try rolling your nvidia drivers back to 344.65, and do not install the 3D drivers (unless you have 3D hardware)
and do not install Geforce Experience.
and only install the audio drivers, if you are using HDMI to connect to your monitor/tv, and are using it for sound.
otherwise use your motherboard integrated sound card, or your dedicated one.
_update_
only install the graphics drivers and physX, unless you need audio for HDMI
I have been playing now for nearly ten hours, without a crash. Still get fps drops, and memory/cpu spikes though.
turn the post processing for motion blur off, and the other one to high or ultra.
turn off multi-sampling and ambiant occlusion off.
adjust quality levels that are right for your machine, so that you can get stable FPSs between 30 and 60.
watch CPU,GPU, and motherboard temps, if you are able.
Also watch usage, of possible... if you are seeing spikes to 90 and 100%, make a save, and exit out of the game.
give your system a few minutes to cool down.
If you are having high temps, due to high loads, try lowering your graphics settings, and if that doesn't work, or help .....
a small, room fan, or window fan might help if you open the side of you computer case and use the fan to cool your system while you play.
to avoid any damage to your machine due to overheating........ (which has been reported by quite a few people.) [ just overheating, not damage]
since downgrading my drivers, I have had much less load on my GPUs. They were at 99-100% with 344.47... now am down to between 50 and 60% usage with the rolled back driver 344.65. still about the same on CPU usage though.
I also happend to notice, that both ram and page file usage was extremely high... over 12GB each.... wth?
Awesome--thank you for the suggestions. I'll give them a try and report back if it works.
middlefngrsalute, I think you found the secret sauce!
I uninstalled Geforce Experience and anything Geforce 3D related, did a custom install of *only* the graphics driver for version 344.65, and I just played through an uninterrupted hour of the game for the first time ever. (On medium settings; I'm going back to high tomorrow.)
If I crash again, I'll write another update, but this is looking pretty successful so far. Thanks again for the suggestion!
