Intel HD4600, Is this a driver or hardware issue?

[taisingera]

I bought a cheap Radeon HD5450 and have not had one crash of the sort since installing it. I also have been reading a lot about the issue, and found this, http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ilter=&askingquestion=False&ContentTypeScope=, just looks too suspicious to be a hardware issue. Maybe I will try to set the memory back down to 1333 and try it out.

 

[AkumaX]

TLDR: It's a good chance the problem is with your memory.

My similar story:
I just put together a new computer with 2x8gb Crucial Ballistics 1600. In the mobo I forced a profile to match the memory specs (8-8-8-24 @ 1600mhz).

My processor is 4130T (HD4400 graphics)... every time I installed Intel VGA drivers (either from CD, downloaded from mobo mfgr, or downloaded from intel site) my computer would start crashing randomly. Usually during 3D stuff, but occasionally on other things too. Removing the intel drivers helped but it will still occasionally crash randomly.

Lots of other random weirdness started happening: windows complaining that signed drivers were unsigned, claiming updates were corrupted, etc. Basically all signs pointed to some kind of hardware issue because it was all too random to be software, especially on a brand new install that I kept restoring from image.

I ran memtest86 for 8 hours... 5 passes & 0 errors found. This made me think the memory must be fine. I started looking at other options: HD, Power supply, various BIOS settings. I too was on the verge of RMAing the mobo and getting a different brand.

Finally I set the mobo to "auto" the memory, it lowered the timings to 9-9-9-?? at 1333mhz. Totally stable since then. I believe the crashes happened *more often* in the intel drivers because they are using shared (corrupted) memory, and/or your system is more stressed when the VGA is doing more work.

Moral of the story? Check your Crucial Ballistix memory... lower the timings and/or switch the sticks etc. because even with memtest86 saying it's ok, it might not be.

That's crazy, I had a problem with my Crucial Ballistix too. Got 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 CAS11 for cheap, but had to RMA it because it was unstable @ 1600 as well.

 

[grant2]

If your problems disappear with a new graphics card then I agree it's probably not memory. I just twigged to your post because we have very similar setups including the brand of ram.

You could maybe run Prime95 on "blend" to check things, it failed on me within seconds, long before windows crashed.

Once I got the bad stick of ram out of my system, I can run the good stick at recommended settings. Try running your computer 1 stick at a time to see if that isolates the problem.

 

[taisingera]

Removed the XMP setting in BIOS, and set the RAM speed to 1333 with auto timings which are 8-8-8-20 at 1333. Reinstalled the Intel 3257 drivers, and so far I have not seen any crash of the video drivers. Hmm, could be that this RAM really can't run at 1600, or that Intel HD4600 can't support DDR3-1600? Like I said, with the discrete card, I had no driver crashes, and had memory set at 1600. The HD5450 supports HyperMemory, so it has 1GB onboard, but if you look at Aida64, it says it has 4800MB of RAM. Not sure it is using the system memory, but I doubt it.

 

[grant2]

Hmm, could be that this RAM really can't run at 1600, or that Intel HD4600 can't support DDR3-1600? Like I said, with the discrete card, I had no driver crashes, and had memory set at 1600.

Your HD4600 can support 1600mhz.

Almost certainly your memory cannot run stably at the settings you selected. Next you should test to determine if it's just 1 stick or 2 sticks that are corrupting.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Removed the XMP setting in BIOS, and set the RAM speed to 1333 with auto timings which are 8-8-8-20 at 1333. Reinstalled the Intel 3257 drivers, and so far I have not seen any crash of the video drivers. Hmm, could be that this RAM really can't run at 1600, or that Intel HD4600 can't support DDR3-1600? Like I said, with the discrete card, I had no driver crashes, and had memory set at 1600. The HD5450 supports HyperMemory, so it has 1GB onboard, but if you look at Aida64, it says it has 4800MB of RAM. Not sure it is using the system memory, but I doubt it.

Is it 1.35V memory? In that case, remember the Crucial memory got 2 XMP profiles.

 

[taisingera]

Is it 1.35V memory? In that case, remember the Crucial memory got 2 XMP profiles.

It is the 1.5V memory, but in the SPD using Aida64 what does it mean when it says Voltage 1.5V (Memory Controller 1.30V)?

 

[taisingera]

Physically uninstalled HD5450 and drivers, had 1080p video playing, Firefox open and HWInfo. I got the driver crash again, plus Firefox crashed because I have it set to use the memory as the cache. Next thing I will try is taking off XMP Profile from Ram.

 

[grant2]

what happens when you run Prime95?

 

[taisingera]

I don't think it is the RAM's inability to run at 1600 9-9-9-24 because I have put it to 1333 8-8-8-20 (which it was running in my old system, stable) and I am getting the driver crashes again using Intel 3257 drivers. Just with Firefox open, playing a 1080p video and HWInfo. Strange thing is that when I had Intel graphics alongside HD5450 card, I couldn't generate a driver crash. Looks like I will put the card back in and use that.

 

[escrow4]

What driver version? I recently updated my G1610 to 9.18.10.3257 and its flawless. I think the release notes may contain something related to Haswell too.

 

[taisingera]

I have previously run Prime95 for 20 minutes, and had no crashes, but I could generate a driver crash pretty easily.

 

[taisingera]

What driver version? I recently updated my G1610 to 9.18.10.3257 and its flawless. I think the release notes may contain something related to Haswell too.

Closest thing I could find like my issue is,
KNOWN ISSUES:
Driver exhibits a delay or black screen when switching between multiple 3D applications under multiple user logins in
Windows 8.

but I am not using Win8.

I read intel and microsoft forums about people having this driver issue for years, with all different hardware and graphics cards.

 

[taisingera]

That's crazy, I had a problem with my Crucial Ballistix too. Got 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 CAS11 for cheap, but had to RMA it because it was unstable @ 1600 as well.

Tried setting the ram to 1333 9-9-9-24 and eventually got back to back graphic driver crashes. Regardless of ram timings, I get the crash with Intel HD4600 using driver 3257 and the latest mobo bios. Definitely will have to put back the Radeon card for sanity sake. I can't deal with these driver crashings.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Physically uninstalled HD5450 and drivers, had 1080p video playing, Firefox open and HWInfo. I got the driver crash again, plus Firefox crashed because I have it set to use the memory as the cache. Next thing I will try is taking off XMP Profile from Ram.

So not the IGP at fault. Might just be the dreaded Asus issue and only solution is patience ;(

 

[taisingera]

I have given up on trying to use iGPU because there are no drivers that don't cause the issue. I have tried altering RAM timings, registry tweaks, running torture tests. I have reinstalled the HD5450 with Catalyst 13.4 and not a single hiccup yet. Therefore I can only assume my RAM and PSU are good. The question remains, is it the Intel drivers, the Asus mobo/bios, or is the iGPU bad somehow? Should I RMA the board and get another brand, and get a CPU replacement just to make sure?

 

[taisingera]

Should Intel HD graphics voltage ever be 0 according to HWInfo64? I have not installed Asus AiSuite, so there is no issue there. Just tried it out on my Sandy Bridge laptop, and I am looking at the integrated GPU HD3000 voltage with HWInfo64 and it shows a baseline of .3V and jumps to .925V. That's ok, but at least it doesn't sit at 0V.

 

[grant2]

I don't think it can be the drivers, there would be endless complaints on the internet if the drivers caused regular crashes just from watching videos or sitting at desktop.

Where do you find graphics voltage in HWiNFO64? I cannot find it when I run the program.

 

[BrightCandle]

If you suspect its RAM then test it with memtest 86+. Let it run through twice and see if it comes up with anything. Its about the best way I have found of confirming if a problem is mostly RAM based and there is every possibility one of your sticks is iffy regardless of the settings you put it on.

 

[grant2]

If you suspect its RAM then test it with memtest 86+. Let it run through twice and see if it comes up with anything. Its about the best way I have found of confirming if a problem is mostly RAM based and there is every possibility one of your sticks is iffy regardless of the settings you put it on.

As I described earlier... I ram memtest86 for *5* full passes and it totally missed my faulty stick of ram.

However, a windows program called "memtest" was able alert to memory errors. I ignored them at first because I kept hearing people claim memtest86 was the ultimate arbiter. apparently some memory errors only show up when you're actually running your system.

 

[taisingera]

The voltage for gpu is under iGPU but it may be around the other gpu stuff, or at the very bottom of all your sensors. With the Memtest you run in windows, I figured out that I need to run 2 copies to cope with the ram that is ununsed, but how can you test all ram except buy the program? I have been running all night using the radeon hd5450 and have not had one crash in those drivers or any other strange behavior. At full load HD5450 uses 19W and I don't get any psu shutdowns from it. How much power does the HD4600 use?

 

[taisingera]

I tried Intel Graphics Drivers 3304 and it still crashed. Is it possible that I am getting graphic driver crashes using integrated because I only have a 4-pin motherboard connector instead of the 8-pin, which my board has? Of course, what would happen on one of those mini-itx boards with same cpu and only 4-pin connector available? Whereas when I use the discrete HD5450 that is using power from the motherboard.