BSODs (Hardware Error) GTX 285

[JmZrlz]

Hey,

I've noticed with my GTX 285 that certain games will cause a BSOD after about 30 mins of playing. I have yet to read the BSOD (my system is set to auto-reboot so i don't see it, but ill check it later).

I thought it could be a problem when playing high-end games but it isn't. I know it isn't because I can run crysis, mirror's edge, etc all fine.

The games that crashed so far (exactly same crash) are:
- Half life 2 ep 2 (hl2 and hl2:ep1 work perfectly, same engine. So does TF2, same engine afaik)
- Bionic commando
- Overlord 2

Now these three games aren't that graphical yet those are the ones that crash.

I logged the temperatures while playing HL2 EP2 and the max was 80 degrees C (at the time of the crash).

The logs simply report a general hardware error, I can't really find any useful information which windows has logged.

Info about my system:

- E6700 CPU (not overclocked, stock heatsink)
- GTX 285
- 2GB DDR2 800mhz (not overclocked)
- 650W PSU
- Antec 900 case (has quite good airflow)

From this, I can't see the problem being overheating.

Anyway I hope you have suggestions to help me solve this problem.
I am building an i7 system soon but would like to fix this anyway rather than ignoring it.

EDIT:
I may have figured this problem out finally.
I never suspected heat being the problem but after running a few other games, they came nowhere near 80 degrees.

So I turned off the "auto" feature of the fan and put it at a constant 70% speed.I now saved this to a profile in evga's precision app so, if i enable it each time, hopefully it'll never crash.

 

[Silus]

And did that fix your problem ? Because 80º isn't really that much. It's actually quite normal under load.

Given your explanation, I'm not really sure you should be so quick to point the finger at the graphics card. It may be it, but it may be something else, like memory, PSU or even hard drive, but it's really hard to tell from what you described.

 

[JmZrlz]

Well it fixed it enough to play HL2 EP2 for 2 hours. Usually it'd crash after about 30 minutes.

I'm not going to accept the solution yet though, going to keep an eye on it for a few days and see if the problem re-occurs.

Also note that the temp dropped 10 degrees after changing the fan speed.
My thought is that the "auto" setting isn't increasing the speed enough. I can hear the fan at 70% too, I never heard the fan before when it was on "auto".

 

[michael.pa2]

From my experience with my 285,the auto feature really doesn't work well.I used Precision to bump it up to 70% when gaming,now it averages 57 degrees even after marathon sessions of Crysis.

 

[reveille_83]

Any update on this?

 

[troisanh]

wish my load temps were that low. if you have another PS try it and run memtest on your memory.

 

[JmZrlz]

I fixed it by using 70% fan speed in games.

Then when im out of games, switch it back to auto.
Works perfectly.

Although, strangely, my mobo fried its self just after solving this problem rofl. So now im on an i7 system i just built.

 

[MurderCityDevil]

I always suggest this to anyone having problems with cards overheating or fan control not working properly - its a really good idea to set your own temp limits and thresholds instead of leaving it on auto. The best way to do this is to edit the bios with Nibitor and flash it onto the card. The other upside to that is you'll never have to manually change anything again, or have any 3rd party software installed for that matter. You can also flash clock speeds and keep your OC set at all times. Google it if youre interested!