The "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding but has successfully recovered" problem is finally solved.

This post is about finally resolving a long-standing problem with my computer's display.
Please note that this content is completely irrelevant to anyone who is not experiencing this phenomenon.

Symptoms

Since I bought a new desktop computer last year, I've been experiencing regular display errors.
The phenomenon was that while using the computer, the screen would suddenly freeze (or become extremely slow), and the mouse pointer and other elements would stop moving.
The music being played continues to play at an extremely slow speed for quite some time.

After a while, it will return to a state where it can be operated normally and will function properly.
If you were typing before the malfunction occurred, the system will recover in a state where the last character you typed is still being held down.
(Example: Hello hh

Usually, it resolves itself if you wait, but sometimes the screen goes dark, displays "Display Port NO SIGNAL," and the monitor remains black.
In those cases, sometimes it would return to normal after waiting, and other times it wouldn't return to normal unless the monitor's power cord was unplugged and replugged.

When you check the logs in Event Viewer,"The display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding but has successfully recovered."This remained, and it occurred at a frequency of about once every 1 to 2 hours.
It recovers in a few seconds, so it's not a critical problem, but since this wasn't happening before I bought the new one, I wanted to do something about it.

The OS is Windows 10, and the graphics card is an RTX 2070.
Unlike people who build their own computers, I'm just an amateur who can at best replace parts by looking up instructions online.
Therefore, please understand that some of the speculations in the latter half are based on amateur opinions.

Things I tried

After searching online, it seems that many people are experiencing a similar phenomenon.
This seems to be a common problem when using an NVIDIA graphics card.
There seemed to be many things to try, so I tried them one by one.

Reinstall the display driver

This was the first thing I tried.
I uninstalled unnecessary programs and reinstalled the latest drivers.
However, the problem did not improve.

Changing NVIDIA Control Panel settings

I tried adjusting the "3D settings" in the NVIDIA control panel, as I heard that this can sometimes improve the situation.

- Go to "Manage 3D settings" -> "Global settings" -> Slide down to the bottom and change the "Power management mode" to "Prioritize maximum performance" and apply the changes.

- In "Surround, PhysX Settings," change the processor in "PhysX Settings" from "Automatic Selection" to your current graphics card (in my case, GeForce RTX 2070).

I tried these things, but it didn't improve the situation.

Overwriting or deleting "nvlddmkm.sys"

After doing some research, I found that there are cases where multiple "nvlddmkm.sys" files exist and conflict with each other, causing problems.

However, there was only one copy of this file, and I was a little hesitant to overwrite or modify it, so I didn't touch it for the time being.

Replacing the graphics card

I wanted to try and fix all the software issues before replacing the hardware.
Up until now, I've investigated and fixed various computer problems, and they've almost never been hardware issues, so to be honest, I was hesitant.

However, after doing some research, I've come to suspect that the problem might be related to the power supply.
That is,This new PC has an unnecessarily high-performance graphics card, so it might be consuming too much power.I had a feeling that was the case.
Of course, the power supply is fairly large, but once the thought crossed my mind, I couldn't get it out of my head.

I was also interested in trying to replace the graphics card myself, and there was a slim chance it was a hardware defect, so I bought a new one and replaced it.
Power consumption didn't change that much, but I upgraded from an RTX 2070 to an RTX 1660 Ti.
However, the problem was ultimately not solved.

I suspected it might be a motherboard issue, but I didn't intend to go that far.
At the same time, I tried changing the output from DisplayPort to HDMI and replacing the cable, but it still didn't improve.

Solution (Processor power management)

I had almost given up on fixing the problem after trying replacements, but then I came across an article suggesting a method I hadn't tried yet, and it piqued my interest.
This method involves changing the settings of your Windows power plan.

Go to "Control Panel" (⇒ "System & Security") ⇒ "Power Options" ⇒ and select "Change plan settings" for your current plan.

The access method may differ slightly depending on whether you're using Windows 10 or 11, but as long as you can reach a screen similar to the image below, you're good to go.

In the "Advanced settings" tab (or "Change advanced power settings") of the window that opens,The "Minimum processor state" setting in "Processor power management" was set to 5%, so I changed it to 100%.
Similarly, I also changed the maximum processor usage to 100%.
(= In other words, it's always at 100%.)
In short, change your settings to avoid options that reduce power supply, such as "power saving mode."
As a result of making this change, the problem no longer occurs.

My guess is that Windows' power-saving settings might be causing insufficient power supply to the graphics card and other peripherals around the display.
This setting change allows the device to always operate at maximum power consumption, regardless of the power consumption.
My electricity bill might have increased, but I thought it was a small price to pay if it solved the problem.

This issue seems to be occurring for various reasons for each user, and everyone is resolving it in different ways.
Therefore, this method may not lead to improvement.
However, I hope this can be of help to others who are facing similar difficulties.

Added in August 2022The number of page views is higher than I expected, which gives me the impression that there are many people who are having trouble.
The path to the settings screen is slightly different in Windows 11, so I've added a few images.

Summary of lifestyle-related articles