I am also having similar issues with ASUS GTX 660 Ti-OC. I have done multiple re-installs for refreshing & resetting of Windows 8, both with internet turned off/on. But everytime I re-installed nVidia drivers, before & after Windows Updates, never during, Windows 8 will fail to load.
There are 3 lots of Microsoft Updates to date, and after each Update I was able re-start my PC perfectly. These are all excluding the Microsoft nVidia update. When there are no more Updates, I restart the PC again just to be sure before installing nVidia drivers. Every version of the drivers makes Windows 8 hang at the loading screen. Sometimes I can move my mouse around, sometimes it is just a blank and or flickering screen.
So I tried installing nVidia drivers before any Windows Update (internet off), nVidia Drivers v306.23, v306.97, v310.70) worked fine. These are the first re-starts after installation. If I try to re-start a second time, or attempt to install v310.90, the blank screens comes back.
Also note that v310.70 & v310.90 seems to 'crash' during installation. The screen would flicker and show my desktop. All I can see is the task bar, but none of the windows pop up when I click on the icons even though I can see them in the preview panes. Windows button does nothing, I can only move my mouse around, and closse the power-off / restart option.
CPU: Core i5-3570K
GPU: Asus GTX660 TI-DC2O-2GD5
MoBo: Asus P8Z77-V
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333
HDD: Seagate 2TB SATA3
SSD: Samsung SATA3 120G SSD
ATX: Coolmaster RC-371
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-500CXV3 500W