Mouse lag/stuttering when using Iris Xe in Windows 11 (possibly only under no load for explorer.exe)

[UsernameHasBeenTaken]

Hi all! Recently I bought a Yoga Slim 7 ProX (aka Yoga Slim 7i) notebook with Iris Xe and Nvidia GPUs onboard. Overall I like its features and performance. But I faced with an annoying issue: when using Iris Xe GPU the mouse pointer lags/stutters in Windows 11 from time to time. By lagging/stuttering I mean the pointer moves with low FPS or at least lower FPS that the rest of the picture. So far I found the following: 1. The lag persists only if Iris Xe GPU is used. Everything runs smooth and nice with Nvidia GPU. 2. The lag won't appear while explorer.exe is doing something (e.x. performing file copy). Also, if the coping speed drops to zero the stuttering resumes. 3. The lag won't appear in Firefox or Chrome. 4. The issue exists with a wired mouse, a bluetooth mouse (tried 3 different devices) and the touchpad. 5. The issue persists no matter what screen refresh rate is set: 60 FPS, 120 FPS or Auto. 5. It turned out that the issue only affects the mouse pointer and has no effect on the application/OS performance. I.e. applications work fine, it is just mouse pointer is laggy from time to time. 6. I tried to capture the mouse pointer movement with Bandicam (screen recording software) but as long as I start the recording the mouse pointer stuttering immediately disappears no matter which codec or FPS setting (60/120) I choose. 7. All the updates are installed both in Windows update and Vantage app. The BIOS is also up to date. My attempts to fix the problem: 1. Driver update/reinstall doesn't fix the issue. I tried drivers from Lenovo support page, latest release and beta drivers from vendors. I used the DDU app to remove the drivers. 2. Reinstalling Windows doesn't fix the issue. I performed a clean install (formatted everything); right after installation (before connecting to the Internet or installing anything else) I installed Iris Xe drivers and Nvidia drivers. After that the issue reproduced itself. 3. Installing Windows beta version (v. 25314) doesn't fix the issue. 4. Mouse trails are turned off. 5. "Clean boot" doesn't fix the issue, but "Safe mode" does because it switches to Microsoft basic GPU driver, I think. 6. I have changed enormous number of system parameters and their combinations. No luck. I found a few "workarounds": 1. Use Linux. 2. Use Microsoft Basic driver, but loose brightness control. 3. Force explorer.exe to copy files (the slower - the better, otherwise you have to restart copy procedure again and again). To reproduce the issue: 1. Turn on Auto or Optimus mode in the Nvidia control panel settings. 2. Reboot the PC. 3. Open the Nvidia control panel. 4. Open any section except "Adjust image settings with preview", e.g. "Manage 3D settings" and move mouse on the white part of the right panel. Viola! The pointer stutters just like shown on the first row of the attached image. 5. Now open "Adjust image settings with preview" section and move mouse on the white part of the right panel. Observe the pointer moves smoothly just like shown on the second row of the attached image. Considering my "research" I am 100% sure it is a software bug related to (i/d)GPU drivers and/or Windows (explorer?). This lag really annoys me. Could anybody please help me to identify and fix it?

[Jean_Intel]

Hello UsernameHasBeenTaken,

Thank you for posting on the Intel️® communities.

To have a better understanding of your issue, please provide me with the following:

• Does the issue occur on other graphics drivers?
• Is the issue present when using an external display?
• Provide us with a video showing the issue behavior.
• We would like to gather more information about your system that will help us troubleshoot your issue, so please, provide us with a report using the Intel®️ System Support Utility (Intel®️ SSU):
  • Open the application and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. By default, Intel®️ SSU will take you to the "Summary View." 
  • Click on the menu where it says: "Summary" to change it to "Detailed View." 
  • To save your scan: click "Next"; then "Save." 

Best regards,

Jean O. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[UsernameHasBeenTaken]

Thank you very much for the reply! First of all I apologize for the initial post form formatting: I pasted it from the text editor and it didn’t go well (also I couldn’t edit and fix it).

Regarding your questions:
1. The issue occurs no matter what driver version I am using. So far, I have tried 101.1069 (the first one to support Intel 12 gen processor), 101.3251 (recommended by vendor), 101.4146 (the latest one).
2. I cannot check with the external display because I don’t have one.
3. As I mentioned in the initial message: as long as I try to capture the issue with screen recording software it immediately disappears. Also, it disappears if explorer.exe process is under any load. Thus, I tried to capture the issue with my cell phone camera. I hope it succeed: the issue is much more noticeable when seeing it on the screen with a mouse in hand. I uploaded all videos + SSU utility report here: https://ufile.io/5z0r2jdc or here: https://easyupload.io/ren7yl or here: https://filebin.net/9ujj1matjg3zh7lo

[Jean_Intel]

Hello UsernameHasBeenTaken,

Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately, we are unable to access the links you have shared. We will send you an e-mail to the e-mail address associated with your community profile so you can attach the video and SSU report to your answer. We would like to gather this information before continuing with more troubleshooting.

Best regards,

Jean O. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[UsernameHasBeenTaken]

I have replied to your email. Hope you will be able to get all the files and they will help with troubleshooting.

[Jean_Intel]

Hello UsernameHasBeenTaken.

We will proceed to check the issue internally and post back soon with more details.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[UsernameHasBeenTaken]

Hi!

An update on the bug.
1. Installing windows 11 insider preview ver. 25324.1000 didn't fix the issue.
2. Installing Iris Xe drivers ver. 31.0.101.4255 paired with Nvidia drivers ver. 531.41 didn't fix the issue.

[Jean_Intel]

Hello UsernameHasBeenTaken.

We appreciate your effort to try and find a solution at your end. We would like to let you know that we are still researching this matter.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Jean_Intel]

Hello UsernameHasBeenTaken,

Thanks for waiting for a response.

We would like to inform you that we have tried to replicate this issue internally using our lab environment; unfortunately, we were unable to replicate this issue. We recommend you contact your system manufacturer for further support, as it seems that the issue is not caused by the driver.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[UsernameHasBeenTaken]

The first thing I did - was contact the manufacturer (Lenovo). They were unable to help and suggested to contact Microsoft, driver vendor or RMA the device. Obviously the RMA won't help due to the nature of the issue. So I contacted both Microsoft and Intel (this thread). Microsoft by the way suggested that it is a driver issue.
Looks like I am being ping-ponged from one vendor to another.

What additional information (logs, configs, tests etc.) should I provide/perform for further investigation?

While waiting for the reply I also installed a Linux distro (in parallel with Windows): there is no issue with cursor in Linux.

[Jean_Intel]

Hello UsernameHasBeenTaken,

We will resume our investigation regarding this matter. We will post back as soon as we have more details.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Jean_Intel]

Hello UsernameHasBeenTaken,

We appreciate your patience.

The best thing to do for this issue is to contact your system manufacturer. We understand the OEM advice to contact Microsoft and the driver vendor. It is important to mention that there are two different types of drivers, generics provided by Intel and Equipment Manufacturer drivers, that are customized to work with each specific system. We were unable to replicate this problem internally, and it seems that the issue may be caused by some system customizations.

We will now close this case. If you need additional information, please submit a new question since this thread will no longer be monitored.  

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[aklas1]

I'm also having this exact same issue. Using Windows 11 23H2 (OS Build 22631.2715) on a Surface Laptop 5, 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1265U and 32.0 GB RAM. Graphics driver version is 30.0.101.3118 released on 8/4/2022. The mouse pointer stutters, for me while connected to external monitors. Happens whether using BT mouse, wired, or even laptop touchpad. I also noticed other screen elements stutter as well, such as scrolling pages or watching YouTube videos. It seems there is a refresh rate issue with the graphics driver. When I created some load in Windows Explorer by copying some files, the lag magically went away. Extremely frustrating issue!