Skyrim making graphics drivers crash and recover

i recently built a new pc that has been doing very well since i built it. Every game i have tried out runs great except for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. when i first got the game it worked very well. However after a while, the game would freeze, the screen would go black, it would come back again but completely frozen, and then crash to the desktop with a message in the bottom right saying something along the lines that "nvidia graphics drivers have stopped responding and have successfully recovered." Again, this only happens with THIS game. My graphics drivers are up to date and it was working fine up until one point. Also, i notice weird flickering in the game at the main menu and in the loading screen. I am at a loss as to what this issue might be. I doubt it is the card itself because it has not had a problem since i got it, only when i got skyrim. The drivers are up to date and i dont think its overheating but i really have not proven that yet, although i doubt that is the issue. I got a good deal on the game but i dont want my money to be wasted. If anyone has suggestions for me to fix this issue it would be greatly appreciated!

Run a stress test like Kumbustor. See if your card is getting too hot or something. You could try uninstalling your drivers and reinstalling the latest ones. You could try installing the unofficial patches (located on nexus, but I'm sure you can find them in the steam workshop). If none of that works, report back with the results of a stress test.

To maybe narrow down the problem, I just played far cry 3 and it froze twice on me but it was just a crash and not a driver failure like skyrim. Anyway, thanks so much for the quick reply I will try the options you gave me. If it is getting too hot, what can I do to make sure it doesn't happen?

Depends on what is causing the problem that is making it overheat. Overheating is a symptom, not a cause (per se).

 Do You have your card overclocked?If so it may be unstable. I had the same crash and recover issue with crysis 2 although the overclock worked with every other game.

My card is not overclocked and the card is pretty quiet...i think i will first try the patch for it and then try kumbustor or something like that. Also, is it possible to harm my graphics card if i keep trying to play the game and it crashes every time because of possibly what is causing it to overheat?