Crashes in Alexander - The Arm of the Father aka. A3

[ZanaAmariyo]

Hello.

I have a problem with A3 (both Normal and Savage) consistently causing my graphics driver and the game to crash, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is happening. It doesn't happen instantly upon entering A3, and it doesn't seem to be related to any specific phase. It just happens at a random time during the instance, the only thing I know for sure is that it will happen eventually.

Here's what I've tried so far, none of which has fixed or even mitigated the issue:
- Reinstalling FFXIV (to a different harddrive to ensure that the HDD wasn't causing issues)
- Downgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 (mostly because of different Windows 10-related issues, but this was also an issue in 10)
- Downgrading to older graphics driver, by completely removing first driver with DDU, then performing a clean install (first driver was 352.86, downgraded to 347.88)
- Updating to newest graphics driver, again by completely removing the old driver with DDU and performing a clean install, now on 355.82
- Removed different sticks of RAM (had 12GB in an 1x8 + 2x2 configuration, same brand but different models - currently using the single 8GB stick)
- Reseated graphics card and swapped PCI-e ports (tried using the lower port on my motherboard, made no difference)
- Removed all overclocks and gone back to stock on both CPU and graphics card, applied overclocks again after stock speeds turned out to not make a difference

Specs:
Intel Core i5 4960k @ 4Ghz
MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition
12GB DDR3 (1x8GB HyperX Fury White, 2x2GB Kingston HyperX Blu)
ZOTAC GTX 750 Ti @ 1366Mhz core, 2805Mhz mem
Auzentech X-Fi Bravura
500W OCZ power supply
A bunch of HDDs
3x 1920x1080 monitors

Now to add to the mystery, I have no issues whatsoever outside of A3. I can do any other instance with no issues whatsoever, run AIDA64 or Unigine's stress tests for hours on end, play literally any other game with no issues, you name it. Only A3 is being a problem.

Edit: Nevermind, my game just crashed after standing around in my FC's garden for 4 hours.

[worldofneil]

Have you checked your temperatures to see if the CPU or GPU are running hot when it crashes? (Probably, but you didn't say in your post so just asking in case you haven't).

Initially I thought you might be getting some issues because your PSU isn't very big, but apparently the 750 Ti isn't as power hungry as I thought, so even combined with the model of processor you have it's probably not maxing out, although possibly it is getting close which might cause some issues depending on how efficienct the PSU is. It's something to consider testing if you have a spare (and bigger) PSU (who has a spare PSU though?)

Although I don't think it's memory related (Windows would likely bluescreen if it was), recommend running memtest86+ to actually check your memory.

I'd also recommend leaving all your overclocks OFF until you solve this problem, it just adds an extra level of possible instability to your hardware so it'll make it harder to actually diagnose the problem.

Oh and if you're using DX11, try playing the game in DX9 and seeing if that makes a difference.

Hope some of this post is of some help at least!

[ZanaAmariyo]

Yes, I have checked the temperatures. GPU runs at about 70 degrees C at 100% load, and CPU is at around 60C during FFXIV. As for the PSU, 500W is more than enough for my system. I have tested how much wattage it's using in the past, and it maxes out at around 350W at full load.

As for memory, been done. I had memtest86+ run overnight before downgrading to Windows 8.1 to check if my RAM were causing the other issues I had previously with Windows 10. No errors. So today I took the 2x2GB out to see if the two different sets might have been slightly incompatible, but seems not.

I can say the same for my overclocks for sure, too - CPU's overclock has been tested 100% stable with 24 hours of AIDA64, and GPU has run Valley for 2 hours a couple weeks ago, too. I reverted to stock to see if FFXIV might have been sensitive to that kind of thing, but crashes kept on comin' with stock clocks. OC isn't adding a layer of instability here.

However, after crashing in my FC's garden earlier, I did as you said and switched over to the DX9 client, which seems to be running without issues in A3. 2 hours or so in A3 Savage and counting as of right now, problem seems to be with the DX11 client.