GTX 660 Graphic Driver Issues - Looking for suggestions

[Raist]

irq not less then equal usually means ram related issue or theirs a problem with the north-bridge controller on your motherboard.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error in Windows 8 is displayed in Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). Just like other Blue Screen of Death errors, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error also arises due to corrupt software application files, corrupt system files, incompatible or inappropriate device drivers, corrupt device drivers, faulty hardware devices, etc.

Typically IRQs are the interrupt requests that are sent to the microprocessor via south and north bridges. If IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error occurs, chances are that an issue with the application or driver is related to the memory or interrupt request.

For Driver irql not less then equal it could be hardware overheat... It could be the card somehow got dislodged from the slot (reseating cards in the case sometimes fixes issues) I have personally had a video card some how come up out of the pci e slot just enough to throw windows into a shit fit.

It could be corrupt system files.. Or a in comparable program or a conflict between a virus scanner and the program itself..

you can also try a manged start-up and disable all the apps on start-up and try it if that works re enable apps tell you find one that causes it..

clean install of windows and reload can also help.

Actually, it's more an issue with invalid memory access. Typically, it's caused by a driver or program trying to access memory already in use by something else. But, I have seen this arise erroneously within the swap file because of corruption. As a sort of quick and easy test/fix for that, you can change the advance system settings to run without a swap file (remember to SET the change, then apply), reboot so that it deletes the swapfile, and then go back and turn the swapfile on again so that it builds a new one. It can sometimes be caused by RAM that isn't seated well or has dirty contacts also, but that should actually trip a different error. But, it's worth it to re-seat them just in case it is that rare occasion (especially if your area gets a lot f humidity...oxidation is a pain and it has to be done routinely in some areas).

Otherwise, it is often an issue of drivers not getting along. The trick is finding out which driver is causing the problem. You may see errors in your logs (eventvwr.msc) pointing to issues with a particular device. That's a good place to start. But, more often than not I've found it to be tied into what once was commonly installed as "chipset drivers" (drive controllers, usb controllers, etc.) not getting along with what was commonly drop-in devices (vid/sound and network controllers). Make sure your critical Windows Updates are up to date, then get updated motherboard chipset drivers from your manufacturer--it's usually a single package that installs quickly, knocking out a bunch of devices in one fell swoop. I once had a laptop that was getting knackered up by the Trackpoint software... had to actually roll back to an older driver to fix that one. IBM's power management software for laptops would get flaky sometimes too. So, if you see some feature specific updates (or previous releases) available, might want to grab them too, just in case you need to test them.

After that, start disabling devices you don't use. First in the BIOS, then in Device Manager. Some obvious things are the old COM, Parallel and IrDA interfaces (most everything is USB nowadays), but also try things like cameras and such too that you won't need when playing the game. This will significantly narrow down your list of suspects. One common peripheral culprit (unfortunately) are the HID's. Usually plugged into the USB port. So, if your controller or something is installed as a Human Interface Device (HID), I would look into updating those drivers if they are vendor specific (like Logitech or APC) before updating Video and Sound (changing Audio/Video can sometimes lead to other issues). One common product that has been at the source of issues for me over the years are the HDMI crossbridges. It's sometimes a tricky one to find a specific update for though. Sometimes ATI/nVidia will release updates specifically for the HDMI Audio interface, or just updated WDM descriptors for Windows. These simple updates have sometimes fixed issues, especially with ATI's.

After that, it's time to look into things that load in the background that are basically idle and *shouldn't* be impacting the system when their related devices/software is not in use. iTunes and all the associated Apple services (Bonjour, Apple device detection services, etc.)---yep, might have to update that i-product's software again, or maybe set the services to Manual so they don't auto load. Cyberlink products (PowerDVD, CD/DVD burning Software). Security Software... any and all of it... make sure it's current. Sometimes even the stupid stuff you'd never think about at all like Adobe, Java, or Quicktime can be at fault (they all load quick start programs that sit in memory, waiting to be called upon).

Yeah... I know... it's a long laundry list. There's even more examples that can be put on the list...just trying to give hints on what to look for. Basically, anything running in the background could be causing a conflict. But, I've found by the time I've dumped the swapfile, reseated RAM, and updated the important drivers... the problem typically disappears.

[Colyo]

win7 64bit
i5 2500k
gtx 660 ti running 320.49
8gigs corsair ddr4

no problems

[Rautzen]

I have a GTX 660 too and I was actually having problems with the 314 driver while playing. The driver would stop responding and recover frequently so I went ahead and did a clean install of the 326.80 driver and its been running fine so far.

[Segraine]

Another update:

I reseated my RAM and the GTX. Cleaned up various old programs and killed some services that snuck up on me. Darn Apple software anyway. - Crash

Turned off and cleared the Swap file. Restarted. Turned it back on. Restarted - Crash.

I downloaded the Crysis demo and cranked the settings to max. Ran just fine with multiple play throughs. I am generally not a FPS guy, but the game is pretty. I like the vegetation. Rebooted and loaded up FF14. Played for about 20 minutes and crashed. Now I am trapped in 3102. However, it seems isolated to FF14. Nothing else causes any problems. Windows runs all day without a hitch; all games I've ran so far work fine at max settings for hours a time. This has me stumped.

Next on the agenda, uninstalling FF14 and re-installing it.

I have to say, I am getting a little frustrated because the log in issue prevents me from properly testing.

[Eldaru]

Another update:

I reseated my RAM and the GTX. Cleaned up various old programs and killed some services that snuck up on me. Darn Apple software anyway. - Crash

Turned off and cleared the Swap file. Restarted. Turned it back on. Restarted - Crash.

I downloaded the Crysis demo and cranked the settings to max. Ran just fine with multiple play throughs. I am generally not a FPS guy, but the game is pretty. I like the vegetation. Rebooted and loaded up FF14. Played for about 20 minutes and crashed. Now I am trapped in 3102. However, it seems isolated to FF14. Nothing else causes any problems. Windows runs all day without a hitch; all games I've ran so far work fine at max settings for hours a time. This has me stumped.

Next on the agenda, uninstalling FF14 and re-installing it.

I have to say, I am getting a little frustrated because the log in issue prevents me from properly testing.

I was doing some googling this morning and it seems there are a lot of other people out there with 600-700 series cards with problems, myself included. I was fine during beta 3 and 4 and even early access. For me, the crashes started off seldom at first but have become frequent, and I can easily cause a crash in under 2 minutes just by standing in Limsa looking out to sea. I can also reproduce it while streaming video on my second monitor, something that has never been a problem with any other game. My entire system freezes up and the screen either goes white or display output stops completely. It seems unlikely to be anything other than a GPU problem, and one I can't reproduce in any other game or stress test I've tried.

I've already tried various drivers, but I have a couple more to try as well as a couple other things (turn off Afterburner, unplug second monitor, etc.). I uninstalled and started downloading the game again earlier this morning, but I won't know if that worked until I get home later today. I'll report back if I can get anything to work, but I'm not hopeful. There seems to be a driver problem, but I'm not going to try anything older than 314.22.

[Colyo]

try turning off CUDA

[Rukurai]

I was having issues with lag in the game but realized it was not my video card. Turn off anything like malewarebytes or advanced system care that run auto checks daily. Sometimes when that kicks in, if you have it scheduled, it won't warn you but will use system resources to do its job. Only thing I leave running while playing is Comodo. The same can be said for antivirus scans scheduled during your play time. I changed all my settings to run when I'm asleep even if I stay up later than normal.

[Dremic]

did you turn your frame limiter off?


i had similar issues with SLI 670s because i turned frame limited / vsync off and when i would get 120+ fps on the login screen or dungeons the visuals would go fuckin crazy

[Segraine]

@Dremic

I haven't turned off the frame limiter. Last time I tried it, the game was very unstable and crashed more often. I would get 300+ fps on the login screen.

[Dremic]

@Dremic

I haven't turned off the frame limiter. Last time I tried it, the game was very unstable and crashed more often. I would get 300+ fps on the login screen.

turn off the frame limiter in the game, force adaptive vsync and triple buffering through nvidia control panel.

also make sure you have power managment set to prefer maximum performance over adaptive.