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How can I remove 40 Hz modes from my Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600's list of display modes ?

idata
Employee
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Dear forum readers and contributors,

I've started playing Crysis Warhead on my laptop recently and noticed the game always choosing a 40 Hz mode while in fullscreen instead of the usual 60 Hz. While the Cryengine is the one to blame on this issue, it certainly would not happen if there were no 40 Hz modes available, that's why I want to do this as a workaround.

I'm aware of the borderless windowed solution which I tried already, but I have some issues with it, such as the pointer shifted one millimeter or so above the pointed area, and the game window being completely black when the game starts. I have to go fullscreen then back to windowed to gain an image. That's why I'm sticking to a true fullscreen with the 1920x1080@60 display mode.

Is there any way to do this, even temporarily ? Removing only my native resolution (1920x1080@40) would do the trick too. If there are shim-based solutions forcing the game to go 1920x1080@60, that's OK as well. I have Optimus and an Nvidia GTX 880M.

Thanks for your insights,

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22 Replies
idata
Employee
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Hello NovHak:

 

 

In order to better assist you, we just need to gather the following information:

 

 

What is the model of the laptop?

 

 

What is the model of the processor?

 

 

Which Windows version are you using?

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hi Alberto, thanks for your reply.

Additional specification follows :

Laptop model : Clevo P170SM-A

Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710MQ CPU @ 2.50GHz

OS : Windows 10 Professional 64-bit version 1607

Here's a http://www.clevo.com.tw/en/e-services/download/ftp_download.asp?sno=5027&no=1 link to the manual in case it may be useful. Annex D (page 394) contains some more details for my model (model E in the manual). Of course, I'm still available for more questions !

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idata
Employee
7,809 Views

Hello NovHak:

 

 

Thank you very much for that information.

 

 

In regard to your question, the option to remove the 40Hz value is not available.

 

 

Did you try to change the hertz on Windows?

 

 

Right-click on Desktop and click on Display Settings

 

Go to Advanced display settings

 

Under Related settings, go to Display adapter properties

 

Go to Monitor tab and select another refresh rate from Screen refresh rate:

 

Click OK

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
7,809 Views

Hi Alberto,

This option is already set to 60 Hz and it has always been so. Usually there are no problems, games running in full screen always choose 60 Hz, except for Crysis Warhead. That's why I want to be able to remove non 60 Hz display modes. It's annoying to learn that's not possible at the moment... I've read somewhere else on this forum that there's a high demand for a monitor EDID override feature to be included in the driver, I hope it will become achievable this way !

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hello NovHak:

 

 

Thank you very much for that information.

 

 

At this point we can always try to replicate the issue, since it is happening just with one game.

 

 

In order for us to be able to do that we need the following information, please fill the chart with as much details as you can:

 

CategoryQuestionsAnswers (N/A if not applicable)DescriptionProvide a detailed description of the issue Please place an X to the right of the option showing how often you see this issue using specific steps. (Ex: 'Every few times a game is started it flickers.' <- This would be "Often")</span>Always (100%):

 

Often (51-99%):

 

Sporadic (20-50%):

 

Very Sporadic (<20%):</td>Hardware (HW)Brand and Model of the system. Hybrid or switchable graphics system?

 

ie Does it have AMD or NV graphics too? Make and model of any Displays that are used to see the issue (see note2 below).  LFP = Local Flat Panel (Laptop panel)

 

EFP = External Flat Panel (Monitor you plug in) How much memory [RAM] in the system (see note2 below). Provide any other hardware needed to replicate the issue.

 

ie: Cables&brand, cable type [vga, hdmi, DP, etc], dock, dongles/adapters, etc Hardware Stepping (see note1 below). Software (SW)Operating System version (see note2 below). VBIOS (video BIOS) version. This can be found in "information page" of CUI (right click on Desktop and select "Graphics Properties".<td style="width:265px;border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bot...
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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hello NovHak:

 

 

I just wanted to check if you saw the information we requested previously?

 

 

That information will be very useful for us to better assist you.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hi Alberto,

Sorry for the late reply, here finally comes the requested information. I attached a zip file containing all additional files (SSU scan, hardware ids from the device manager, a text report from the CUI information page and a screenshot from Crysis Warhead).

CategoryQuestionsAnswers (N/A if not applicable)DescriptionProvide a detailed description of the issue

When running Crysis Warhead and Crysis Wars full screen at the native monitor resolution (1920x1080), the refresh rate is set at 40 Hz instead of 60 Hz.

Another game, Project Zomboid may be affected, but that isn't confirmed yet.

Please place an X to the right of the option showing how often you see this issue using specific steps. (Ex: 'Every few times a game is started it flickers.' <- This would be "Often")</span>Always (100%):X

 

Often (51-99%):

 

Sporadic (20-50%):

 

Very Sporadic (<20%):</td>Hardware (HW)Brand and Model of the system.Clevo P170SM-AHybrid or switchable graphics system?

 

ie Does it have AMD or NV graphics too?Hybrid, based on Nvidia OptimusMake and model of any Displays that are used to see the issue (see note2 below).  LFP = Local Flat Panel (Laptop panel)

 

EFP = External Flat Panel (Monitor you plug in)

LFP : 17.3" (43.94cm) FHD (1920 * 1080) 16:9 Backlit Panel

(SSU scan file attached)

How much memory [RAM] in the system (see note2 below).

16 GB

(SSU scan file attached)

Provide any other hardware needed to replicate the issue.

 

ie: Cables&brand, cable type [vga, hdmi, DP, etc], dock, dongles/adapters, etcLikely, an Optimus-based system with an Intel iGPU having 1920x1080@40 and 1920x1080@60 display modes is enough.Hardware Stepping (see note1 below).

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0416&SUBSYS_74811558&REV_06

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0416&SUBSYS_74811558

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0416&CC_030000

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0416&CC_0300

(screenshot attached, as asked in note 1)

Software (SW)Operating System version (see note2 below).<td style="border: 0px solid black; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-b...
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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hello NovHak:

 

 

No problem at all, thank you very much for that information, it will be very helpful for us to be able to replicate the issue.

 

 

In the mean time, please try the following driver, it is version 4501 the latest for the graphics controller of the processor:

 

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26229/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-10-15-40-4th-Gen-?product=81496 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26229/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-10-15-40-4th-Gen-?product=81496

 

 

Have you try a BIOS update on the laptop?

 

 

I tried to look for the BIOS files and graphics drivers for this laptop but I did not find a site for it.

 

 

Did you try to get in contact with Clevo about this problem?

 

 

http://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_contact.asp?lang=en http://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_contact.asp?lang=en

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hi Alberto,

This is not a hardware issue, I mean I won't ask Clevo to replace my laptop screen with one that explicitly rejects 40 Hz modes.

Concerning a BIOS update, flashing one's BIOS is usually the best way to get more problems than beforehand, I won't do that lightly... if there was a BIOS update available that is, which is not the case on Clevo's website (drivers and possible BIOS updates can be checked for in Services => Downloads). Anyway, the website only contains long outdated graphics drivers.

That being said, this is not even a BIOS issue, managing authorised display modes is pertaining to the main display driver. I'm going to update my Intel Graphics driver and come back here but let's face it, unless Intel actively addressed the issue, which the changelog didn't say anything about, I won't bet on the success of this operation...

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RonaldM_Intel
Moderator
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Hello NovHak,

I would like to chime in here if that's ok.

According to the info you have provided, the laptop is equipped with the Nvidia GTX 880M. I would suggest making sure that both Crysis Warhead and Crysis Wars are running on this video card. This can be done within the Nvidia* Graphics Control Panel.

I read online and some other users have been encountering a similar issue (e.g. both games using a lower refresh rate, like 24hz). Examples:

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/pc-mac-linux-society-1000004/how-do-i-set-the-refresh-rate-for-crysis-27592458/ http://www.gamespot.com/forums/pc-mac-linux-society-1000004/how-do-i-set-the-refresh-rate-for-crysis-27592458/ http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=362913 http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=362913

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=362913 Crysis & Crysis Warhead 24Hz Problem... - Guru3D.com Forums

Most users in those threads mention that using a custom resolution (within the Nvidia* control panel) fixes the issue for them. Other suggest a simpler test, which is hitting Alt + Enter 2 or 3 times.

I'll suggest giving that a shot and let us know how it works.

Regards,

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hello NovHak:

 

 

Thank you very much to Ronald for the information posted previously.

 

 

To:

 

 

I just wanted to let you know that all the recommendations posted above are just suggestions or possible options to try to fix the problem.

 

 

When we recommend to check with Clevo directly, is just to verify with them if they have a workaround or a possible fix for this problem, not to replace the laptop, I just wanted to clarify that and I apologize if my comments were misunderstood.

 

 

Please let us know the results of the suggestions posted by Ronald.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hi Ronald, you're welcome to participate !

Yes of course, the games run on the Nvidia GPU, I can see it from the Nvidia control panel and Nvidia Inspector as well, that shows a clear increase in dGPU activity. Having almost everything maxed out, running on the iGPU would certainly make for a terribly laggy game !

I tried alt-enter and custom resolution already.

Some people say the alt-enter trick only works with Crysis.

On the subject of custom resolution, the Intel CUI is too rigid, every try at a resolution that doesn't exist already is either rejected or rounded up/down to an already existing resolution. Eventually it's possible if I use the underscan percentage slider, but anyway, while I clearly specify a 60 Hz refresh rate, it creates its 40 Hz counterpart as well and guess what ? The game uses the 40 Hz one, of course...

In case I'm not clear enough I'll give a precise example of what I tried : input : 1920x1080@60, underscan : 50%, resulting mode : 1824x1026@60, but 1824x1026@40 created behind the scenes as well.

I've read somewhere that 40 Hz modes are used by Intel for power saving purposes, i.e. switching to 40 Hz when on battery power. I disabled every power saving feature on the CUI in the hope the 40 Hz modes would be removed, but that didn't work.

@Alberto : That's fine, no harm done !

My theory on this problem is that some games choose the first display mode that shows up for a given resolution, no matter the refresh rate. It's fine for desktop users since the first mode that comes up has the nominal refresh rate, but since the Intel HD Graphics driver adds a 40 Hz counterpart to every mode for power saving purposes, all laptop users using the Intel GPU as their display manager will encounter this problem with these games.

EDIT : Forgot to say, but I had updated to the latest 4600 drivers before posting this.

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RonaldM_Intel
Moderator
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Hi again NovHak,

To expand on your comment about the Intel CUI custom resolution, this is being addressed as we speak. A new driver is in the works that should correct the issue most people get (e.g. "custom resolution exceeds the maximum bandwidth"). All updates on this topic are posted here:

Even with the Intel CUI custom resolution working correctly, I'm still intrigued by the Crysis Warhead* behavior you reported. Mainly because I was under the impression that because the game was running on the Nvidia* GPU, the custom resolution workaround would have to be done within the Nvidia* Graphics CUI. I hate guessing, so let me test this game with a Laptop I have here that features both discrete and integrated graphics (hybrid graphics).

My test won't be apples to apples since this laptop has Intel(R) HD Graphics 530 + Nvidia* GTX 970M, but at least would let me see if I can come up with another workaround.

I'll try to get some results in a week.

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hello:

 

 

Thank you very much once again to Ronald for the comments above.

 

 

To NovHak:

 

 

Thank you very much for providing all those details about this matter.

 

At this point the best thing to do will be to wait for the results from Ronald to find out if there is a possible solution for this issue.

 

 

Regards

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

At this point the best thing to do will be to wait for the results from Ronald to find out if there is a possible solution for this issue.

Indeed.

However, if I may add something, you won't be able to create a custom resolution from the Nvidia CUI in a hybrid graphics configuration where it doesn't manage the display. It's the display manager (I don't know if the term is correct but that's how I call it) that does it, i.e. the Intel GPU. Though now that I'm saying this, I suppose Nvidia could still allow to define custom display modes that would be considered by Intel as "implicit underscan" relative to another mode in Intel's list and treated as such. Maybe there's even a way to limit the available display modes on Nvidia's side with the current drivers by some registry editing, but I have yet to find this.

Additionally, I'm aware of the "custom resolution not working" thread, but it likely would not solve this problem, since the driver would probably still create an additional 40 Hz mode.

Anyway, thanks for your involvement, and I'm hoping the best from this

EDIT : I just found about this interesting registry key that contains configuration data for each and every graphics adapter on the system : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}

0000 for the first display, 0001, etc. In my case 0000 is the Intel GPU. There are a number of potentially interesting parameters here referring to DTDs, modes, refresh rates, nothing explicit enough about 40 Hz modes, but I thought that would be work mentioning to someone who has access to Intel documentation...

EDIT (again) : Do you have some information about the FeatureTestControl registry value ? From what I've read here and there, it's used to lock some features, among which possibly some refresh rates. However, it's undocumented. I'm not keen on fiddling with no more information as I don't want to lock important features or worse, damage my hardware when I unlock a feature that should stay locked.

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hello NovHak:

 

 

Thank you very much for letting us know that information.

 

 

In regard to your question, I did some research on the Feature Test Control registry value and basically what I found is that it is related to the brightness feature normally in laptops.

 

 

So, before you try any changes on the laptop in regard to this feature, we recommend to check with Clevo first and also with Microsoft, in order to find out what will be the impact on the laptop if you change that value and under which scenarios will be helpful to do that.

 

 

From our side, right now what we can recommend is to wait for the possible release on a new driver that as Ronald_Intel mentioned before, might be a possible fox for this problem.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
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Hi Alberto,

In regard to your question, I did some research on the Feature Test Control registry value and basically what I found is that it is related to the brightness feature normally in laptops.

Yes, that's what comes first on Google, but information from Intel documentation would be most interesting here. Is Intel locking its documentation away from its own support ? Tbh, that would not surprise me any more...

The FeatureTestControl value does not limit to brightness issues. Eventually, it looks like it controls power consumption-related features on any given Intel GPU. Afaik, it's completely Intel-specific (Nvidia and AMD GPUs don't have such a parameter). I checked my driver's inf file, and the value depends only on the Intel GPU hardware stepping (given previously in the chart as requested). Here's the INF section that applies to my device :

[PwrCons_HSW_AddSwSettings]

HKR,, FeatureTestControl,%REG_DWORD%, 0xC200 ; Enable FBC, BLC, DPST, ALS, DRRS, RS, BLC DDI, Turbo, CxSR, PSR, DFPS, ADT

It could be interesting to know what FBC, BLC, DPST, ALS, DRRS, RS, BLC DDI, Turbo, CxSR, PSR, DFPS and ADT mean and to what bit each is affected.

Anyway, from what I've managed to gather, it seems that setting a bit to 1 disables the associated feature, and setting the value to 0xFFFF disables all features. I finally decided to try that on my system, changed the value to 0xFFFF and rebooted. I noticed some power-saving options disappeared from the CUI, but the 40 Hz modes were still there and the game still switched to 40 Hz, so finally it looks like FeatureTestControl doesn't help solve the problem. However, having no access to any documentation in that respect, I may be missing something. And btw, I've set the value back to its default of 0xC200.

Now I hope Ronald will come back with his own test results ! I would prefer some more info before I try to fiddle with other values, such as the DTD_n ones for example.

Concerning a possible fix in a new driver, I'm afraid it won't solve the problem, because even if it's fully possible to add custom resolutions, the driver will likely still add a 40 Hz mode each time, as I witnessed when I used the underscan percentage slider, a few posts ago.

Best regards !

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RonaldM_Intel
Moderator
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Hello NovHak,

I have some interesting test results.

I used three different setups:

- Laptop with hybrid graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 530 + Nvidia GTX 970M*

- Intel® NUC NUC6i5SYH with Intel® Iris™ Graphics 540.

- Desktop using 2 Nvidia GTX 980ti* in SLI and no integrated graphics.

I was able to reproduce the issue in all three systems. I am currently reviewing the DispDiag.dat information I got from all three.

My preliminary analysis shows that the drivers are not changing to 40hz mode, but rather it is the way the game implements vSync (suggesting this as a bug with the game code). By the way, disabling vSync eliminates the issue and the game is able to reach higher FPS in all test setups.

I'll run this with our developers to determine if there is something we can do from the drivers side, but so far it looks that this falls within the game code itself.

I'll send you some additional information via Private Message.

Regards,

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idata
Employee
7,810 Views

Hello:

 

 

Thank you very much to Ronald_Intel for the information provided previously.

 

 

To NovHak:

 

 

I hope the information above was helpful for you and disabling vSync seems to be a pretty good work around for this scenario.

 

 

Also, hopefully the material that Ronald_Intel will send you on the private message will further assist you with this matter.

 

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

 

Alberto

 

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idata
Employee
7,109 Views

Hi Ronald,

Thanks for your reply.

I'm highly surprised that the same issue arises on an Nvidia only system and that the display mode would not be the cause. This is inconsistent with a common problem with the game, where people trying to play it on TV screens advertising 24 Hz capability were running the game at 24 FPS, while people running it on desktop screens usually have no such problems (i.e. 60 FPS). I don't have a desktop computer handy, but I asked a friend to test and tell me how many FPS he gets. I mean, if everybody was running the game vsynched at 40 FPS max, this would have been too serious an issue for Crytek not to address it. They would even have noticed the problem themselves before it reaches RTM status...

Disabling vsync is not an option, since FPS would skyrocket indeed, CPU usage too, uselessly so, and with awful image tearing results. vsync exists for a reason...

I tried disabling vsync and limiting the FPS to 60 even before starting this thread, but there was still bad screen tearing which makes me think the 60 FPS cap is not a multiple of the refresh rate, which tends to confirm the 40 Hz mode theory.

And if it was not for the display mode, why does the game run windowed at 60 FPS ?

That's why I find your results really intriguing. I'm going to look at your video soon and come back here !

EDIT : I just looked at your test video. You're saying that FPS is capped at 30, while it's eventually capped at 24. It's likely the infamous 24 Hz problem I mentioned at the beginning of this post, which confirms it's related to display modes, otherwise why would you be capped at 24 while I'm capped at 40 ? Your screen must be advertising a 24 Hz refresh capability, like TV sets do. I suppose if you look at the available display modes (Settings => Display => Advanced display parameters => Display adapter properties => List all modes) you're going to have 24 Hz modes in the list.

This 24 Hz problem is not exactly the same as the 40 Hz problem, since it's the Intel driver that adds the 40 Hz modes forcibly while the 24 Hz mode is added because it's advertised by the monitor. The 24 Hz problem can be solved by adding a custom resolution, which Nvidia(*note 1) has been permitting for a long time now. The 40 Hz problem can't be solved this way because no matter what custom resolution is chosen, the Intel driver automatically adds an additional 40 Hz equivalent.

I'm realising that there may be far more games having this problem than just the Crysis ones. As I said I'm suspecting Project Zomboid but that's not much of an issue here, however it's sad that some laptop users will get "not so good" results with a game and think it's just their hardware that can't handle it, while they could get an additional 20 FPS !

It seems to me a good solution to this would be for the user to be able to limit the display modes available. Being able to disable the Intel driver automatically adding 40 Hz modes would be a good start.

Regards,

*note 1 : Even in cases where it works, I don't consider the custom resolution solution is a good one. After all it's a trick to make sure the appropriate refresh rate is selected by creating a resolution with this refresh rate only. Being able to restrict the refresh rates available would be a cleaner solution.

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