Same problem here. (2012 July)
There are thousands of people with this problem and many many post all over about the issue.
Most about gtx460 but also other 400 and some 500 series GTX. Zannare describes classic symptoms.
Absolutely definitely not a PSU issue, please stop saying it might be!
I have:
GA-X58A-UD3R-Rev2.0
GA Geeforce GTX460 1GB
CORE i7-950/3.00GHz
Seasonic M12II-620 Watt
Patriot Viper2-Sector7 PV7312G2000ELK 12GBkit(4gbx3)
Inferno SSD Sata 60GB
Win 7 Pro 64-bit
I've been fighting with this problem on and off for months now.
1) Starts as random crashes (games browsing and even desktop) BSOD (blue or black screen) with auto reset or hard reset needed. Lost connection with graphics adapter sometimes displayed.
2) Sometimes it lead to cyclical crashes on windows login screen. (THAT'S WHEN YOU KNOW DOOM IS HERE)
3) After this PC may get into the habit of crash even in safe mode, in windows boot CD, and even bios.
4) After trying a million things it may fix itself and become stable again.
I tried:
- 5 BIOS versions
- 7 nVedia drivers
- reinstalled windows 7 times
- rolled back windows to a clean windows image 5 times
- messing with bios clock and voltages. (not in anger because I am afraid, and other users report next to no improvements)
- turning PC at the power rather then just pressing reset used to help 3 months ago, not this time.
5) Magically after some combination of things system will become stable-ish again (yet I haven't put my finger on it, so illusive)
6) Use PC and hold your breath for a week, then start playing games
7) Just you think its OK except for a few random crashes the cyclical login crashes are back!
AND THE CYCLE STARTS OVER
I have just come out of step 6 after a 3 month good run, and:
- Found moving to PCI-E 8x will get me out of the login crashes.
- I rolled back to a clean windows with no nVedia drivers.
- I find I can even go back to 16x but not if I do anything tricky, as soon as it crashes it goes back to cyclical crashes at windows login and I have to move back to 8x slot to get it out.
- Just updated to FH BIOS from FE1, going to try some different nVidea drivers to see if FH is better and can run 3D reliably on the 8x slot and then move to 16x (wishful thinking)
I spent about 80+ hrs on this over 20 days, spread over a year. I now think of it as a sport! or I am insane..
People say its some sort of hardware and driver fault, mostly with nVedia, but maybe MOBY chipset also, that manifests in several Motherboards with these 400 series and some 500 series GTX cards.
I am yet to find someone who has a definitive explanation or solution.
I have to test a theory about IRQ conflicts causing the issue, between the graphics card and audio or network card.
People report some success with RMA, so that will be step 2, even if that means I loose the game.
(I also get some random 2-3 sec freezing in windows, and some games. It could be part of that "loosing connection with graphics adapter" problem where windows fixes itself rather then crashing, but not sure if thats that it is or that it is related)
I love life :') Soon I will be a Mac user
or I might become homicidal
Thank you