Driver has stopped responding but has been restarted

OK, the problem seems to be solved. I tried playing a little BF2, and after a while, started to have the driver restart symptoms. So I monitored the GPU temperature, and checked it when the driver reset. My GPU was running at about 110 degrees C, which I think is too high for the 7800GT. My card was operating at the factory performance levels, so I down-clocked the core frequency from 470MHz to 450MHz, and the temp stayed a little lower, and the problem did not re-occur. So they way I figure it, when I cranked up the graphic settings, it must have worked the card a little harder, and that's when it started failing. Although I am dissapointed that my eVGA is not working properly at the factory settings, BF2 still gets a decent framerate, so it is an acceptable solution until the day I upgrade to an nVidia 9 series (or better). Thanks for your helpful comments.

BTW, I'll bet that your graphic boost setting was doing pretty much the same thing with card performance and heat...probably similar to overclocking through a BIOS setting.

Does your card have a fan? If so, did you try manually setting the fan speed higher to keep the card cooler?

Yes, and that was the first thing I checked, because I noticed the previous day that it was at 43%, but apparently the profile was set to adjust it based on either the game being run, or the core temp, as it was 100% when I checked.

Hi Kbross,

Does it have any fans?

Steven

Sure, GPU, CPU and Chassis.

How can it be running at 110 degrees C with fans?

Hi kbros,

Check to make sure that all your fans are indeed working. In addition, check the orientation of your chassis/case fans. There are arrows on the side of a fan to show its rotational direction and also the direction of the airflow. Generally speaking, but not exclusively, the airflow is towards the label. The fans on the front should be pulling air INTO the case whereas those on the rear should be exhausting air OUT. There should be more air flowing out than in.
Dwarf

The rear fan is definitely pulling air out. I don't think I have a front fan on the case. Nevertheless, the enclosure is no where near the GPU temp, although it could be a contributor. The GPU fan was pre-installed, and is definitely working. Anyone know what the max safe temp should be for the GPU on the 7800GT? I know I could go with more agressive cooling in the case, but I don't think it is going to help enough. Might just have a bad/tired GPU?

you know a lack in power can cause this kind of problem
lets say like me you had a set-up like like this

1X 8800gtx
1X quad core CPU
4X case fans
several lighting systems in the case
2X HDD's
2X 2GB sticks of ram
1X 500wts power supply

although this is enough to run the system the minimum recommendation for the 88oogtx alone is 450wts
now lets say for example it takes a further 30wts run the rest of the pc that will only leave you with 20wts of spare power
now that's all fine if you want to play solitaire, listen to windows media player or watch a video

now if you want to play a game... lets say crysis, the CPU and the graphics card are going to require more than that 20wts of spare power
lets say the total power needed was only 25wts, what's 5wts? nothing really
however the CPU and graphics do not consume a perfect level of power which would mean at 1 point the the two would be requesting more than 10wts each and if 1 took more than the 10wts then the other would lack in the required power
i.e the CPU take 16wts the graphics only has 4wts and this would not be enough for the card to continue operating correctly resulting in a driver crash

unfortunately the CPU will always take priority over graphics

now you could say "but my pc was fine when i ran it with XP" and yes that would be true however because of the way vista runs then your system is now requesting a little more power because the ram is running more often, Aero is requesting more performance from you graphics and your CPU is more than likely working overtime due to alll the fancy automated defrag,that rubbishy windows defender and shadow copy.....ect.ect.ect

im not saying you need to run out and get your self a new supply to fix this
however just be sure that your system is getting enough power to run everything

Actually, in the process of going from XP to Vista x64, I did a number of upgrades. New Mobo, new Quad Core, from 1 to 4GB of RAM, but the clincher here is that I also replaced my Antec 500W PS with a CoolerMaster 620W, which I think has plenty of headroom for my sytem. Thanks for your good ideas though!