Display Driver Stopped Responding and Recovered (Strix GTX 1070 non-OC version)

[vdragon69123]

So my computer started displaying a weird issue. Everytime I run a demanding game, the drivers crash and I get an error of "Display Driver Stopped responding", or "application has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware". I've been troubleshooting for days and so far I've tried the following steps
Completely re-installing windows fresh
using DDU to uninstall graphics drivers completely, then install new Nvidia drivers ( just the drivers and physx). I've also tried installing the whole package.
Doing the Tdr Registry edit fix (https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/fix-display-driver-stopped-responding-and-has-recovered-error/)
GPU is in slot one
Cleaned GPU
Ensured GPU is seated all the way in

When finally something seemed to work. i opened up GPU tweak ii and increased the power target and memory clock, and reduced boost clock a bit, and now it seems to be working for the most part. However, I noticed that I'm getting a lot of artifacts in games since I've done that. Man, I'm really getting at the end of my rope, and I know that having to use GPU tweak every time I start up my machine isn't the solution. Pardon me if anything is poorly explained, I'm still learning all of this.

I should also note that around the time I started experiencing these problems, I also started noticing that when I boot up my machine, the system will hang for a while with a blinking cursor in the top left before it boots into windows. On top of that, the power button isn't working anymore and I have to turn on the machine using the motherboard switch. Makes the bootup process take far longer and I wonder if these issues are connected? They started around the same time. Any help would be seriously appreciated.
SPECS:
intel i7 6700K (no OC)
Strix GTX 1070
Asus z170-a
16gb DDR4
EVGA 650 Gold power supply.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Those are quite a few issues...

The power button... you'd have to check connections are sound

The cursor blinking is the PC hunting for boot device...check your boot priority in BIOS...for uefi install "windows boot manager" should be first up

The GPU...there is no point OCing memory while troubleshooting...probably the source of artifacts. Try the GPU at stock settings...if it fails try it downclocked...try reducing to standard 1070 specs. If it works...RMA GPU since it is not running at its advertised specs

[vdragon69123]

Arne Saknussemm wrote:
Those are quite a few issues...

The power button... you'd have to check connections are sound

The cursor blinking is the PC hunting for boot device...check your boot priority in BIOS...for uefi install "windows boot manager" should be first up

The GPU...there is no point OCing memory while troubleshooting...probably the source of artifacts. Try the GPU at stock settings...if it fails try it downclocked...try reducing to standard 1070 specs. If it works...RMA GPU since it is not running at its advertised specs

Thanks for the help. Sadly, I think i'll have to RMA the card.. Have you ever had to RMA a card with Nvidia? any idea how long the process takes? I bought my card through amazon

[Nate152]

Hi vdragon69123

The artifacting is likely too high of a memory clock, as Arne suggests try it at defualt settings which is Gaming mode.

It's looking like you have micron memory, did you update the vbios? After doing this you should be hitting +1000MHz overclock on the memory or close to it.

With windows 10 I have csm disabled, secure boot set to "Other Os" and windows boot manager as boot priority 1.

[vdragon69123]

Nate152 wrote:
Hi vdragon69123

The artifacting is likely too high of a memory clock, as Arne suggests try it at defualt settings which is Gaming mode.

It's looking like you have micron memory, did you update the vbios? After doing this you should be hitting +1000MHz overclock on the memory or close to it.

With windows 10 I have csm disabled, secure boot set to "Other Os" and windows boot manager as boot priority 1.

Thanks for the response I seriously appreciate it. Alright, I'll take off the memory clock boost, and yes I did update the vbios.

I should note however that even with the Overclock, the driver still is crashing every once in a while now. I feel like OCing the card to alleviate this problem is a bandaid solution, as I don't know whats causing it in the first place. After a clean install of windows and the drivers, the issue persists. Has my card just stopped working? I bought it brand new in august.

[Nate152]

Check with Amazon, if it's after a certain time period you'll have to go through Asus.

[Shinnok]

I have this problem when i building one machine few days ago 🙂 .. Just reinser your card and check if is card 90 degree in slot ;). Sometimes card move when u tighten screws.