Game fails unexpectedly on 1080Ti system
Game fails unexpectedly on 1080Ti system
Hello everyone! For a while now I've been having games I'm playing start to crash after playing them for a while at seemingly unpredictable times. When it started I just thought it's just "Windows being Windows" or some weird Nvidia driver bug and didn't think much of it, but a few months later, after updating windows, drivers, etc. a few times, the issues keep persisting to the point that I can't play any game released in the last 5 years anymore. I've contacted Zotac (my GPU manufacturer) about this and they told me my graphics card is probably dying and I should just buy a new one since there's nothing they can do as I'm out of warranty, but some things just feel weird about this and I wanted to get a second opinion on this from you guys before selling my kidneys for a new GPU, so here is what I know so far: Games that crash: Most 3D games such as Overwatch 1 and 2; Battlefield 2042; Call of Duty Warzone 1, 2, Cold War; BeamNG Drive; Satisfactory Games that do not crash: All 2D or older games such as Getting Over It; Doom (2016); Dark Souls 3; Stanley Parable; Super Hot; Tunic; GTA 5 (somehow); CS:GO; Valorant; Rocket League Error messages after crashes: "GPU hung", "Display adapter lost", "GPU disconnected", "GPU not responding", something something "refused to execute DirectX command" something Interesting things I've noticed: Some games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield 2042 would run perfectly after installing them for up to a few weeks than would start crashing more and more often, even though they ran fine at the beginning Overwatch 2 sometimes gives the same crash error message when I quit the game Specs: CCP - I7 12700k MOBO - Asus ROG Strix Z690-F Wi-Fi RAM - Kingston FURY Beast 32GB DDR5 4800MHz CL38 GPU - Zotac Geforce GTX 1080Ti Amp Exteme Core PSU - Corsair 1200W SSD - Samsung 980 Pro 2TB OS - Windows 11 Pro 64bit What I've tried: Downgrading and updating Windows; updating, downgrading, clean installing drivers; updating BIOS; re-flashing V-BIOS; underclocking and undervolting GPU and memory; disabling XMP; clean installing Windows; reseating GPU; integrity checks on all games Does anybody know if anything other than my GPU failing could cause this and what else I could try to fix this? I really can't afford a new graphics card rn as I will be going to university soon and the current prices are just insane.
1) The newest driver isn't the best fit for most games; opt for one that works well with a variety of titles. You've had better stability without needing updates.
2) Drivers are disabled in Safe Mode. If you have DDU software, it works efficiently and can handle other drivers—just mention GPU requirements.
3) My system feels new and everything seems to function smoothly; nothing is failing quickly, though Windows 11 is the focus here.
4) Do you own a Windows 10 license and would you like to downgrade?
The issue persists despite reducing the core clock speed by 160Mhz. Could you check if there are other adjustments to make? It may help to understand the underlying cause.
This might be related to inconsistent overclocking, even if the system was factory-set. Since you notice similar issues in many games, it’s likely a game-specific problem. I’ve seen this screen before, but it hasn’t been fixed. You could try adjusting the base clock and lowering memory clocks (like -100, -200) to see if anything stabilizes. If that doesn’t work, let me know what you find.
Press the Windows key together with Shift, Ctrl, and the B key simultaneously. You'll hear a beep and the screen will flash rapidly. This means your graphics drivers have been refreshed. Want to try it?
I meant checking the previous three drivers released and three older ones I picked, after updating to the newest ones. All of them failed in the same way. I also tried Windows 10 with dual booting but faced the same issues. I didn’t fully grasp your second question about DDUs. Would you like me to attempt a safe mode boot? What are DDUs? Are there other steps I should consider?
The tool is named Driver De-Install Utility, and it requires safe mode to function correctly.
DDU refers to Display Driver Uninstaller, a useful tool for removing display drivers or replacing GPUs. It can also handle sound driver removal, though this is uncommon. For NVIDIA, newer drivers aren't always optimal, particularly with older graphics cards. Performing a DDU cleanup is beneficial even if your GPU functions properly, since some files and registry entries may persist after upgrades.