some other way that I'm not aware of. This is getting to be so frustrating lol.

[xeonotrix]

have you done any stress testing to your gpu with something else besides FFXIV? Get something like Furmark and stress your card to see if its stable running.

Best Regards
Xeonotrix

[Delni]

Here again! I managed to get game stable and no crashing since doing couple things. I played 10hours session without issues!
Here's little summary:
1) Downloaded older driver (in this case:v. 332.21 Nvidia)
2) Removed old drivers and manually deleted folders left behind with name NVIDIA (after restarting PC)
3) Restarted PC and installed downloaded driver (332.21 Nvidia)
4) Launched game and limited FPS to 60 from options (other options are max.)
5) Enjoying game (Had 10hours session and no crashes/BSOD/freeze/etc)
(Also Videocard stopped making low buzz/drone sound, which is good!)
Hopefully these were helpful and helps you enjoy game!