Aragonis Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 If any of you have nVidia 8xxx series cards (especially on a motherboard with the nVidia 680i chipset), I have a warning for you. Do NOT use the nVidia Automatic Tuning utility if you've made any overclocking or related changes in the BIOS or have a stock overclock (such as the OcUK pre-overclocked models). I used the utility and I'm bloody lucky I got my machine working again without having to resort to drastic measures. I'll explain what's been going on... I've been running a pair of BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB (the OC2 model from OcUK) cards in SLI on an Asus P5N32-E motherboard (680i chipset) fine for a few days, using only the OcUK overclocking settings that came standard. I decided that as I could get my GPU temp down to 53C on full load with max fan speed, I should overclock some more. I ran the nVidia Automatic Tuning utility in Coarse mode, as advised to. The machine crashed a few times (as expected) and then it was back working with a nice high overclock, with reasonable GPU1/2, CPU and Case temperatures. When I tried to launch Half Life the next day, my machine locked up completely for about 30 seconds and then bluescreened, telling me that nv4_disp.dll got stuck in an infinite loop. I figured it was just a post-overclock glitch, so I dropped the overclock down a bit manually in the nVidia utility. A few minutes later, I got the same error. I was a little concerned, so I cut the overclock right back to almost default settings. At this point, it would completely freeze within about 5 seconds of me logging onto my machine (nVidia Command Processor loaded a custom overclocking profile on login). If I managed to kill the process before it loaded the profile, it would let me use my machine. However, the instant I tried to run a game - lockup. I couldn't even get on the menu screen on HL2 without it dying on me. I was rather frustrated, so I deleted the custom profile and told it to load default settings. After rebooting and still getting the same problem, I removed the nVidia display driver completely, and installed the old version from my setup CD (which I know to work). It ran without needing to kill processes, but it still wouldn't play games. After I rebooted again, the real problems started. My computer (seemingly) went through POST, no problems - minus the fact that my monitor didn't turn on from standby. No signal from the graphics card. I switched the cable to each DVI output and got nothing. I couldn't even see to get in the BIOS and try to flash it. That was last night. I got home from work about an hour or so and booted the machine up, and (probably out of sheer luck) it worked and I got my screen on. As the OS didn't load properly last time, I got the Windows Startup Mode select screen, so I chose Safe Mode, just to double check. I went into System Restore and jumped back to before I used the Automatic Tuning utility, then on the reboot I went into the BIOS and loaded the default settings. Now, for some reason, it works. Completely fine. I've played HL2 for 15 minutes with no problems. So, for those of you getting constant errors about nv4_disp getting stuck, you might want to consider doing a system restore right back as far as you can afford, flashing/restoring the BIOS and installing an older more stable driver. I'll keep you all informed as to any problems I get. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 any automatic overclocking program is evil... ATiTool is one of the worst (fans being disabled at massive unstable oc's), MSI CoreCenter can have disasterous effects too (dangerous overvoltage of vcore) stick to manual overclocking Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragonis Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 I agree. Well of course I do now lol. However, I believe the bottom part on how I fixed the problem applies to many people who are getting STOP errors regarding nv4_disp with their high end nVidia cards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 yeah you can corrupt system files fairly easily if your oc is totally unstable... I've come close to breaking my entire OS from "suicide" cpu overclocks and had to spend a few days recovering the mess I made... how's the C2D oc coming along anyway? with 8800GTX SLi you're almost undoubtedly cpu "bottlenecked" so i'm curious how you're faring Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agallion Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 Ha! Man if you go to the overclocking tab in any nvidia card driver you have the option to auto detect. And man, it always,always takes forever and wayyy over guesses. Moral: Stick to manual Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 i don't have auto detection in my nv control panel (v93.81b) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agallion Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 my 84.20forceware do, under Clock and Frequencies perhaps i cracked it long ago and don't remember? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted April 7, 2007 Posted April 7, 2007 (edited) i've seen it before... i think v9x.xx did away with auto oc... my point being that not all drivers have that feature i think it used to crash my pc with my 78gt's lol Edited April 7, 2007 by hardnrg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
romeo55 Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 (edited) Pfft, I already found this out, I tried it just for the heck of it, and every time I do, I get a black screen and an unresponsive system Edited April 8, 2007 by The Unforgivin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragonis Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 (edited) The OC2 overclock is great, it works perfectly and I've not had a single problem with it on standard. I've got my machine nice and stable. I'm sure my CPU is bottlenecking me, but I couldn't afford to go any higher on the list. When the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (*drools*) comes down in price to around Edited April 8, 2007 by Aragonis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 I'm sure my CPU is bottlenecking me, but I couldn't afford to go any higher on the list. What list? What is your overclocked CPU speed? I'd be aiming for 4 GHz on a E6600 and "settle" for 3.8 GHz. Maybe live with 3.6 GHz if I had a particularly stubborn CPU. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sYstEmATiC Posted April 8, 2007 Posted April 8, 2007 What list? What is your overclocked CPU speed? I'd be aiming for 4 GHz on a E6600 and "settle" for 3.8 GHz. Maybe live with 3.6 GHz if I had a particularly stubborn CPU. yeah should be easy....mines at 3.4ghz on stock cooling and stock volts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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