Nvlddmkm and BSOD
Nvlddmkm and BSOD
Hi All,
Here are my current specifications:
Ryzen 3600x (2.5 years old, warranty for memory controller issue in Nov 2022)
Corsair Vengence 2x8 GB 3000 mhz (5.5 years old)
MSI B450 Tomohawk Max (5.5 years old)
WD blue 1 TB NVME PCI E 3 (4 years old)
Zotac 3070 White (bought used 2 months ago)
Cooler master MWE 650 v3 Bronze ATX 3.1 (2 months old)
I have been using this PC for over five years now. Recently, I replaced my GTX 1660 Ti with a used 3070, which I purchased locally after some testing with Furmark and Superposition. The stock curve temperature reached 73-74°C without AC, dropping to 69-70°C with AC and full load. Everything appeared normal until recently. Last month, I encountered an NVLDMDK error and Valhalla crashed—issues that also happened with my previous GPU. Initially, I didn’t pay much attention, as other games ran smoothly. I play titles like PUGBO, Witcher 3, Jedi Falcon: Origins, UC4, Lost Legacy, GOW 2018, and RDR2 without any problems.
However, after the Valhalla crash, I noticed another NVLDMDK event in the event viewer while using the PC normally. The driver was reinstalled as newer versions were causing problems. After that, everything seemed fine until recently. About an hour ago, when opening Control, I saw some unusual artifacts—unlike typical GPU issues but appearing before the game’s flash screen. The game launched afterward. I recalled trying Valhalla on my 4K TV with DLSS the previous night and thought it might be adjusting to the monitor again. Inside the game, I observed a black mold-like artifact on the floor. Moving the mouse cleared it temporarily. I adjusted settings, but the game stopped responding. Task Manager revealed around 30 NVLDMDK errors: 153 and 13. In past crashes, Valhalla always showed 153, while 13 was new.
I’m unsure what triggered this, but research suggests possible causes in RAM, PSU, or GPU. How can I narrow it down? Also, I cleaned the CPU fan last month, had to remove RAM sticks for that, and after reinserting them and booting, the PC froze in POST with a DRAM LED. After several attempts—swapping RAM, clearing CMOS, enabling XMP—I managed to get it working again. It’s possible my handling of the CPU cooler might have caused pressure on the motherboard.
Now I’m trying to figure out what’s causing these issues.
Just a brief update, we completed the OCCT standard 3D for an HR without any problems this time. Is there something going on? Might it be related to the RAM?
I ran the memory diagnostic and everything looked good. I think running memtest would confirm it. The issue might be related to driver corruption, but the system seems stable since the BSOD.
Guys, the PC has been stable for over three months, but recently when turning it on today I noticed a few small boxes flashing on the desktop without explanation. I checked Witcher 3 to see if anything was wrong, and the game crashed. The event viewer displayed an error code nvlddmkm 153 and a display driver recovery message. After the crash, the screen showed 60 instead of the usual 144, and those boxes disappeared afterward. I restarted the PC and everything is now working properly. I ran a benchmark and Witcher 3 with unlocked FPS at full GPU usage after restarting, and it functioned correctly.