New i3 2100 can't load windows (fresh install) with latest intel GMA driver

[idata]

I recently just put together a new system with a:

core i3 2100

Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 motherboard,

OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD (also tried OCZ Vertex 30gb SSD)

Memory Corsair: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 CL8(8-8-8-24)

(nothing else attached)

Using:

Windows 7 64 bit Home premium

BIOS: Upgraded to latest bios (using QFlash), BIOS version F9 dated 2011/07/26

Connected to monitor (Dell 2001FP) via DVI

After a fresh install of Windows I installed the latest Intel drivers 15.22.1.64.2361 (8.15.10.2361) (the only other driver installed was the realtek ethernet driver).

Rebooting after installing the driver I would get to the starting windows screen for a bit then it would turn black and sit there for a bit before crashing.

Going into Windows Safe mode an uninstalling the driver so it goes back to the Standard VGA adapator driver means I can go back into windows.

This happens every time I try to install the driver or try the version that came on the motherboard CD with windows, or with the driver version that appears through windows update.

I've also tried different fresh installs of windows on different SSD's, see above.

Also tried various BIOS settings, including fail safe and optimised with no luck.

Any ideas what's going wrong? I'm worried I have a dead graphics part of the CPU as per this thread here: (http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2172165 http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2172165). Hopefully not,but would love to here if anyone has suggestions on how to fix it.

[idata]

Hmmm this person seems to have a similar problem, although seems to get it to work via VGA (I haven't tried that yet):

/message/134982# 134982 http://communities.intel.com/message/134982# 134982

[idata]

I tried VGA and it got slightly further but not much luck. It now gets to the windows screen just before getting to the desktop (ie past the low res windows startup animation) but then keeps going to BSOD with errors:

0x000000F4

FFF800037D68BK (may have got the last letter wrong).

[idata]

Also tried this latest driver: 8.15.10.2462

from here:

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?lang=deu&changeLang=true&DwnldID=20282 http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?lang=deu&changeLang=true&DwnldID=20282

No luck it crashes after welcome screen, just gets to the desktop and crashes while presumably loading drivers.

Also tried an older driver: 15.21.10.2291

but no luck (was mentioned in another thread to solve problems)

Also rechecked on these drivers with various bios options , safe, optimised etc... but no luck.

Still not happening no matter what I try. Suspecting the chip is dead, will try it with another board.

[idata]

Tried the CPU on a fresh system, Zotac H67 itx board, with different ram and using a fresh install of windows on a hard drive this time.

Same issues as before, don't even get to windows welcome screen this time no matter what driver I try.

Returning the CPU as it looks like the graphics core is dead.

[idata]

Have you tried updating Windows to SP1, before installing the Intel drivers?

I just build a new system, based on a Asrock H67M-GE motherboard and a Intel i3 2100 CPU. Installed Windows 7 64bit and the intel INF drivers and all was well well until I installed the Intel video drivers. The drivers installed OK, but on restart, Windows immediately gave me a blue screen. Couldnt start at all except in safe mode. After removing the drivers windows started fine. I have tried several driver versions, updated the motherboard bios from 1.40 to 1.60 and back), swapped RAM, but the problem was persistent. As soon as I installed the Intel video drivers, the system would BSOD' after restarting windows.

I´ve tested the system with Prime95 (blend, some RAM testing) for three hours without any problems. I put in a PCI-e graphics card for the time being. later I installed the Intel video drivers again (while still using the extra video card). Immediately windows crashed with a IRQ_NOT_LESS... error message.

I have tried a number of drivers and don't know all versions, but at least the following three:

- 8.15.10.2361, latest from intel website

- 8.15.10.2291, supplied by Asrock and also found on the Intel website

- 8.15.10.2462, recommended on a forum somewhere, can be downloaded from intel but strangely doesn't show up on the regular download page.

On a forum somewhere (could be this forum) I read something about updating Windows to SP1 first, before installing the Intel Video drivers. Lo and behold, that seemed to have solved the problem. Mind you, after four frustrating days I am still trying to find if it holds up.

I do hope that Intel will look into this. It has cost me a lot of time, frustration and worry.

Allard.

[idata]

Thanks for the reply but had been using a usb stick with SP1 pre-loaded (to make the install quicker), so SP1 was already installed. I also tested from the normal windows 7 64bit dvd which is without SP1. No luck there either.

A new i3 2100 arrived this morning and very frustratingly that didn't work either.

Now I essentially have 2 systems which don't work which I test in the same case and have identical problems.

1 is

Zotac H67 ITX based system using a hard drive

the other is the gigabyte ssd based system (as mentioned above). I have tried them with different ram sticks too with no effect.

Can anyone actually get these i3 chips to work, or are you all using discrete graphics?

Surely I can't have 2 dead chips?

Does anyone from intel actually look at these threads? Would love some help if you do, thanks.

[idata]

Too bad the windows Servicepack didn't solve your problem. In my situation it was the one thing that made it work, every other thing I tried didn´t do a thing to solve the problem.

It is unlikely you have received a 2nd bad chip. Since you have tested two different motherboards, different harddrives and memory the only thing left is the powersupply. My experience is that a bad powersupply can cause lots of vague problems, so I would check at least that.

If you can´t get it to work otherwise, i recommend to use a graphics card, at least for the time being. That´s what I did and in the end I got the drivers working. Try and install all Windows updates before you install the Intel drivers. I am using the 8.15.10.2462 drivers.

It would be nice to hear from an Intel tech, at least some confirmation that this is being looked into. Installing video drivers shouldn´t be this tricky.

I wish you good luck getting it to work. If it gets too frustrating, put in a dedicated graphics card and forget about it for a few days until you feel lucky enough to try again.

[idata]

Thanks unfortunately a different power supply didn't help either

This build was meant to be a lower power server so not keen on putting in a discrete graphics card. Thats not exactly getting what you pay for by not using the build in graphics capability of sandy bridge, which was the whole point of buying it.

Still no response from Intel ..........

[ROBERT_U_Intel]

Thanks all for posting your results with testing on this issue. We will be building a system with an i3 2100 and verifying the issue in our lab.

[idata]

Thanks for you response please let me know if you need any more details to help track down the issue.

[idata]

Having very similar problem. I bought an i3 2100 and asus P8H67-M LE not 2 days ago from Compusa. Graphics driver will appear to install but Windows 7 (x64) refuses to see it and says that there are not enough system recources for it to function. Have tried all of the various settings and so on that everyone else has I was just mainly posting this to let Intel know yet another frustrated customer. I built this system for the low heat and power consumption for a HTPC type build. I dont need a radeon 4670 in there putting out 50 - 60 degree celcuis heat waves.

[ROBERT_U_Intel]

Folks,, we are having a difficult time replicating the issue in our lab. We are using a Core i3 2100 on a Intel H67 based motherboard and find no issues.

We are continuing to investigate this issue and will keep you informed of our progress.

[idata]

Perhaps it's a problem with the GPU core and the Z68 chipset. I've read someone was able to RMA their CPUs 3 times before getting one that worked, while nothing else was changed. This suggests it could be the GPU core.

Several people also stated they were able to circumvent the problem by installing a discrete video card, but this is not a real solution.

It's starting to point to either a bad batch of GPU cores or compatibility issues with the Z68 chipset, especially since in the above example of "3rd times a charm".

I didn't have that luxury of time, so I returned everything (mobo, CPU, and memory). Pitty - during the entire ordeal, I measured a low of 38 W and a high of 100 W - would have been an awesome Windows Media Center/file server (which would replace my current 2 PCs serving those seperate functions).

Edit: forgot to mention I had the Core i5 2500K - 38W-50W idle is very nice for this kind of power!

[ROBERT_U_Intel]

If someone could try the following it would be very helpful information.

1. Be sure your motherboard has the latest systm BIOS from the board manufacturer.

2. After the installation of Windows 7, run Windows update until no more updates are available. However, do not instal the graphics driver update,, un-check it from the list of updates.

3. At this point, try to install the latest graphics driver from the http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Graphics&ProductLine=Processor+graphics&ProductProduct=2nd+Generation+Intel%c2%ae+Core%e2%84%a2+Processors+with+Intel%c2%ae+HD+Graphics+3000/2000&ProdId=3319&LineId=3310&FamilyId=39 Intel Download Center.

Thanks in advance.

.

[idata]

Thanks for your replies.

Bear in mind I'm having the same issues across 2 different chipsets Z68 and H67.

I have tried with all updates installed and those drivers as well as without all the updates. But will try it out in the exact order you mentioned. Both boards upto date with latest Bios as mentioned above.

Will report back once I've done more testing. But I can't see how there can be an issue across 2 different chipsets. It seems likely that I 2 faulty processors.

[idata]

Followed your instructions exactly. No luck on the Zotac H67 itx system. Still exactly the same issue. Used the 64 bit drivers in the link you posted.

Run out of time this evening will post more later but would be good if you could let me know you thoughts on whether it is likely that both i3 chips likely have hardware faults.

Thanks.

[idata]

A few more details on the above:

I reset the Zotac H67 ITX board to bios defaults. Then using a OCZ vertex SSD 30GB installed windows 7 64 bit. Once installed I installed no other drivers, did windows update as described in your post and unticked intel driver update. After updates applied and restarted. This installed the win 7 64bit version of the driver you mentioned.

Then after reboot the low res animated windows logo loads fine but then the screen goes black (no signal) and after a few minutes resets. (Going back into windows safe mode an uninstalling that driver means I can load windows normally again).

Any suggestions or will arrange to return both processors tomorrow as these look to be dead.

System tested is:

Mobo: Zotac H67ITX-C-E H67 1155 Socket

BIOS: June 2011 Bios (In Bios settings this comes up as American Megatrends Core:4.6.4.0 , Project version A16CP 0.28 x64)CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz Socket 1155 3MB L3 Cache RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 XMS3 i5 Memory Kit CL8(8-8-8-24) 1.65V

Storage: OCZ Vertex 2 120GB (with latest firmware 1.33) , Also tried using OCZ vertex 30gb SSD

Vid: Sandy bridge inbuilt Intel HD 2000 PSU: Modu 82+ (also tried Corsair 800W)Chipset: H67 OS: Windows 7 64 bit (but not yet installed)

[idata]

As I said earlier, I got the drivers installed in the end, but I have to say that apart from installing SP1 there is 1 other thing different. In the interest of someone reproducing the problem I will explain more clearly what I have tried and when it started working.

When I first tried to install the drivers (and failed) I had two monitors connected, one on the DVI connector, the other on HDMI with an DVI adapter.

In that scenario, I tried to install the drivers before installing all Win7 updates (some updates, but not SP1). I tried several drivers, not one worked.

I also tried the latest BIOS (Asrock H67M-GE motherboard, bios 1.60) to no avail.

When I got tired trying, I just plugged in a seperate video card and used that for a day. I also reversed to my original BIOS (v 1.40).

After that I decided to try again, so I enabled the Onboard graphics in the BIOS (which is normally switched of when a seperate VGA card is detected) and installed the drivers while still using the dedicated video card.

Again, installation failed. After that, I updated Windows 7 to SP1 and installed the driver again. This time, I didn't get a blue screen and the PC rebooted fine.

Then I removed the second card, connected the two monitors to the DVI and VGA connector and the system again booted fine. In the end, what's different is that I updated Windows 7 to SP1 and my monitors are connected through DVI & VGA instead of DVI & HDMI.

I sincerely hope that the problem can be reproduced, and solved. First, if SP1 is a requirement it would be a good thing to mention it clearly when installing or downloading the drivers. Since a number of people seem to still have problems even after installing SP1 I suspect the problem is a bit more complicated than that.

[idata]

I think we have different issues. I'm only plugged in to a single monitor (and have tested different monitors one at a time with different connections) and SP1 has no impact unfortunately.

[idata]

ordered an I5 2300, returning the others. will see what happens.