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Hello fellow Gerbils. I come to you frustrated and hoping for help. I recently upgraded my aging GTX 760 2GB GPU to a shiny GTX 1080 in the system in my signature. I was super excited as this should really be a huge upgrade for my 1440p gaming and should last another few years with the games I tend to play. I went with an EVGA FTW DT which is the FTW pcb, etc. but it doesn't run at the higher speeds out of the box. The most graphically demanding game I play is Just Cause 3 so that was what I booted up first. Everything seemed to be going great until I got a Code 38 error and the game totally crashed. I was able to get back into the game but it crashed even sooner and started artifacting like crazy. I thought it may have been a driver issue since I was less than careful about cleaning up drivers since I was going nVidia to nVidia. So I cleaned out the old driver and installed a fresh copy without any change. I tried Furmark and Battlefield4 without any issue, playing the latter at Ultra settings for over an hour without a problem. I checked power consumption and at its peak it's less than 300 watts from the wall. On a whim, I took out the 1080 and put back in the 760 and was able to boot up and play Just Cause 3 without issue (other than stuttering like crazy during more intense parts) using the same settings as the 1080. I would think it was a bad card if (a) so many other people seemed to suffer the same problem and (b) it doesn't seem to have any problems in any other programs. So, does anyone have a 1080 and Just Cause 3 that is either experiencing the same issue and/or Not having any issue? Any ideas what else it could be or troubleshooting I can try to confirm a bad card? I've tried the first two pages of google "solutions" for this problem to no avail so I'll save you that trouble. What I don't want to do is RMA this card, get a new one and have the exact same thing happen. Help!

First, not an expert. But, what happens if you get this error and then shut down and reboot before restarting the game? Its not clear in your post if you immediately restarted the game without rebooting.

From Microsoft...https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... in-windows

Code 38 “Windows cannot load the device driver… (Code 38)”

Full Error Message

Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of the device driver is still in memory. (Code 38)

Cause

The driver could not be loaded because a previous instance is still loaded.

Recommended Resolution

Restart your computer. From Start, click Shut Down, and then select Restart.

This may be a silly question, but are you uninstalling the driver before each removal of GPU's? If not, try uninstalling the driver, then shutdown and swap GPU's, then install the driver.

Okay, I KNOW this is a dumb idea, but...did you install the driver using GeForce Experience (http://www.geforce.com/geforce-experience), which then MIGHT have optimized the game with the driver? Do you have a buddy who could test the card on their system?

Losergamer04 wrote:

This may be a silly question, but are you uninstalling the driver before each removal of GPU's? If not, try uninstalling the driver, then shutdown and swap GPU's, then install the driver.

This practice is pretty deprecated - it gains you nothing, really, on a modern system.

A "clean" install via the Nvidia installer is all that's really needed if you suspect you're having driver issues. It will clear out all of your preferences, but it's as clean of a driver install as you're going to get and probably worthwhile in this case.

For the record, I haven't *uninstalled* a driver on my system in...ever. I started with Windows 7 launch day, updated to 10 last year, and I still have drivers "installed" from when I originally installed 7. It's not an issue.

Waco wrote:

Losergamer04 wrote:

This may be a silly question, but are you uninstalling the driver before each removal of GPU's? If not, try uninstalling the driver, then shutdown and swap GPU's, then install the driver.

This practice is pretty deprecated - it gains you nothing, really, on a modern system.

A "clean" install via the Nvidia installer is all that's really needed if you suspect you're having driver issues. It will clear out all of your preferences, but it's as clean of a driver install as you're going to get and probably worthwhile in this case.

For the record, I haven't *uninstalled* a driver on my system in...ever. I started with Windows 7 launch day, updated to 10 last year, and I still have drivers "installed" from when I originally installed 7. It's not an issue.

So I really haven't either - that is, uninstalled a driver before swapping hardware - but in this case, Just Cause 3 actually became completely unplayable at one point and I used a driver cleaner and reinstalled from the newest downloaded driver as well as reinstalled Just Cause 3 before I could play again. I'm currently downloading Just Cause 3 via steam on my work machine (4790K based, same psu, 16GB ram) and when I get a chance later this week I'm going to bring the card here to see if the results follow the card or if I might just have some driver weirdness that requires a fresh start.

Neutronbeam wrote:

Okay, I KNOW this is a dumb idea, but...did you install the driver using GeForce Experience (http://www.geforce.com/geforce-experience), which then MIGHT have optimized the game with the driver? Do you have a buddy who could test the card on their system?

I updated the driver initially through the GeForce experience after installing the hardware and then did a clean install from a downloaded driver version without the Geforce experience to try to eliminate that as a possible cause of problems.

Mr Bill wrote:

First, not an expert. But, what happens if you get this error and then shut down and reboot before restarting the game? Its not clear in your post if you immediately restarted the game without rebooting.

From Microsoft...https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... in-windows

Code 38 “Windows cannot load the device driver… (Code 38)”

Full Error Message

Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of the device driver is still in memory. (Code 38)

Cause

The driver could not be loaded because a previous instance is still loaded.

Recommended Resolution

Restart your computer. From Start, click Shut Down, and then select Restart.

My first reaction was to try just restarting the game - sometimes I would have to actually ctrl+alt+del and then logoff because I couldn't actually control anything on the screen or in task manager, but from that menu I was able to logoff, effectively killing the hung-up game. When I did reboot the results were about the same - it seemed like when I first started playing I would get the longest time before it would crash and subsequent attempts were much shorter, sometimes less than a minute. That seems to me like it could be a hardware issue - overheating seemed likely - but I could then run Furmark or BF4 without issue and my temperatures were nowhere near any kind of limit. I actually tried underclocking as a few different places said that worked for them and it made no difference for me.

The crazy thing is that the machine has always been and remains rock-solid stable with the exception of Just Cause 3. I will try to get the card into my work machine later this week (out of town for meetings the next few days) but would still love to hear from anyone that owns JC3 and a 1080 or maybe just someone with JC3 that has experienced this issue on any level.

The issues sound similar to when I've had the driver crash due to hardware failures(It usually still crashes the game but when it isn't a hardware failure windows at least manages to reload the driver without error 38). Except that wasn't with just one game. Having said that, if they are willing to do an RMA for free where you don't pay shipping I would definitely give that route a try. It may be that there's a specific hardware failure mode that benchmarks and torture tests aren't replicating that JC3 is.

I agree with the other posters that either it's 1) a bad card that only shows the problem in JC3, or 2) a specific issue with current NVIDIA drivers + the 1080 and JC3.

In either case you might want to RMA the card just to be sure it's not 1).

But there is something that might work out - is there a way to force JC3 into using another renderer? I don't imagine you want to run the game in OpenGL or D3D 9/10 but that might be a workaround.

Another option could be contacting Nvidia for support. They may already be aware of the issue and could be working on a driver fix.

Vhalidictes wrote:

I agree with the other posters that either it's 1) a bad card that only shows the problem in JC3, or 2) a specific issue with current NVIDIA drivers + the 1080 and JC3.

In either case you might want to RMA the card just to be sure it's not 1).

But there is something that might work out - is there a way to force JC3 into using another renderer? I don't imagine you want to run the game in OpenGL or D3D 9/10 but that might be a workaround.

I wondered if the 1080 was using a different directx version than the 760 but the best I can tell is they are both compatible with the same versions (v12) but I haven't discovered how to check or change that as of yet.

I'll RMA this thing in a heartbeat if someone would chime in that they have a 1080 and play JC3 without issue. If the problems follow to my work computer with a fresh steam/jc3 install and nvidia driver (currently running intel graphics) I'll have to go down the RMA path but I'm trying to confirm it is in fact a bad card that RMA would actually fix.

It's a good idea to try nvidia support but I don't know how responsive they would me. Maybe Evga support would know of problems or lack thereof as well

I would totally understand if JC3 was just buggy and needed a patch or two but it's just never had a problem with the 760. And the 1080 has been solid with everything but JC3. Thanks for your suggestions so far. When I'm back home in a few days I hope to Get to the bottom of this and either have a fix or RMA the card.

Just Cause 3 doesn't like overclocked cards if I remember correctly, but the error is different. It's just a CTD. I've also seen friends play JC3 with a 1080 without problems, for what that's worth. EVGA has had a few QC problems supposedly based on https://hardforum.com/threads/warning-o ... s.1902290/
So I'd just RMA

If it only happens with one game, is that really an issue with the card?

I'd take this question to Reddit or the Steam community forum before RMA.

I feel you though. I got a good deal last year on a GTX 970, but the card just wouldn't work for more than a few minutes in any game. So I returned it. Worked out well though since I ended up getting a sweet RX 480 in December. I upgraded from a GTX 760 2GB as well A great card, just short on VRAM for the newest games.

frumper15 wrote:

Vhalidictes wrote:

I agree with the other posters that either it's 1) a bad card that only shows the problem in JC3, or 2) a specific issue with current NVIDIA drivers + the 1080 and JC3.

In either case you might want to RMA the card just to be sure it's not 1).

But there is something that might work out - is there a way to force JC3 into using another renderer? I don't imagine you want to run the game in OpenGL or D3D 9/10 but that might be a workaround.

I wondered if the 1080 was using a different directx version than the 760 but the best I can tell is they are both compatible with the same versions (v12) but I haven't discovered how to check or change that as of yet.

I'll RMA this thing in a heartbeat if someone would chime in that they have a 1080 and play JC3 without issue. If the problems follow to my work computer with a fresh steam/jc3 install and nvidia driver (currently running intel graphics) I'll have to go down the RMA path but I'm trying to confirm it is in fact a bad card that RMA would actually fix.

It's a good idea to try nvidia support but I don't know how responsive they would me. Maybe Evga support would know of problems or lack thereof as well

I would totally understand if JC3 was just buggy and needed a patch or two but it's just never had a problem with the 760. And the 1080 has been solid with everything but JC3. Thanks for your suggestions so far. When I'm back home in a few days I hope to Get to the bottom of this and either have a fix or RMA the card.

I upgraded from a GTX 770 to a GTX 1080. Prior to swapping out the 770 I installed the latest drivers and then installed the 1080. Both the 770 and the 1080 were/are OC"ed. I played JC3 on both. No issues.

Edit: I do have an 850W PSU.

I have a 1080; I'd be happy to test it for you if you send me a steam key for JC3.

Ikepuska wrote:

Just Cause 3 doesn't like overclocked cards if I remember correctly, but the error is different. It's just a CTD. I've also seen friends play JC3 with a 1080 without problems, for what that's worth. EVGA has had a few QC problems supposedly based on https://hardforum.com/threads/warning-o ... s.1902290/
So I'd just RMA

That's unfortunate - i'm hoping they can at least live up to their reputation for good support if not good quality

End User wrote:

I upgraded from a GTX 770 to a GTX 1080. Prior to swapping out the 770 I installed the latest drivers and then installed the 1080. Both the 770 and the 1080 were/are OC"ed. I played JC3 on both. No issues.

Edit: I do have an 850W PSU.

Thanks for the feedback. The fact that I'm able to play without any problems with the 760 hopefully means this is just a bad card that weirdly only acts up in this game.

I did monitor the power usage running Furmark and it was less than 300 watts and the power requirements on the box say at least 500 watts with 2x 8 pin connectors which I have. If nothing else, it's an evga power supply so that should help my case that it shouldn't be a power problem

I am back at the office today so I was able to try the card in my box here. The results were even worse - I didn't even get into a game session before it crashed. I did figure out how to disable the sill online login this game is notorious for. I shouldn't say disable, I blocked the .exe in windows firewall so now I can select offline mode so I don't get to hear about how l33tgamer23 beat my wingsuit record every 30 seconds.

I even tried going back a few versions of the nVidia driver thinking maybe something broke in a newer revision with no luck - same behavior. Right now I'm letting Steam rebuild the offiline game files but I have very little faith that will change anything.

EDIT: ...annndd.... everything crashes. I also downloaded Max Payne 3 on my work machine to see I could repeat the whole "only crashes using JC3" thing and it also crashed hard trying to get into a game session. Bad card it is.

So, I'm going to begin the RMA process with eVGA and if they can figure out how I can make this work I will happily keep the card, otherwise it's going to need to be swapped out.

Thanks for all your feedback gerbils - I'll follow up with hopefully good news or a fix or when the new card gets here. hopefully it will be smooth sailing after that.

Good, if uneventful, news: I got the replacement card today and just finished playing over an hour of JC3 without a single artifact or crash.

I guess sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one - I had a bad card. I'm still a little baffled wondering what about JC3 would cause that problem when BF4 and Furmark were seemingly unaffected. Maybe I never got the card to the same point of stress with those - though I would think Furmark would stress things more than JC3, but whatever.

So, if you are playing Just Cause 3 on a GTX 1080 and have artifacting and crashing you most likely have a bad card.

Props to EVGA for a painless RMA process and hopefully they don't have a larger quality issue I need to worry about with the replacement card down the line.

Thanks for the help troubleshooting help and tips, guys.

Great news! Glad you got this solved.

Mr Bill wrote:

Great news! Glad you got this solved.

Thanks! I guess I'm glad it was as simple as just a bad card. I've got to say, I think this was the first "Bad out of the box" computer component I've had since some Corsair memory about 5 years ago. Other than paying for some postage and waiting a little while it wasn't too painful.

I had a very similar Nvidia problem after an upgrade, it may be a hail mary, but when you install the drivers do not install any of the 3d Vision Glasses software or driver. They were different Nvidia cards, but it did the same exact thing when I upgraded and not installing the 3d glass **** made it stop. I was at the end of my rope. Hope it helps.