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

[Notahooman2]

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to the Intel Driver & Support Assistant, and sure enough, there was an update for the graphics driver, which was a year out of date.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.

[Stefan3D]

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