[iGPU] Clarkdale iGPU defective?

[tabascosauz]

Please bear with me; there's this office PC that I'm struggling to keep alive. It's from the Lynnfield/Clarkdale era. This was the original kit:

i5-760
P7H55-M Pro
4GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (2x2GB)
Barracuda 7200.12 500GB (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395)
EVGA 8400 GS PCI (not PCIe), rev. 2 based on G98

I first thought about replacing the graphics card, because this 8400 GS is an abomination. It causes tremendous lag in the visual aspects of Win 7, and continues to do so in Win 10. I've tried all suggestions, including checking process explorer for a program that is overusing the GPU, to no avail. New Geforce drivers, old Geforce drivers, same thing. It's just bad.

I had a i5-650 lying around from a disassembled old build, so I elected to do a CPU swap. The i5-650 had been in a build with a P7P55D-E LX and a GT 610. I've always been unsure as to why the builder of the system opted for a GT 610 when the i5-650 clearly had HD Graphics on die.

The CPU swap was uneventful.

1. Then, when I went to boot it up, I was greeted by a black screen. Perhaps the iGPU is disabled by default in the BIOS, since the i5-760 has no iGPU, I thought. So I went into the BIOS and turned it on as the primary adapter.

2. Next boot, all was good until the Windows logo of Win 10. All of a sudden, there were artifacts all over the screen, manifesting as horizontal lines. It did not go past the Win 10 logo, so I shut it down.

3. The next 3 boots were completely unsuccessful, I'm not sure if it even POSTed. No video from the iGPU. 8400 GS was not in yet.

4. So I put the 8400 GS back in. To my surprise, it allowed me to boot, although Windows did give me a message saying that the last boots were unsuccessful. Nothing happened to the HDD or the Win 10 installation, it worked just fine.

5. So I decided to see if I could install the HD Graphics driver. The installer informed me that nothing in my system was compatible. I looked in device manager and was surprised to see Intel HD Graphics was under Display Adapters with the 8400 GS; however, a closer examination revealed that Windows apparently thought that the device was broken/problematic so it disabled the iGPU.

6. Going back into the BIOS and setting the iGPU to primary display adapter, unsurprisingly, gave a complete black screen. This also meant that I basically couldn't access the BIOS either, because the Clarkdale iGPU was apparently non-functional but the 8400 GS wasn't the primary display adapter. On the other hand, if I plugged a D-sub into the motherboard (thus connecting the iGPU), I could access the BIOS and there was clearly display output as I could see the POST screen and the BIOS screens, all from the iGPU. The 8400 GS was not connected to the display at this time.

7. As the system clearly established that I could not boot into Windows with the Clarkdale iGPU, I resorted to using the super laggy 8400 GS instead. This time, device manager listed the iGPU as working, but every time I plugged in a D-sub into the iGPU, all video output from the 8400 GS (DVI) ceased. I would try to get something out of either one, but both D-sub and DVI would be black screens. Then, as soon as I unplugged the iGPU output, the 8400 GS came back online and put out a signal like nothing had ever happened.

Could the display outputs on the P7H55-M Pro (both of them, I've tried both the D-sub and DVI on the board) be non-functional, or is it the i5-650's iGPU that's defective? I've only used this PC for about a year, so I have no idea if any thermal damage had been done to the CPU before then. I don't have any other boards to test on, as the P7H55-M Pro and the P7P55D-E LX (formerly) were the only two LGA1156 boards in the office, the rest being LGA775 and LGA1150. If it is indeed the board's problem, then Asus' reputation isn't looking too good in my book; the P7P55D-E LX is technically defective already, since all Win 7 installations produce a black screen after a few minutes of idle time, from which the OS cannot recover.

Perhaps the i5-650's iGPU had been known to be defective for a long time, so the original builder threw in the GT 610 just so the PC would work?Scratch that, the P7P55D-E LX with which the i5-650 was originall paired did not have iGPU video output at all.

 

[Assimilator]

My first recommendation would be to ensure that the BIOS is up-to-date. If that doesn't fix things:

Remove everything from the board except the CPU, 1 stick of RAM, and a blank hard drive.
Get a known good Windows install disk/flash drive and install Windows onto the hard drive.
If this fails, swap the RAM out for a known good stick.
If this now works, you know the RAM is the issue.

On the other hand, if you get Windows installed and it works properly with 1 stick, insert the other RAM stick and test again.
If it still works, the Windows 10 install is FUBAR'd.
If it doesn't work, one or both of your RAM sticks is FUBAR'd.

 

[tabascosauz]

My first recommendation would be to ensure that the BIOS is up-to-date. If that doesn't fix things:

Remove everything from the board except the CPU, 1 stick of RAM, and a blank hard drive.
Get a known good Windows install disk/flash drive and install Windows onto the hard drive.
If this fails, swap the RAM out for a known good stick.
If this now works, you know the RAM is the issue.

On the other hand, if you get Windows installed and it works properly with 1 stick, insert the other RAM stick and test again.
If it still works, the Windows 10 install is FUBAR'd.
If it doesn't work, one or both of your RAM sticks is FUBAR'd.

I'm a little hesitant to test by installing Windows onto my own drive because this computer has some important data and I only have a 120GB Fury SSD that I can spare. However, I will definitely look for a BIOS update and run memtest off of my USB. Strange that a BIOS update could be the answer since Lynnfield was actually released half a year after Clarkdale. Anyways, I'll give it a shot. Memory had never exhibited any problems before and the drive doesn't have any bad smart data.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

A bios Update does look like a possible fix , I have had two cases of Msi 1156 with a i3-530 and a msi 1155 motherboard giving issues since bought .
Motherboard would boot up and boot perfect, but if restart will got into a sleep mode and will not recover till pc unplugged .

Motherboard was sent back to supplier - updated bios , sorted out .
After a year or so had similar issue but bios update resolved issue,but on a 1150 chipset

Make sure the contact on the ram a gpu are clean - Use a rubber/eraser and rub the contact point will make then nice and shiny/clean
motherboard can display line if ram making bad contact (as i did experienced at client yesterday again ,dirty ram contacts)

Memtest is always a quick and easy

 

[OneMoar]

see if there is a "igpu multi monitor" option in the bios
its not impossible to kill a on-die gpu but It is exceedingly difficult to do without rendering the cpu its self inoperable
that being said artifacts during boot-up are usually a sign that the gpu core has HAD IT
could be a problem with the board (bad socket,D-sub or bad DAC)
you could also try re-seating the cpu and inspecting the pins for damage or misalignment

 

[tabascosauz]

see if there is a "igpu multi monitor" option in the bios
its not impossible to kill a on-die gpu but It is exceedingly difficult to do without rendering the cpu its self inoperable
that being said artifacts during boot-up are usually a sign that the gpu core has HAD IT
could be a problem with the board (bad socket,D-sub or bad DAC)
you could also try re-seating the cpu and inspecting the pins for damage or misalignment

I've reseated the CPU and taken a look at the socket. Doesn't appear to be any damage.

It looks like either the iGPU or board is broken. More likely the latter because the 650 has been paired with a HD 5770 then a GT 610 for its entire life and never done any video output.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

And the bios update? Highly Recommended x2

 

[OneMoar]

And the bios update? Highly Recommended x2

non-sense doing a bios update simply for the sake of doing a bios update is stupid ....

 

[tabascosauz]

Just made the update to bios 1709, and as expected, nothing changed. I guess either the CPU or the board is on its last legs (since, the heat that may have broken the iGPU will inevitably have affected the CPU as well). Whatever. This rig was so poorly built and maintained that I'm just happy it might go any day now and return both the 650 and 760 to my collection (all stuff is in a NAS so it dying isn't more than a small inconvenience). It's got a generic PSU, a really bad case, an incredibly slow 7200.12 that is probably dying too despite not showing SMART errors, and it was used with complete disregard for its well-being. When I reseated the stock cooler, there were mounds of dust, and it was the first time I've ever seen cobwebs inside of a PC. None of the LGA775 PCs or even the SECC1 PC at the office are this dirty.

 

[natr0n]

Just made the update to bios 1709, and as expected, nothing changed. I guess either the CPU or the board is on its last legs (since, the heat that may have broken the iGPU will inevitably have affected the CPU as well). Whatever. This rig was so poorly built and maintained that I'm just happy it might go any day now and return both the 650 and 760 to my collection (all stuff is in a NAS so it dying isn't more than a small inconvenience). It's got a generic PSU, a really bad case, an incredibly slow 7200.12 that is probably dying too despite not showing SMART errors, and it was used with complete disregard for its well-being. When I reseated the stock cooler, there were mounds of dust, and it was the first time I've ever seen cobwebs inside of a PC. None of the LGA775 PCs or even the SECC1 PC at the office are this dirty.

we love pics of dirty computers