Hi everyone, I don't usually post on forums, but I can't find a solution or an answer as to why I'm having this problem. 
 
I build my own computer about a month ago, 
I7 4790k 4.6ghz 1.25V
Asus Hero Vlll Motherboard
16GB GSkill Trident Z (8GBx2)
EVGA GTX 980 ti SC GPU
EVGA 750 Watt PSU Gold
Corsair H100i Liquid CPU cooler
(just listing in case maybe it's NOT the video card?)
 
I had not played any games on it while using the on board graphics while I waited for my 980ti to come, so my only experience with playing games on this machine is with the 980ti.
On multiple games, Project CARS, Assetto Corsa, Dirt Rally, Witcher 3, I'll play flawlessly for any amount of time (anywhere from less then a minute to two hours), then the graphics just freeze, and im able to still hear all the sounds of the game, and I can hear my mouse hovering over menu options. It's like the graphics completely freeze, yet the game just keeps playing how its supposed to in the background. I can alt+tab out of the game, which subsequently "crashes" the game (no notification, it just shuts it off). Then, if I don't restart my computer, no matter what other game I choose to play AFTER the freeze, also just locks up right away whenever it tries to load anything but the menu. Most of these games I have maxed out besides things like motion blur and stuff, and I run Dirt Rally at high settings, one notch from the max. 
 
I do have MSI Afterburner running to see my GPU temp, and it never goes above 68-70C (even under extended full load). Im getting 38 FPS minumum in Heaven Benchmark wth around 130 average.  I ran the benchmark on extreme 1080p for about 45 minutes with no problems. I'm running 353.30 Driver. I do notice fairly frequent (0-3 times/hr) driver crashes/recoveries while doing things on the desktop.
 
Anyone have the same problem, know a solution, or able to diagnose my problem? Is the card itself faulty? Are the drivers bad?
I really appreciate any feedback from anyone who can help.
 
 
 
 
 

Yes, try the new hotfix driver first. If that doesn't help try downclocking the card by 150MHz on the core & memory and retesting.

It's also possible that the card is unstable which would be proven by downclocking the card and seeing if that fixes the issue. If it does then you can RMA/replace the card for free with EVGA through an EAR replacement which would allow you to keep the card while the other card is in transit. To do this you can download EVGA Precision and downclocking both the memory and core by ~100mhz and playing like that.

Treerootz
OK Here's the update. After installing that hotfix driver, I played Project CARS for approx 2 hours straight, temps stayed under 70C, no freezes, but mid-race I blue screened and got a "WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR" happened, and it restarted my computer automatically.... At the time the card was dead stock, just like the other instances. I'm going to try the downclocking and see what happens.. 
 
Thanks again for all the support, I'll update in a few hours if anything else happens, of it (crosses fingers) nothing happens.

The whea error is most likely being caused by your cpu overclock being unstable, increase the vcore a bit or set the cpu back to stock clocks and retest.

Well, I overclocked it a few days ago, and the freezing has been happening before that, but I'm going to give it a shot, as I'm not very experienced with this stuff as far as overclocking and messing with settings, so I reverted back to stock settings, minus my RAM frequency,  and I'll see if that helps at all. 
 
I tried the underclock GPU earlier, I went out for about 25 mins and came back and windows was frozen, but the game was still running... I minimized it, and the taskbar at the bottom wasn't responding, then task manager wasn't responding, then nothing was responding so I had to restart the computer.. I'm going to try stock GPU now, THEN underclocking it to see. Glad there are some knowledgeable people to talk to!

So I've been playing for quite a while tonight, after I reset the CPU overclock, and I haven't had any problems.. Even boosted the card to 1430mhz core with no crashes. There were a few things I did at the same time, such as changing settings, uninstalling things, and changing drivers/resetting the cpu clock, but I'm pretty sure it was the overclock on the CPU. Thanks for the help! Now I can buy my Acer Predator without worrying about the video card!

I think it was most likely a CPU clock issue as you can get a lot of strange behavior from that.