I've been trying to run other drivers, check everything, make sure everything is up to date, google causes etc but im at a stump.

 

Seems lately whenever I play something like Minecraft or Killing Floor, my Computer will instantly freeze up both with the old and new drivers, and im wondering if its the Graphics Card itself causing the problems, if it is, it's under 3 year warrenty from EVGA so I might as well tell them "Give me a replacement, this thing wont work"

 

Driver Version: 295.73 (Release 09 Feb 2012)

 

Specs:

 

Processor: Intel i7 950

RAM: 6GB DDR3 Corsair 1666 Triple Channel

Hard Drive(s): 1TB Western Digital Blue

Graphics Card(s): nVidia GTX 480

Motherboard: Gigabyte X58A-UD3R

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Case: CM Storm Scout

Keyboard: Sidewinder X6

Mouse: Sidewinder X5

Monitor: LG E2350V (23")

Sound System: Logitech 2:1

Headset: TT eSPORTS Diamond Black Shock Spin

 

 

Also, seems when im playing Team Fortress 2, on a rare occasion the Graphics Driver will suddenly "Crash and restart"

 

PS: Would getting a Solid State Drive be of any use in terms of Operating System stability? like, running more smoothly.

Yes, an SSD is one of the best upgrades you can do to a computer for stability.

Ive downgraded the driver 3 times so far today, and it still happens on the odd occasion. Only thing I can think of is my RAM has suddenly run out of memory which shouldn't happen at 6GB.

Ive downgraded the driver 3 times so far today, and it still happens on the odd occasion. Only thing I can think of is my RAM has suddenly run out of memory which shouldn't happen at 6GB.

 

While you may have more than the recommended amount of memory to play, one of your sticks may be at fault here. My suggest (just to clear out the possibility) is to run Memtest86+ to check for memory errors. This can be done by downloading the .Zip file and putting it on a USB flash drive. This test requires you to keep your computer on for a few hours to thoroughly test your memory, try to pick a time (like while you sleep) to run it.

 

Alternatively, you can run Memtest86+ from a Linux CD/USB. IF you boot from the CD/USB you have the option to run Ubuntu or Memtest86+.

Do these freezes have artifacts all over them?

 

And yeah, What Lord_Diddy posted is what I would do for now, to make sure your RAM sticks are good.

I had the same issue with my GTX 460, and I had to manually do a clean install (Uninstalling the drivers through the control panel, then installing the new ones) . Do the memory test too.

It should be noted that 32 bit programs are limited to 2 gigabytes of memory, so you can get out of memory errors even though RAM is not full. The vast majority of programs are 32 bit.

I'll give the memory test a go While im at work tonight, elsewise I'll probably buy a External HDD, back everything up and do a full Clean re-install of everything.