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Age of Empires 3 - flickering / tearing with latest HD4600 driver

JWype
Beginner
6,984 Views

Hi

PC is running Windows 10 with the latest Fall Creators Update (1709). I hadn't used Age of Empires III Asian Dynasties expansion on it for a few months, but when I did last night there was significant tearing and flickering on the game's menu screens (the video clip that preceded the game was fine). No other applications have presented any problems recently.

Strangely enough both expansion packs (Asian Dynasties / War Chiefs) had disappeared from my start menu and Cortana search didn't find them. The programs were still installed, I just had to go grubbing around in the Program Files (x86) folder to find them. The original Age of Empires III game was still present. I have no idea if this is related or not but thought I should mention it (I've never seen this happen before in 25 years of using Windows).

Checking in Device Manager my card is an Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600, Driver provider Intel Corporation, Date 16/10/2017 and version 20.19.15.4835.

I rolled back my driver to an earlier version (sometime in late 2016) and everything was fine again. So my immediate problem is fixed but there's clearly an issue with the latest version of the driver. Is there any way I can provide more detailed diagnostic information to help get this resolved with the next driver update?

Thanks

James

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13 Replies
idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hi JamesWyper,

 

 

I understand you have run Windows® updates to the latest Falls Creators and the latest graphics drivers version 4835 and the game Age of Empires 3 flickers after the updates.

 

 

I am sorry for the inconvenience, let me help you on this matter.

 

 

I would like to report this issue but I will need the following details to be filled out.

 

Please go to this link /thread/77761 https://communities.intel.com/thread/77761 and send the information as complete as possible.

 

 

Thank you for your time

 

Allan J.
JWype
Beginner
3,189 Views

Category

Questions

Answers (N/A if not applicable)

Description

Provide a detailed description of the issue

Screen shows flickering and tearing when Microsoft Age Of Empires III Asian Dynasties Expansion pack runs

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")<p> 

Always (100%): X

Often (51-99%):

Sporadic (20-50%):

Very Sporadic (<20%):

Hardware (HW)

Brand and Model of the system.

Zoostorm 7877-0431

Hybrid or switchable graphics system?

 

ie Does it have AMD or NV graphics too?

No

Make and model of any Displays that are used to see the issue (see note2 below). 

LFP = Local Flat Panel (Laptop panel)

 

<strong style="font-...
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JWype
Beginner
3,189 Views

Didn't have the option to add an attachment in my previous post but it's appeared now. Let me know if you need anything else, in the meantime I'll roll the driver back again.

Thanks

James

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idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hi JamesWyper,

 

 

Thank you for the report and the attachments. I appreciate it.

 

 

I am running a lab on this matter, as soon as I get more information I will update this post.

 

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

Allan J.
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idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hi JamesWyper,

 

 

Thank you for your patience. I am still trying to replicate this issue. I will update this post soon.

 

 

Allan J.
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idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hello JamesWyper,

 

 

Thank you for your patience,

 

 

We were able to reproduce the environment that you are in and we have found no problems when it comes to run the game with the Integrated Graphics HD Graphics 4600.

 

 

We tested the game with the following settings:
  1. Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit 1709 Build 16299
  2. Processor in the system: i7-4702HQ
  3. RAM in the system: 16GB.
  4. Graphics Driver: 20.19.15.4835
Now, the game that was tested was Age of Empires III, both the main game and the Asian Dynasties, "Steam" version. With the specifications mentioned above the game ran solid and no screen flickering or problems, solid frame rate as well.

 

 

I hope you find this information helpful.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

David V
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idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hello JamesWyper,

 

 

I am following-up with your case and I see that we have not heard back from you,

 

 

Is there anything else I can help you with?

 

 

Were you able to solve your issue?

 

 

 

Do not hesitate to reply to this e-mail for further help!

 

 

 

Regards,

 

David V
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JWype
Beginner
3,189 Views

Hi

As I mentioned in my original post the only "solution" I have is to roll back to an earlier driver.

Since you haven't been able to reproduce my problem I'm not sure what further action is possible. I do note that you used a different model of CPU to mine, and my game was an original CD copy not a Steam download. To the best of my knowledge the Steam version and the CD release (with all subsequent updates applied) are identical, and I appreciate it may not be practical for you to obtain a CD copy. However if you have the resources available to attempt to reproduce the issue on the same model CPU that I have that might show a difference...

Thanks

James

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idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hi JamesWyper,

 

 

Thank you for the information, I am going to forward this information to the appropriate department but please bear in mind that even though the processor might not be the same model and the what really matters are the graphics controller and the graphics drivers version.

 

 

Regards,

 

Allan J.
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JWype
Beginner
3,189 Views

The Spring 2018 update to Windows 10 pushed the driver back up to 20.19.15.4835 with no option to roll back. I tried updating to .4963 (the latest available) which still had the tearing issue.

However, looking at the graphics options in AoE3 again this evening I spotted that the Vsync option was switched off. Switching this on appears to have fixed the issue.

Allan J - this may be why you couldn't reproduce the issue on your kit. It might be instructive to see what's changed between the older and newer drivers that means this Vsync option has to be enabled.

Thanks

James

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idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hello JamesWyper

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

We are very glad to hear that to switching Vsync to off has fixed the issue.

 

Regarding on what has been fixed on the newer drivers in comparison to the old ones, you can check the release notes of the latest drivers here:

 

https://downloadmirror.intel.com/27780/eng/ReleaseNotes_15.40.38.4963.pdf https://downloadmirror.intel.com/27780/eng/ReleaseNotes_15.40.38.4963.pdf

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best regards.

 

Diego S.

 

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idata
Employee
3,189 Views

Hello JamesWyper

 

We just wanted to double check if you still need further assistance.

 

Please do not hesitate on contacting us back.

 

Best Regards,

 

Diego S.

 

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JWype
Beginner
3,189 Views

Hi. I don't need any further assistance with this issue, thanks. Hopefully anyone else with a similar problem will find the posts helpful.

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