Crashing in Non boss room after 2nd boss prior to 3rd boss in Syrcus Tower

[Xyphon]

Hello,

I've been having this issue since 2.3, and it has not been resolved. On my end I've done everything from reinstalling the game entirely, to wiping my hard drive and reinstalling my OS. I've even installed an entire new OS, and received the exact same issue.

Before anyone asks "Have you run your game on 1 graphics card without SLI". Yes, I have. Exact same issue, regardless which card I use solo. I duplicated this exact issue in the same spot every time I tried to relog into the game after the crash.

I've tried the last 4 Nvidia drivers, to also no avail.

I've tried every single graphic setting in game, and no matter what I do it always happens. The oddest part is after the 3rd boss is killed, the game will allow me to then go to the final boss without any issues. The error I get is simply the game has stopped working. My fps does not shoot down during the crash, and I've made sure to monitor it (read on reddit ATI cards are having this issue).

I've even had the game minimized in the lowest resolution, and it still caused the game to crash even though it wasn't rendering any graphics on the screen.

The reason I have not posted this till now is because I haven't actually been in Sycrus Tower since the issue occurred again after 2.38. Each patch since 2.3 I have tried to see if the issue was resolved. I finally tried again today to see if the issue was resolve, and the exact same issue occurred.

I am by no means an amateur computer user, and I have no issues with any games other than ffxiv arr.

My system:
Intel I7-4770k 3.5ghz
Asus Hero Maximus VI motherboard
Corsair 20.0 gb of DDR3 ram 1333 mhz
x2 Seagate 500 gb HD 7200 rpms
x2 Nvidia Gtx660 SC 4gb of VRAM in SLI
Corsair 1200 watt module power supply
Coolmaster Stryker Case (has 7 fans that keep my cpu at 20-30, and gpu never exceeds 50-60 at full load)

I'm currently running Win 8.1 x64.

I have no issues anywhere else in the game, and can run on maxed out settings without a drop in FPS. I always keep vsync on to make sure my gpu's never get hot (yes I've tried running ST with it disabled).

I haven't seen anyone else post this issue, but while talking inside of the Syrcus Tower it seems other people are experiencing this issue.

Due to the issue I'm experiencing the entire dungeon is basically unplayable. Has this been look into at all?

If there is anymore info you would require me to submit, I have no problem doing so. Thank you.

[Squa11_Leonhart]

Could be faulty or incorrectly configured system memory (why is it 20GB?)
could be a bad combination of drivers or software that loads at startup.

This game survives TDR's so a display driver crash wouldn't (shouldn't) cause this - other drivers in the system on the other hand, such as audio or usb can.

Checked the hdd's smart stats lately?, Seagate quality has gone to hell in the last couple of years.

Tried redownloading the game in its entirety from scratch?

[Xyphon]

@Squa11_Leonhart- I already listed above that I reinstalled several times from a complete fresh state. Including from a wiped/newly formated hard drive with a fresh new OS installation.

The memory is 20 gb due to how using x2 8 gb + x2 4 gb decided to come out (before you ask they are all the same specs in terms of DDR3, 1333 mhz, timing etc). So its technically 24gb, but my system is limiting that to 20 gb. That has nothing to do with the error above. Prior to having that memory amount I've had just x2 sticks of 8 gb, aka 16 gb. I've tested the game with different memory sets, and same issue occurs.

The audio drivers I've tried as well, has nothing to do with drivers. I've ran onboard audio (both with the cd that comes with the motherboard, and current drivers from my manufacturer) to test this as well, same issue.

My startup has practically no applications running. I've disabled everything, including the background processes. As in I ran the game straight out of task manager, in the lowest possible settings.

If any of what you stated above was an issue, I would be experiencing issues in other parts of the game. I am not. I have no issues anywhere else in the game, and as stated above this issue didn't appear until around 2.3 patch.

I also stated that it only happens during a certain part of Syrcus Tower, not the entire dungeon. I'm fine with the trash > first boss > trash > 2nd boss > trash (this is where the error occurs once the trash is dead) > I cannot relog back in at this point until the 3rd boss is killed. After the 3rd boss is killed, I can relog in without issues and head to the final boss.

I am very familiar with how games work, and grew up around computers since the 1980s. Updating drivers now a days is not mandatory as it used to be. Since some updates can actually cause errors. So I'm well aware of rolling back, and using what works the best. This isn't a typical error I'm used to ever seeing, due to it being so particular.

I appreciate you trying to help, but I need real technical assistance. If one of the technical support staff does not look at my thread, I will just submit a ticket in game in hopes it'll be looked faster.

The only reason I posted here was to make the devs aware this is happening, and to maybe find a solution another player with the same issue had perhaps tried.

[Squa11_Leonhart]

The memory is 20 gb due to how using x2 8 gb + x2 4 gb decided to come out (before you ask they are all the same specs in terms of DDR3, 1333 mhz, timing etc). So its technically 24gb, but my system is limiting that to 20 gb. That has nothing to do with the error above. Prior to having that memory amount I've had just x2 sticks of 8 gb, aka 16 gb. I've tested the game with different memory sets, and same issue occurs.

It should not show less than 23GB's available, You have a 4770K which has a built in gpu, the rest is probably being consumed by that device. Turn it off in the bios unless you actually need it.

As for what you said about memory, its not as simple as you seem to put it, 2 packs of 8GB CL8 can still have entirely different RCP, RP and RAS timings - Mixing packs of different sizes often guarantee's this to be the case as denser modules usually do have a looser refresh rate - voltages are another possible difference. . . and then theres the RC-RFC-RRD-WR-WTR-RTP-FAW timings o.o

I also stated that it only happens during a certain part of Syrcus Tower, not the entire dungeon. I'm fine with the trash > first boss > trash > 2nd boss > trash (this is where the error occurs once the trash is dead) > I cannot relog back in at this point until the 3rd boss is killed. After the 3rd boss is killed, I can relog in without issues and head to the final boss.

If it was an issue in the game itself, everyone would experience it under the same conditions. - I have seen a loss of internet connection or high packet loss crash the game though, so there is an aspect to look at there, but having it reproduced specifically at a single point would rule that out.

I am very familiar with how games work, and grew up around computers since the 1980s. Updating drivers now a days is not mandatory as it used to be. Since some updates can actually cause errors. So I'm well aware of rolling back, and using what works the best. This isn't a typical error I'm used to ever seeing, due to it being so particular.

It is still mandatory to be on recent drivers before reporting issues and looking for help, as windows updates (still does and) can break functionality in drivers, and new games/applications that make use of new aspects of the api's provided can reveal faults in the drivers that nobody had as yet experienced.

I appreciate you trying to help, but I need real technical assistance. If one of the technical support staff does not look at my thread, I will just submit a ticket in game in hopes it'll be looked faster.

Best of luck with that, i've not seen a rep chime in on a reported crash issue once, except to close it after nobody else has replied.

I do have a possible suggestion for you though, and that is to completely remove geforce experience as it has been a reported source of random crashes since it was introduced in the drivers.

[Xyphon]

@Squa11_Leonhart - In terms of memory, I already explained that my "system" limits the amount used. All of the memory specifications are exactly the same, as I stated above. Its by the same manufacturer, and has all of the same timing. So specifically 9-9-9-24 Voltage 1.5 (listed on the ram box sticker, and verified on both venders website). My motherboard is built to over clock (currently I don't OC or use a OC profile), so I had to make sure of all these things prior to even installing.

I never experience that kind of packet loss, and I typically track my network in game to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen. Some of the crashes I experienced was not during peak hours of duty finder.

As I stated in my first post, I ran into other people in the duty finder that had similar kind of issues. So other people are definitely having the issue; why it hasn't been reported yet is beyond me.

I've also normally never use geforce experience. I like to install everything "manually", and never do "default". So I've tried running the game both without geforce experience, and with. I'm the type who prefers to handle everything myself, and not let programs do it for me.

[Squa11_Leonhart]

@Squa11_Leonhart - In terms of memory, I already explained that my "system" limits the amount used.

Systems do not simply "limit" available memory. Windows has a logical limit of 128 on the non professional x64 editions but thats still many times what you currently have.
If you put 24 in, you get 24, unless you install a 32bit OS which will then limit you to 3.something.

I never experience that kind of packet loss, and I typically track my network in game to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen. Some of the crashes I experienced was not during peak hours of duty finder.

with how broken the internet is in the usa, everyone experiences packet loss at some point (hint: it causes the lags, 90/90k2 and many other issues that people like to pin on SE).

As I stated in my first post, I ran into other people in the duty finder that had similar kind of issues. So other people are definitely having the issue; why it hasn't been reported yet is beyond me.

You can find people with similar issues just about anywhere, the key point is "Does it occur for everyone". If not, the issue is isolated to individual configurations which might share a common denominator. I myself run the game on a heavily overclocked i7 and a 680 on second to most recent drivers without any crash issues in any aspectof the game... infact i leave the client running for weeks in the background at times.

I've also normally never use geforce experience. I like to install everything "manually", and never do "default". So I've tried running the game both without geforce experience, and with. I'm the type who prefers to handle everything myself, and not let programs do it for me.

Simply being installed is enough for GFE to cause problems, it runs a service (see services.msc) process which injects several dynamic libraries into detected compatible processes for things like streaming, 3D vision, settings changing, etc.

[Xyphon]

Alright, an update on my findings since 2.4 was released. It seems my issue is related to the same issue people are having with fps dropping to single digits.

This automatically caused my game to crash. The only reason I didn't notice it before was the speed in which the crash happened. This time I could visually see the fps drop. Before my cards could recover, the game generated the crash.

Not sure if this was a safety feature build in to prevent the software from corruption. Regardless I believe its related more to my graphical drivers than the game software. Still the odd part is it only happens at that location in the game, no where else.

For instance during massive s rank hunts or odin I experience no issues in performance or crashing at all. I've tried the last 3 graphic drivers with the same issues repeating. Guess ill try to go back even further.

[Squa11_Leonhart]

The issue with fps dropping to single digits is a bug in AMD drivers causing textures to remain in memory and slowly bloat Virtual Address Space to the 4GB address limit - This issue occurs everywhere, but only gets to the point of crashing when many characters are around spamming effects.

There is no such issue in the base Geforce drivers by themselves(Without GFE and the bloat), some other system/user side process or library being hooked/injected into each process would be the cause, for which GFE is often the offender.

Do you have the windows pagefile disabled?
Drivers and applications can crash when an OoM event occurs. (The nvidia driver will actually TDR if there is no commit charge space remaining)

[Xyphon]

Currently my pagefile is set to be automatically managed by windows. On my prior OS install I had set a custom amount to increase virtual memory. Should I disable it completely on all drives?