xiongboi_91

I wasn't too sure where to put this, but I read alot of nVidia video cards have this problem. When ever I turn on my computer, it loads up almost until I'm almost in Windows, then it BSOD with "nvlddmkm.sys" as the problem. The only time I can start up my computer all the way through, is when I log in through Safe Mode, then roll back the driver to the "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter", then I could get on the computer, but max resolution is 1024x768. I've tried updating to the latest drivers, and even used some older drivers, but none have worked. Any ideas?

Edit: After a period of trial and errors, I finally came up with the solution that it was a bad video card. I put in other video cards, and everything worked fine. Not too surprising because while playing any 3-D games, there would be loads of artifacts. But now I finally have an excuse to update that outdated card. ;]

SaltTheWalt

This unfortunately is a common error that can be caused by just about anything (The ATI equivilent is atikmdag.sys). It is pretty much saying that something caused your video card to crash. The list of problems that could possibly be causing this are endless but usually relate to overheating or insufficient power. Being that your PSU is "Some crap PSU" I would look into that to start. Perhaps you could borrow a tried and true PSU for a day to test? If not, check the temps on the card during load.

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Technophobe

As above said, lots of causes. If you go through all the hardware possibilities and still have an issue, have a read through this:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=518749

P.S. sorry for advertising another forum...

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xiongboi_91

Thanks for the replies, I'll definitely look into the PSU and that other site.

jrharvey

Im not sure what the problem is but I sometimes get the same issue. The first thing i did was RMA the video card. Same issue so I checked the RAM and each slot on my MB and still same issue. next I RMA'd the motherboard and still same issue. Now I have a new power supply and STILL same issue. I have reinstalled vista probably 5 times and tried every driver since 179-185 and all have the same issue. EVGA tells me it must be my hard drive but I highly doubt it. Its the only thing I havnt replaced but I surely dont think its the issue. Also it only happens when I run Dual monitors which is very weird (both run fine by themselves along with both DVI ports on GPU). I feel for you man. I have spent alot of money on shipping fees and replacing parts that were perfectly fine for nothing. This DOES NOT happen in XP so i just chalk it up to crappy vista drivers or maybe just poorly designed hardware.

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brettjv

If you've been running the card overclocked and this scenario occurs, the first thing to try is to run a driver sweep in safe mode.

This problem can be caused by the driver having too high an overclock set for the video card. A simple reinstall of the drivers may not fix it, because the OC may remain unless you do a sweep.

If this doesn't fix the problem, sometimes if you have a board that supports sli or xfire, you can move your card (or cards) around to different slots in order to get the OS to stop using the driver with the OC that's too high.

Putting in a completely different video card into your machine can accomplish the same thing, and often if you do this, and then put your old 'broken' card back in, it will magically work right because the old OC'ed driver settings will have been overwritten with 'use default' as the clock speed values.

Worst case scenario, you should try the card in someone else's computer, or try re-installing windows on your own.

These things should def. be tried first before you go RMA'ing or concluding that your card is dead.

But I see you bought a new card ... and you're not bummed about it, so

Also, the 7900GT was perhaps the most failure-prone high-end card that nvidia has put out in the past 5 years, so it's not terribly surprising that yours has crapped out on you.

I just bring it up 'cause *maybe* the card isn't totally dead and if not maybe you can get a few bucks for it.

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