My Crashing Fix: GTX980 Super Clocked

[etsubmariner13]

My Crashing Fix: GTX980 Super Clocked

Hello all,

I hope this in some way helps you. For the last three days, I dug into the diagnostic tools available through Windows and other gaming sites, and slowly, brutally beat my rig to death trying to stop numerous, chronic crashes. My crashes happened mostly at the Loading icon, just as the loading ends and the game actually begins. Once in game, I'd expect a crash soon enough with only a few exceptions. Those exceptions were before they started patching. I just knew I was going to get a crash soon when (if) the game loaded me into the scene with Geralt when the camera seemed to bounce a little, like you were literally popping into the scene.

Anyway, this is my own fix for my GTX980 SC video card with the latest 350 NVIDIA W3 drivers (cleanly installed using DDU, without GeForce). My game is through Steam, though I do not use its overlay for W3:

1. HABO+ down to SSAO (I listed it first because it was the one major thing that, combined with these others, that now keeps my game running);
2. Unlimited Framerate;
3. Sharpening off, but I only do that because I am now using the ReShade+ SweetFX mods instead;
4. V-Sync off in game, but using Adaptive in the NVIDIA control panel for W3 specifically;
5. Power set to Performance for W3 specifically in the NVIDIA control panel;
6. Fullscreen, and my resolution matches my monitor/video resolution.

With only one exception an hour ago where I was actively abusing the menu system to see which quest I wanted to do next AFTER having fast traveled back in the same session (comparing the map, back and forth, over and over, which appears to be another well known and unrelated issue/bug needing fixed), I have had a really great day of gaming. Not a single crash otherwise, and this includes Fast Traveling back and forth from White Orchard to get my super cool horse armor (recommended, but expensive to buy from the merchant).

My rig has a 1,1000w PSU and has an AMD 9590 CPU w/water cooler on a 990FX motherboard and 16gig ram.

Good luck!

 

[Kromus007]

Well, maybe your solution works, but will you risk frying up your system just because some crappy/lazy/untested programming? My 780Ti Windforce OC with this "fix" is hitting over 80 degrees after 5-7 mins of gameplay and fans are rotating like crazy... So yes, maybe it works but all we can say here is "good luck" because these incompetents in "CD project cr*p" can't fix up basic issues with more than a year delaying, which they, ironically, took to "polish" this game...

 

[etsubmariner13]

Well, maybe your solution works, but will you risk frying up your system just because some crappy/lazy/untested programming? My 780Ti Windforce OC with this "fix" is hitting over 80 degrees after 5-7 mins of gameplay and fans are rotating like crazy... So yes, maybe it works but all we can say here is "good luck" because these incompetents in "CD project cr*p" can't fix up basic issues with more than a year delaying, which they, ironically, took to "polish" this game...

EDITED because the system didn't keep my change about all temps in the PC - ugh!

A 780Ti can easily run at that temp, and at that temp the fans ought to be running like crazy; its a higher end graphics card. Not, of course, combined with all other temperatures of your machine! That'd be bad, probably. That's why my thread title has my card type listed.

Did you previously have Power set to Performance in NVIDIA? Try it back to its original setting and see if the card runs as hot and whether or not the game still crashes. I hear that 700 series has troubles in the NVIDIA drivers, which they say they are aware of and working on it. Here's to hoping they do so sooner.

My own GTX980 SC runs up to 60 degrees using an aggressive fan profile. As for risking frying my machine, my current fix does nothing of the sort. All of my games are graphics intensive. Only W3 caused regular crashing. That crashing risked my machine, but I can always get new materials and parts. The only thing between what GOG suggested as fixes and my own was dropping from HBAO+ to SSAO, and that combined settings profile has done my machine good.

We agree! The devs and NVIDIA need to get the corrections rolling. Soon.