Replace onboard graphics

juzzlukin

Member
Jan 19, 2017
37
0
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CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 (Skylake-S, R0) 3200 MHz (32.00x100.0) @ 3599 MHz (36.00x100.0)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Pro4
Chipset: Intel Z170 (Skylake PCH-H)
Memory: 16384 MBytes @ 1066 MHz, 15-15-15-36 - 8192 MB PC17000 DDR4 SDRAM - Crucial Technology CT8G4DFD8213.C16FA (2)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 530 (Skylake-S GT2) - Integrated Graphics Controller [S0/R0] [ASRock] Intel HD Graphics 530, 1024 MB
Drive: MKNSSDRE1TB, 976.8 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Drive: MKNSSDRE1TB, 976.8 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Sound: Intel Skylake PCH-H - High Definition Audio Controller
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (x64) Build 14393.693 (RS1)
____________________________________________________________________________
I have been unable to solve my computer freezing problem for probably 8 months now.

Ive tried everything I been advised to do. By process of elimination I'm suspicious of the onboard graphics.

Given my configuration I'd like advice about a compatible, reliable, and reasonably priced video card that would be at least comparable or better to what I have now onboard.

I'm not a gamer so I dont need anything too fancy, but, of course, I want good quality and performance.

thanks
 

sandorski

No Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
70,085
5,618
126
Any currently available AMD/Nvidia based graphics card is going to be better performing. If that will solve your issue is difficult to say.
 

EXCellR8

Diamond Member
Sep 1, 2010
3,979
839
136
onboard graphics shouldn't cause the system to freeze... have you checked for updated chipset/video drivers?
 

juzzlukin

Member
Jan 19, 2017
37
0
36
onboard graphics shouldn't cause the system to freeze... have you checked for updated chipset/video drivers?
At this point I'm really just grasping at straws. Ive tried every conventional solution. I was hoping that perhaps someone had a similar experience that related to my mainboard.

Im currently in the process of using my ram sticks separately to see if I get different results.

Is there a specific video card with a good track record that someone could recommend.

I went looking for one at pcpartpicker, and I must've gotten 100 possibilities.

Id like to narrow it down a sensible few to consider.
 

Bacon1

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2016
3,430
1,018
91
Is there a specific video card with a good track record that someone could recommend.

Any video card will work, just make sure it supports your monitor resolution (careful if it's > 1440p) Just find whatever cheap card you can, but like others said, it's probably not the failing part. Does event viewer shed any details? BSOD logs?
 
Aug 11, 2008
10,451
642
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Yea, when do the freeze-ups occur? Is it random, when you are doing gpu demanding tasks, when you are using a certain program, or what. I notice you have a Z170 board with the 6500. You are not trying to bclock overclock it are you?
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,414
8,356
126
what exactly do you mean by 'freezing'? is it a full reboot, is it a hitch and then the computer continues to function as if nothing happens, does it have windows and whatnot visible but is no longer responding to user input?
 

bigboxes

Lifer
Apr 6, 2002
38,485
11,943
146
I would be curious as to what you are doing when freeze ups occur. Did you try to reseat the HSF on the CPU? Clean off the old paste and apply new thermal paste and make sure you have the HSF securely mounted.
 

juzzlukin

Member
Jan 19, 2017
37
0
36
I would be curious as to what you are doing when freeze ups occur. Did you try to reseat the HSF on the CPU? Clean off the old paste and apply new thermal paste and make sure you have the HSF securely mounted.
I've told this story so many times, so I figured I wouldn't bore with the details, but here goes.

I had a local shop build me a desktop a year ago.

After a while I began to experience major problems, bsod crashing, not waking from standby, that got progressively worse to the point the machine was unusable. I have 2 ssd's, OS installed on both, both affected equally.

Perhaps it was a combination of things, not the least of which was the anniversary update. My builder took it in, did all the tests. but couldn't definitively identify what was responsible, and decided to swap out the mainboard (I will ask him about the CPU seating, but it seems unlikely given the symptoms)

This was about the time that further 1607 update were released. A fresh reinstall of the operating system was also performed (and has been repeated several times since.) It seemed ok for several days, then began to experience random freezes.

No bsod's, no crash log. I've checked the Reliablility Monitor and all I get is "Windows was not shutdown properly" for the reports that correspond to the freeze time.

The machine just freezes, requiring a manual reboot, after which it returns to normal. I've maintained all the latest driver and bios updates and windows updates.

Sometimes it wont happen for up to 4-5 days, and thereafter on a daily basis. Typical example, it froze a week ago Wednesday, everything was fine until the following Monday, and then it froze every day since until yesterday.

The most frustrating thing is the utter randomness. There is no warning and no specific task I can point to that causes it. No pattern whatsoever, and its not that its continually crashing. Usually just one freeze a day, sometimes two, but not in succession. Generally a substantial length of time (several hours) before it occurs again. Even when it is in use for all that time. I generally don't turn the machine off unless I have to do the manual reboot after a freeze.

In fact, it often it occurs when the machine has been sitting idle for hours. I'll comeback to it locked up, and notice the time on the tray clock when it crashed, which could be several hours after It had been sitting with no activity.

I'm not a gamer. I don't overclock. If it does occur when I'm working, it's certainly not a result of a stressor. Everything just stops. My current Average Temperature is 24 °C.

The other thing that used to happen, also randomly but not lately, the computer wouldn't wake up from sleep. After leaving it idle for a while, when I come back to it I get "no signal" on the monitor.

I call it sleep, but its only really a description of the behavior, since I have disabled hibernation, sleep, and the screensaver. It hasnt happened in a while, but I have no explanation why it happens or stopped happening. It seemed too coincidental to think the freezing and waking incidents weren't relalted

I dont know where else to look. Ive search for answers and it seems like Im the only one on the planet with these symptoms.

This process of elimination leads me to suspect onboard graphics, 'cause I dont know what else to do.

Since I pulled that stick of ram, it hasnt froze. Even tho I had the previous stress test, I will ride each stick individually for a week if I have to to rule them in or out as the culprit.

After that, I felt onboard graphics was my last resort, but it seems like the general consensus here is that is highly unlikely.
 

daxzy

Senior member
Dec 22, 2013
393
77
101
The other thing that used to happen, also randomly but not lately, the computer wouldn't wake up from sleep. After leaving it idle for a while, when I come back to it I get "no signal" on the monitor.

I call it sleep, but its only really a description of the behavior, since I have disabled hibernation, sleep, and the screensaver. It hasnt happened in a while, but I have no explanation why it happens or stopped happening. It seemed too coincidental to think the freezing and waking incidents weren't relalted

That's actually a pervasive problem with a lot of GPU's/Motherboards. Usually it comes down to a combination of GPU drivers (and I've had this happen with Intel/AMD/Nvidia) and the actual display. A quick workaround is to physically pull the display cable (e.g. DisplayPort cable) and insert it back in.

I've also had it happen on a new Z77 board (when it JUST came out), and a BIOS update fixed most of the problems.

I dont know where else to look. Ive search for answers and it seems like Im the only one on the planet with these symptoms.

This process of elimination leads me to suspect onboard graphics, 'cause I dont know what else to do.

Since I pulled that stick of ram, it hasnt froze. Even tho I had the previous stress test, I will ride each stick individually for a week if I have to to rule them in or out as the culprit.

After that, I felt onboard graphics was my last resort, but it seems like the general consensus here is that is highly unlikely.

I would suspect the memory first over the onboard graphics. So testing them individually in single channel was a good call. Also, if you suspect onboard graphics, you can buy a cheapo Celeron/Pentium based Skylake chip and see if they have the same errors. If they don't, then you can RMA the CPU.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,545
236
106
It would be good to know what power supply you have. Also can you expound on this statement "... I have 2 ssd's, OS installed on both, both affected equally." Is that some sort of RAID setup?
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
I'd say it was/is the ram for you.
I've had this sort of problem. I cured it by resetting my video card and ram.
I also updated my bios.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
There was talk, when Skylake was new, about marginal / defective Skylake CPUs, and "Skylake freezes".

Honestly, knowing that, if you've already tried mobo and RAM swaps, I would RMA the CPU with Intel, if it was purchased Boxed.
 
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Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,545
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I was looking at the board, and this is one of those cases in which I might recommend upgrading to the latest BIOS as well. There have been 20 updates since the launch of the board, 5 of which included improvements in DRAM compatibility, and at least one for overall compatibility improvements.
 

juzzlukin

Member
Jan 19, 2017
37
0
36
Before I say anything else, let me extend my appreciation for the professionalism and willingness to contribute I have experienced in what is my first visit here. When I said I didn't want to bore you with the details, it was because when I posted elsewhere, I got little or no response whatsoever.

It would be good to know what power supply you have.
Corsair CX500

Also can you expound on this statement "... I have 2 ssd's, OS installed on both, both affected equally." Is that some sort of RAID setup?
No. Dual boot.

I was looking at the board, and this is one of those cases in which I might recommend upgrading to the latest BIOS as well. There have been 20 updates since the launch of the board, 5 of which included improvements in DRAM compatibility, and at least one for overall compatibility improvements.
I "thought" I had the latest updates, but thanks for pushing me to check. Turns out I was behind on the BIOS and Chipset updates. Done and done.

I dunno what else I can do now but wait and see what results I get from my ram experiment.

I actually lost a day because when I tried to flash the BIOS, the computer froze 2 consecutive times. I figured it must be due to the same problem, and switched to the second ram stick for testing. Then, It crashed again trying to flash the BIOS. It was my SanDisk USB drive messing things up. Swiiched to a different USB drive, and all good now. This could only happen to me :)

Any further suggestions much welcomed. If not, all I can do now is wait and see what happens. I'll be back with the results...and hopefully a conclusion.

thanks again
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,545
236
106
Let us know - there are other possibilities, but the fact that that the computer freezes and never "crashes" thankfully limits the options.
 

juzzlukin

Member
Jan 19, 2017
37
0
36
That's actually a pervasive problem with a lot of GPU's/Motherboards. Usually it comes down to a combination of GPU drivers (and I've had this happen with Intel/AMD/Nvidia) and the actual display. A quick workaround is to physically pull the display cable (e.g. DisplayPort cable) and insert it back in.
Just to be sure, can I assume by "display" you're referring to the monitor and not something internal?

My TV doubles as my monitor. HDMI connection. There were times in the past when "sometimes" unplugging/reinserting the cable would refresh the connection. Probably had as much to do with the integrity of the cable itself (which was eventually replaced), because reconnecting stopped having an affect.
 

RLGL

Platinum Member
Jan 8, 2013
2,062
294
126
I had an AMD based video card with a hardware failure that caused odball issues with the display and BSOD. This was further complicated by a bad ram slot on the board. The card was replaced under warranty, the board was 2.5 years old under wty but I decided to start over with A Z170 based board
 

juzzlukin

Member
Jan 19, 2017
37
0
36
I'd say it was/is the ram for you.
I've had this sort of problem. I cured it by resetting my video card and ram.
I also updated my bios.

I had an AMD based video card with a hardware failure that caused odball issues with the display and BSOD. This was further complicated by a bad ram slot on the board. The card was replaced under warranty, the board was 2.5 years old under wty but I decided to start over with A Z170 based board

The ram tested out ok. The machine froze up with each one installed individually.

I'm not getting bsod's, hence no reports in the Reliability Monitor.

My video is onboard.

Since the prevailing opinion here is that its not graphics, I dont know where to go from here.

The thing is, this machine runs like a dream otherwise. No other major symptoms or issues.
 

daveybrat

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jan 31, 2000
5,725
943
126
Well, i would recommend going with this card:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127933&ignorebbr=1

MSI GeForce GT 710 DirectX 12 GT 710 2GD3H LP 2GB 64-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card

It should be slightly faster than the onboard graphics and give you 2GB of dedicated ram, not sharing from your system ram. I've used many of these cards and they work great. It's also a cheap solution to try out.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,545
236
106
The ram tested out ok. The machine froze up with each one installed individually.

I'm not getting bsod's, hence no reports in the Reliability Monitor.

My video is onboard.

Since the prevailing opinion here is that its not graphics, I dont know where to go from here.

The thing is, this machine runs like a dream otherwise. No other major symptoms or issues.
So, have there been any issues since Saturday?