Laptop Extreme Kit graphics issues

[PeteSmith]

Hi all.

I'm a developer, so need a pretty beefy machine for my new job. I found the Laptop Extreme Kit, and decided it was perfect. 12 thread CPU, 2 NVMe slots and 2 DDR4 slots. I've got 3Tb of SSD & 64Gb of RAM - perfect for heavy builds and multiple VMs. Plus the case is tasteful and discreet.

I'm now on my 2nd NUC Extreme laptop kit.

The original one was a LAPQC71C (RTX 2060). The keyboard died on that (2 columns of the keyboard stopped working). That one was RMAd, but the C model was out of stock, so we upgraded to the LAPQC71D (RTX 2070 Super)

The replacement had an identical keyboard issue, but that's sorted itself out for now. Not sure how, but all the keys are now fine.

Both of these machines however, have exhibited extremely unstable RTX graphics. The normal Windows use is absolutely fine. Windows itself is stable, no crashes, no memory issues.

As soon as I try to use anything which exercises the RTX graphics card, then things start going wrong.

Even though this is a "gaming" machine, it's a work machine. I was so impressed with the price that I've stuck a few games on, to scope the performance out, with the thought of buying myself one.

The games I've tried are:

Far Cry 3,4,5 and New Dawn, plus Doom (2016 version).

The symptoms are that normally within 2 or 3 minutes of starting the game, the laptop will (if I'm lucky) bomb out to Windows, but more often than not, the whole thing will lock up solid. Sometimes (mostly with the C 2060 version), if it's locked up solid, it won't even restart, or if it does, the Windows loading screen will be corrupted, and it'll lock up again.

If I run the laptop with the 2 performance LEDs off (press the performance button until the lights go out),  and then run the games at low performance, then they will run terribly, but it will take longer before locking up. If I play at low performance, and press the button to go to high performance, it'll often lock up straight away.

• The BIOS and drivers are all up to date (BIOS is 0126 2/23/2021, and has a green tick next to it in the Driver Support Assistant tool).
• I've tried the WHQL 2070 drivers, as well as the NVIDIA drivers - makes no difference
• I've run a memory tester on a bootable USB stick (I think it was memtestx86, can't remember the exact version), and the memory is fine. It's Crucial PC2666, and came as a pair of 32Gb sticks.
• I can run multiple VMs, which run without issue, so I don't think it's a RAM problem.
• There is nothing in the Windows Event Viewer which looks relevant
• I'm fairly sure it's not an overheating issue, as the games can crash during the menu screens, when the fans aren't running full speed.

I'm going to run some graphical stress applications (Unigine, Furmark, and some stuff I found on the NVIDIA website), but I wondered if anyone here has seen similar issues?

Thanks.

Pete.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello PeteSmith,  

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.   

In order to better assist you, please provide the following:  

1. Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) to gather more details about the system.  

· Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer:  https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-

· Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".  

· To save your scan, click Next and click Save.  

2. Have you tried a clean installation of the Nvidia drivers?

3. Have you run all the Windows updates, including optional updates?

4. Have you contacted the Nvidia support team to confirm if the graphics card is working properly?

5. Have you tried reinstalling Windows?

Regards,  

Deivid A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[PeteSmith]

Hi.

Thanks for replying.

1) See the attached SSU Report. One thing that concerns me is that when I bought the laptop, it said the 2070 had 8Gb of RAM, but the tool only reports 4Gb. It's probably just a reporting issue though.

2) Yes. Clean NVidia didn't work. Clean Windows drivers didn't work either

3) Windows is 100% up to date. I've used the Intel Driver Assistant to make sure all drivers are up to date too. The 0126 BIOS isn't listed as valid on the Intel website, so I backed off to 0122, which is shown as the latest version as well.

4) That's one thing I've not done. I wanted to check the Intel side first, as it's an integrated card, not external.

5) This morning, I did a fresh install of a completely clean Windows on a 2nd partition on the primary M2 drive, and that made no difference. I applied all updates via Windows update, the Driver Assistance update. WHQL Nvidia drivers crashed, as did the NVidia drivers. 5-10 minutes into a game, it crashes. Tried twice. First one dropped me back to Windows, 2nd one blue-screened the whole laptop. The message there was something about paged memory.

I tried Furmark and Unigine. They don't run for long enough for the problem to manifest. The Unigine "Game" mode is a sandbox, and that crashes after 5 minutes or so.

Thanks.

Pete.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello PeteSmith, 

Thanks for the information provided, based on the report I would like you to try the following:

1. Performed a clean installation of the Intel drivers:

- Driver: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30381/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers?v=t

- Steps: https://www.intel.sg/content/www/xa/en/support/articles/000057389/graphics.html

2. Get in contact with the Nvidia support team to check if the graphics card is working properly.

3. If none of the previous steps worked, get in contact with the place of purchase to discuss the warranty options.

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[PeteSmith]

Hi.

I've tried that, but it didn't work.

Thanks though.

The driver shows as being the new up-to-date version, but the problem still exists.

There is actually another symptom, which may be related - I can't reliably drive a second monitor from the laptop.

If I plug in an HDMI monitor to the port on the rear, or if I use a Thunderbolt docking station to an HDMI monitor or VGA monitor, then the Windows desktop behaves very strangely - every 10minutes (or less), completely at random, the 2nd monitor will show a white screen, the laptop grinds to a halt, all the screens (internal and external) turn off for a couple of seconds, and the laptop carries on where it left off.

It might happen every 10 minutes, or every 60 seconds, with no pattern at all. If I'm plugged into a VGA monitor, once it's done this, the monitor never recovers, and I need to power cycle the laptop before it can be seen again.

This happens on the old Windows install and the fresh install, with the old Intel Drivers and the new ones, and with 3 different display devices - a Philips monitor, a Sharp TV and a projector.

I think the laptop will have to go back to the supplier.

Thanks.

Pete.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello PeteSmith, 

Based on the steps taken by you, this looks like an issue with the laptop itself, and (as you mentioned) you should check with the place of purchase for further steps.

Also, we recommend using always straight connections when using external displays, since adapters may not work properly with Intel systems.

Regards,  

Deivid A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician