*sudden video problems ? READ THIS*

[BrainEater]

This applies only to Nvidia video cards , 7,8,9,200 series.

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If you have recently started having video problems such as artifacting , lockups in games , hardlocks , artifacting in bios -----Please keep reading.

There are serious issues with the 19x.xx drivers.They can actually kill your card....they killed mine.

I reproduced the problem with the 190.37 , 191.07 and 195.65 driver sets.

**Please don't use these drivers !! **

Eventually , they did this to my 260 :

http://braineater.kicks-ass.tv/miscshite/MVI_4111.avi

Thats the 260 in a completely different rig.As you can see the VGA bios of the video card is toast.

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If you are experiencing these issues you need to try and revert to 185.85 drivers. It might not even work , in the end , my 260 would not allow any drivers to be installed.

If you reach this stage where driver reinstalls don't fix the artifacting , well ,I'm sorry your cards done , RMA time.

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If you are one of the victims of these drivers , please go here and tell Nvidia :

NVIDIA Driver Feedback

goto the 'provide feedback ' page.Make sure to provide system specs etc...

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EDIT :

I'm going to throw a disclaimer in here.

Because of the fact that this issue looks exactly like a hardware failure , it's always possible the video card actually had a hardware failure..It's sheer luck I was able to test this out and reproduce the issue.With the number of other people having the same issue , It's pretty safe to say there is an issue , but there's always the chance it was something totally else.If you have the ability , test it out as much as you can.

[gingerbee]

wow that sucks man and yet everyone complains about the ati drivers i guess that will shut them up ah. sucks man sorry

[martin_metal_88]

Yeah ATI driver just drop down but never kill a card. I think now Nvidia is way lower in driver.

[BrainEater]

Oh it's not just me , there are hundreds of people with this issue.I personally know two people who had to RMA cards after installing these drivers , and there's a couple more people here on the forum that appear to have suffered the same fate.

There are also hundreds of people running these drivers with no issue.

The exact problem is unknown , and why it only affects some rigs , etc.

The bottom line is this :

Use these drivers at your own risk , and don't say I didn't warn yah !!

[CMetaphor]

I've said this before but i'll repeat it here: use 182.50, maybe 185.... These drivers have been tested extensively but myself and at the place I work at without issues.

People complain about ATI drivers... I won't name names, but they're obviously in denial about the horror that is installing Nvidia drivers and getting a lovely bricked gpu as your reward. Nonsense.

[chrisk]

Brain...You got a good link to a thread where the folks are putting some good pressure on nVidia? Wouldn't mind keeping tabs on it if nVidia is likely to see it.

[Dr_BenD_over]

There are no problems with the Nvidia drivers.

I've seen this being discussed on a few forums. Hopefully this isn't like certian other issues Nvidia has had in the past - and never fixed.

[BrainEater]

Originally Posted by chriskwarren

Brain...You got a good link to a thread where the folks are putting some good pressure on nVidia? Wouldn't mind keeping tabs on it if nVidia is likely to see it.

There are posts all over the place about this issue....I'd point you to the nvidia forums but they are user to user only , nvidia is not connected to these forums.There are several threads there about it , but nothing has come from any of em....

we'll have to wait and see....I'll be keeping tabs on it forsure.

The only thing (and this is important) is that you report the issue to nvidia using that response page I linked , if this has happened to you.

[jcmaz]

would the drivers cause a newly installed card to have a black screen?

[BrainEater]

It's certainly possible.I have seen a variety of problems quoted around the 'net......

If you have started to have issues with a card you've gotta try and revert the drivers to 185.85.

In your case you need a second machine/test rig.Try and install the card thats giving you trouble on a different computer , with 185.85 drivers.If you can successfully get it to work , you should be able to get it into the first rig and reinstall it.Once again use the 185.85's .

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The whole re-installation thing is hit-and-miss.In my case I only got 3 tries before the card was toast.Most people are getting 1 try , so I was lucky.

GL !