Maximum PC

So, here's a bit of an issue to see if you guys can figure it out. I started out with nVidia's 296.10 driver and was having some issues with my GTX 580, dropping out and failing work units after the monitor was shut off. I got some relief when I set the power options to never turn off the monitor (I manually do that, so no problem), but then it would crash every time my fiancee logged on to her side of the machine. That's not acceptable, so I rolled back to 295.73. That has been working reasonably well, but last night, I got a mystery error (error code not recognized) around 1:00 AM. It obviously was not related to switching users in Windows, then.

I also suspected overclocking could be the issue...for a couple of seconds. My 2600K has been folding 24/7 for a week on SMP8, sure the OC is stable, then, right? The '580 is running at stock speeds.

Anything else anyone can think to check? I honestly don't mind so much, I'm not gunning for the ultimate folding machine ever, or anything, just want as good of performance as possible.

You didn't rule out overheating. I have had problems with newer WUs pushing the temps past 90c on my GTX570.

If you don't already have software that reports your temps, try SpeedFan or CPUID's HWMonitor. (both freeware)

Ilander, this has been a problem reported several times at foldingforum and does seem indded to be driver related. It is notably the 803X series of WUs and drivers also another problem with the power saving feature of monitors messing folding up. If you have experienced any of these, i found the 285.62 series of drivers works great.

On those drivers, mine also failed when I would Pause the GPU folder. I would pause it because it would slow down the machine response to input and be frustrating. The CPU is well mannered and uses only spare cycles, the GPU is more greedy and I have to pause it. The new beta drivers fixed the pause crashing as well.

Yeah, all good points. I'm okay with it at the moment, but it's sure not as easy to troubleshoot as it was two years ago. That said, I have ruled out heat issues, if that's a help to anyone, my 580 stays at 85 C and doesn't get hotter thanks to a 200mm fan on the top of my case, and my air conditioning.

So, when those drivers come out of beta, looks like they'll be installed pretty much immediately for me. Beta software is usually fine, but I'd rather just wait until it passes validation for peace of mind for this.

I have also seen that some of these newer WUs can't take ANY OCing of the GPU or they will crash.

Just curious, Doc, if these WUs were subjected to beta testing, and if so, did the testers experience similar issues?

I know PG does not sanction OCing, but it is widely practiced in the community. Are beta testers forbidden to OC at all?

Nope... no trouble on my 460GTX on the 803X WU's with overclocking on any drivers including the new beta's, currently overclocked to 760 core / 1520 shader / 2050 memory.

Crashing is probably heat related & caused by people not manually setting their GPU fans to 100%, as the 803X work units do cause the cards to work harder & generate more heat.