Guild Wars 2

What can I do to fix the current crashing of my computer while playing guild wars 2?

Whenever I play the game it is completely stable, the graphics function fine at maximum settings, and any other settings I can place them at. The Temperature of my computer does not exceed 82 degrees Celsius at any time during game play. My Video card is an Nvidia Geforce GTX 485M with the latest drivers that have been optimized for Guild wars 2, among other games, version 306.02. I have direct X 11 and run the game as administrator with proper access and permissions. I have reinstalled the game once, and repaired it more times than I can count. I cannot keep reinstalling the game as I have the digital deluxe edition and downloading guild wars 2 repeatedly is not reasonably possible.

I am running a Windows 7 Ulitmate 64-bit with Service Pack 1 on a Sager Laptop.

This is the first time a game has ever had such serious issues with my graphics card and video drivers.

The game will seemingly at random crash, sometimes crashing instantly, othertimes it
will play for between a few minutes to an hour or so, and if Im lucky a few hours.

The crash creates any combination of the following symptoms:

Black Screen
Looping Sound
Fragmented Sound
Multicolored Pixels in Random Patterns
Blue Screen
Reseting my Computer
Crash Occuring after Reset without the game running
Freezing at a Black Screen
Requiring a Hard Reset

This has happened over 40 times to date that my computer and I am at a loss to solve
the problem.

I did manage to Alt-f4 guild wars mid crash and saw my desktop, with a pop up from my task bar saying something similar to “display kernel mode driver stopped responding and has recovered”, I can’t be 100% sure on the wording because my computer reset itself a few seconds after as it usually does when it recovers from this crash.

Things I’ve tried to do to fix my issue so far with no success include:

Cleaning My Computer (No overheating)
Trying a different Power Supply/Cable
Reinstalling Guild Wars 2
Repairing Guild Wars 2
Running the Game as Administrator
Checked for Windows Updates
Underclocking using MSI Afterburner
Overclocking using MSI Afterburner
Uninstalling Nvida Drivers
Reinstalling Version 301.42 Nvidia Driver, Clean Installation
Reinstalling Version 304.79 Nvidia Driver, Clean Installation
Reinstalling Version 306.02 Nvidia Driver, Clean Installation
Auto-Detect Graphics Settings
Turning off Antialiasing (Both in the Nvidia Control Panel and in Game)
Trying different Variations of Graphics settings In game
Memory Diagnostics (Passed)
Virus Scan (Clean)
Running with different Direct X versions, 8, 9, and 11

PLEASE give me a way to fix this, Guild wars 2 is an amazing game!

I agree, this game is great!

Here’s the thing: the “display kernel mode” error is something I remember from my days of running a GeForce. It implies your video card drivers, or a part of it, have stopped working. What Nvidia tries to do is salvage your computer by then keeping it running and disabling the drivers. I wish they didn’t do that, because this creates what you get; tons of different issues (but they all have the same underlying cause).

In my personal experience, this is usually caused by overheating. I know, your computer runs at 82 degrees Celsius. But what does your GPU run at? You may be able to use MSI’s Afterburner to monitor your card (http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm) or even downclock it. If you can, I would suggest trying to down the voltage. It’s the most effective way of decreasing the running temperature while not sacrificing performance.

If Afterburner does not work for you, I would suggest finding other software. And if all else fails, go the redneck/MacGyver way: Play with an open case with a fan blowing directly at it.

I run MSI Afterburner Constantly, its what I use to monitor my Computer, sorry I wasn’t specific with that, it usually runs between 50-68 degrees, and can get up to 82. It rarely goes over that unless it is being taxed by a intense scene or battle.

Thank you for the reply!

Sounds like your video card is starting it’s downward spiral into the pit of death.

Also have you tried running any other graphic intensive games since this started occurring?
If you do not crash after extended period of play in those then, I am lead to believe you have remnants of old drivers mixed in with your 306 drivers. Make sure you do a “Clean Install” under the advanced tab. Uncheck everything that is not physX or Graphic driver and install that way.

80+ degrees Celsius is not good period. If you have played under those conditions for too long. I am sorry but the thermal damage to your other internal components is already done.

Thanks for the confirmation about 3 hours ago my computer had this crash with battlefield 3 while I tried it for an acid test, but soon after that crash, my computer crashed simply by being on google chrome.

How this has happened seems mute, but I find it very coincidental that it happened the moment I started playing Guild wars 2. Whether or not if it was guild wars on its own, or the drivers or the graphics card, hard resets or even the heat the damage is done and I am convinced after trying several things in safe mode that I will have to send my computer back to my manufacturer to fix my computer.

Really is a bummer.

So I caution anyone with crashing issues with guild wars 2 to stop using the program and uninstall it asap if you cannot solve it.

Wait is it reading 82 on your GPU? What is your CPU load temp at?

the 4xx series GPU chipset can handle well above 82 (roughly 110 deg C) before it causes any damage.

If your cpu is hitting that then I would look to an internal component failure, that just by chance triggered post gw2 installation.

I would personally send it back to the manufacturer due to internal hardware failure. It really sounds like some of your cooling system failed after re-reading your last post.

If you have a cooling plate, try turning it on full. If not I HIGHLY recommend one while you are running anything graphic intensive.

Again sorry for the lack of details, my GPU is what gets up to 82 degrees if it is being used VERY intensely. usually hovers between 65 and 75 when playing games such as battlefield 3 and guild wars 2

Tam, have you ran memtest overnight to look for errors? They way you crash on Chrome makes me think it is memory.