"Recommended driver version is xx.xx.15.4251 or later"... but it IS! Intel UHD 730 graphics fail.

Notahooman2 — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 16:20:30 GMT

Brand new computer. Just unboxed 10 hours ago: Aspire TC-1760, x64, Windows 11 Home, 12th-gen Intel i5-12400, 6 core. Came with Intel Graphics UHD 730.

Transferred files and data, including game data, over from my son's old PC. Pretty sure I did it correctly. Placed all his Steam stuff in the correct folders, downloaded the game files on Steam, every game works fine (so far) except for Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2. Turns out, that's an EA game, which requires Origin, and after 4x re-installing the game after repeated set-up fail pop-ups, I think I finally got the EA files in the right place, the Origin folder in the right place, etc...

Then I clicked on the Steam desktop shortcut icon to open the game, and this time, I got a pop-up that read:

Detected Intel Driver version [...some # and a date from late 2021]. The recommended driver version is xx.xx.15.4251 or later. Please update your drivers at [...] before playing the game. Do you want to try and run the game anyway? There may be stability, performance, or visual corruption issues. [OK] [Cancel]

I clicked [Cancel]. Turns out there were like a dozen system updates the new computer needed, then after doing all that, I went to the Intel Driver & Support Assistant, and sure enough, there was an update for the graphics driver, which was a year out of date. NOW, I have driver version 31.0.101.3959, which is newly released as of just a few weeks ago (12/3/2022).

I re-booted, and tried again. I started up P/Z:GW2, but I still got the SAME error:

Detected Intel Driver version 31.0.101.3959 12/03/2022. The recommended driver version is xx.xx.15.4251 or later, Please update your drivers at [...] before playing the game. Do you want to try and run the game anyway? There may be stability, performance, or visual corruption issues. [OK] [Cancel]

Which MAKES NO SENSE, since the new driver is much more current than what the pop-up is asking for! So I clicked "OK" to see if the game would load. At least this time I did not get the error pop-up that said there was an error during set up and I'd need to re-install the game.

But the opening animation sequence to the game began, and I could not escape it or click out of it. The screen was completely non-responsive. At the end of the animation, it was just stuck there; I couldn't get the game to do anything, and I had to CTRL-ALT-DEL out of there. I thought something weird was happening, so I opened the Device Manager and went to the Display Adapters, clicked on the graphics driver, then on Intel(R) UHD Graphics 730, then Driver... I clicked on " Update Driver" and it said I was fully updated, do I clicked on Driver Details, not knowing what it might tell me, and it crashed (locked up, got a "Not Responding" in parentheses up top).

Brand new computer.

I ended up rolling the driver back, then re-updating it. Still no change - the game just won't work, and I get that same graphics driver pop-up every time now. Doesn't happen with any other game.

Any help REALLY needs to be ELI5 - I am not tech savvy, and this has been frustrating AF. It's > 11 pm now and I began this odyssey at lunchtime. Please help? I have an open case with EA, but they thus far have been useless in terms of support. This computer is for my kid. Thanks.

Re: "Recommended driver version is xx.xx.15.4251 or later"... but it IS! Intel UHD 730 gr

Stefan3D — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 09:06:10 GMT

Apparently the game does only compare the four-digit build numbers.

EA and/or their developer "Popcap" should read this article:

Understanding the Intel® Graphics Driver Version Number

topic Re: "Recommended driver version is xx.xx.15.4251 or later"... but it IS! Intel UHD 730 gr in Graphics

"Recommended driver version is xx.xx.15.4251 or later"... but it IS! Intel UHD 730 graphics fail.

Re: "Recommended driver version is xx.xx.15.4251 or later"... but it IS! Intel UHD 730 gr