Artifacts/Driver stopped responding errors with 8800GTX

I was playing Fallout 3 and it has run fine for the last year or so, i played all the expansions except Anchorage, i installed it and got to the point where you go into the simulator and then it started stuttering and artifacts start appearing on the screen. it crashes and i Ctrl+alt+del to desktop.

Up to this point i have had this happen before.

Then on the desktop i get a pop up about the driver stopped responding and has recovered, never happened before. I reload the game and it does the same thing.

So i checked my drivers and i was on 190.something and the newest is 260.99. i uninstalled the old drivers, rebooted, installed the new drivers, rebooted. Sorted right? no.

I run the game this time i dont even get in the simulator and load the alaska level before it starts jumping and massive lines and grey blocks appear. then the computer locks up and i have to manually restart.

I tried it in other games and it runs for a minute or so then does the artifact, lock-up, ctrl+alt+del, desktop & message thing again. Also i sometimes happens when im simply on the internet and the screen flashes and i get the message again in the corner.

Is this a sign that i need to get a new card or do the new drivers simply not work and the card cant play that level of fallout and i should have just left it?

So what should i do???

Thanks in advance!!!!

Have you tried updating / reinstalling DirectX? I've had issues with that before.

silico said:

except Anchorage, i installed it ... and then it started stuttering and artifacts start appearing on the screen.

My guess is that Anchorage made settings or device changes to the video card.
Uninstall Anchorage.

Have you tried doing a System Restore to a point before Anchorage was installed?

It may be necessary to completely remove, clean, and reinstall the video drivers.

• Go to the nVidia website and download the most current known good driver.
• Now go into Windows Explorer and in the C: drive find the nVidia folder (inside will be Drivers > your driver version) and delete it (the whole folder).
• Go into Start > Control Panel > Remove a Program and uninstall all programs for the video card. For nVidia, do PhysX and Stereoscopic 3D first, then the driver. The control panel will uninstall with the driver. Do not restart the computer at this time.
• Run DriverSweeper to uninstall all video remnants http://downloads.guru3d.com/Guru3D---Driver-Sweeper-%28Setup%29-download-1655.html .
• restart the computer.
• When it reaches the desktop Windows will find new hardware and will install it's own WDDM1.1 driver. Let it. You will be asked to restart. Do it.
• Once back on the desktop you can now install the nVidia driver package for your card.

Some links that talk about your condition:
persistent D3DERR_DEVICELOST problem [SOLVED] - GameDev.Net Discussion Forums
D3DERR (Windows)
when i need to Reset Device ? - GameDev.Net Discussion Forums
Handling Alt-Tab in Direct Draw? - GameDev.Net Discussion Forums

Maybe the above will help one of the gamers here to see what is going on. I know not about the "Reset Device" bit.

Very often we see these TDR errors and it is always a problem with drivers or a problem with hardware. Yowanvista is just stating the prime suspects and is correct.

What made me decide not to assume a "normal" TDR complaint and solution is your statement that everything was cool for a while until you installed the one game. That makes me think that the game has changed some settings for the video card that is not playing nice with the driver.

There is always the possibility that the video card was on shaky ground anyway and the game, the setting change, or just coincidence tipped the video card over the edge and now it is toast.

See what a clean install of the drivers and memtest will do before you start buying parts!