NUC8i7HVK lack of support

[PRom0]

I've been following the complete disaster over the graphics drivers for this device which I'm sorry I've purchased. Even if I offload that problem to malicious intent on AMD's part that is out of Intel's hand, Intel itself has dropped the ball plenty. The recommended BIOS v.059 was last updated on 11/12/19, well over a half a year ago. Intel has been unable or unwilling to fix the hard drive/SSD bugs in v.060 for close to six months now. This device being Intel's flagship consumer product of the summer of 2018, there have been no substantial firmware updates (that aren't influenced by their competitor's whims) since late 2019. As a matter of fact, the IDSA web firmware check page (which is often wrong in terms of available updates) doesn't even point to the right Support Community page anymore for this device (or possibly any NUCs). What an apt metaphor for this disaster of a device.

When did the 5 years of support turn to 5 months?

[Sebastian_M_Intel]

Hello PRom0, 

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.   

I want to also thank you for the feedback already provided. In order to better assist you, please provide the following: 

1. Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) and attach the report generated:  

• Open the application, check the "Everything" box, and click on "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 to "Detailed View".   
• To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save".   
• Use the paperclip icon to attach the report to the thread. Please note that only one file can be attached at a time. 

2. Do you have any problems related to the current BIOS version installed on your Intel® NUC?  

3. Besides the Intel® DSA having the wrong link out to the Intel® community's website, do you have any other problem like wrong updates available for your NUC? Please provide a screenshot if that is the case.  

Regards, 

Sebastian M.  

Intel Customer Support Technician.  

[PRom0]

Thank you for your reply, Sebastian.

To address your points out of order, I've noticed that your team has fixed the Support Community forum link dead-ending in relation to point 3.  In regards to the IDSA misreporting available updates, I know for a fact that searching for my device, NUC8i7HVK, in general support and going to the device's driver page - https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/126143 - has brought up drivers that were more up to date than the ones IDSA offered (or didn't offer). I don't have screenshots of this.

With regards to Point 2, my post history details my problems with this device's BIOS even prior to the pulled Version 60 - https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/NUC8I7HVK-failure-to-boot-with-external-hard-drives-connected/m-p/732297 . As late as BIOS 59 this device with out of the box BIOS defaults fails to boot with two or more external self-powered drives connected. I upgraded to version 60 before it was pulled. I haven't had issues with it and the recommended course of downgrading to 59, a version with which I DID have issues, is frustrating.

Finally, regarding Point 1, I don't need technical support as my problems with this device aren't unique to me; they are shared by everyone who has bought this device:

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/NUC8i7HVK-GUI-elements-make-video-playback-in-fullscreen-choppy/m-p/1193711 -

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/Why-is-version-20-2-2-listed-as-the-latest-version-of-AMD/m-p/1193439 -

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/Final-AMD-graphcis-driver-for-NUC8i7HVK-is-20-4-1/m-p/1187484 -

Any search for "Radeon" in the forums will bring up a host of issues that this unsupported partnership between Intel and AMD has yielded. My first post in this forum was only a day after first setting up this device - https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/Hades-canyon-NUCI7HVK-Automatically-changing-refresh-rate-to/m-p/643304 . It details one of the many issues that this graphics card has presented its users. Currently, I too share the choppy fullscreen video issue with the user I linked to above.

I'm not asking for technical support, only that this device itself be actually supported. Short of that, Intel should make it clear then that they're abandoning a flagship device barely into its lifecycle and offer those of us who have purchased it some form of remuneration.

[BHarr8]

I completely agree here. This was an expensive purchase and it looks like Intel has moved on to other more pressing issues when it comes to allocating resources.

I just bought a NUC9i9QNX and if the support is just as bad, I am probably going to move on to other options for hardware in the future.

As far as issues with my NUC8i7HVK, I currently don't have any ..... currently.

Game compatibility is obviously going to fall off over time as driver fixes never make their way to us and the way the last BIOS update was released and then pulled back almost half a year ago makes it feel like support is indeed over for this product.

There are other minor issues that make this look like support has been dropped. The SATA RAID ROM for example is at version 15.9.0.1015 while the latest WHQL drivers are at version 17.9.2.1013. For reasons that were never explained the NUC8i7HVK was upgraded to 16.0.2.3402 on June 13, 2018 but then the ROM was rolled back to 15.9.0.1015 on November 29, 2018 never to be updated ever again.

That would make at least 2 different issues (main BIOS and SATA RAID ROM) that were "fixed" by reverting changes and then just never updating them ever again.

[Sebastian_M_Intel]

Hello PRom0, 

Thank you very much for the time you took to provide this feedback. 

Intel really appreciates all the feedback to improve our products and services, your voice was internally shared and is going to the department in charge. 

In case you need further technical support, please feel free to create a new thread and we will gladly assist you. 

Regards, 

Sebastian M.  

Intel Customer Support Technician.  

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi @PRom0

I understand your concern and I want to let you know that we are working with the Graphics Manufacturer to get updated Graphics Drivers for Hades Canyon.

I apologize for the inconvenience and I will keep you updated on any progress we make.

Regards,

Ronny G

[BHarr8]

So I gave modifying newer driver packages to force compatibility with the NUC8i7HVK. After much manipulation of .inf files, disabling of driver enforcement and adding specific missing files back into the driver folder I was able to get the new drivers to install but they promptly errored out and windows disables them. This seems to imply that AMD did not just modify inf files to block compatibility, they have removed actual functionality. I suspect the missing files I had to pull out from older packages are the issue as these won't function in a mixed build state.

Oh well, I guess that's that unless we get official support restored.

[Alan_J_T]

There is a fix but it involves shelling out more money. I not a happy camper and will never touch another lintel product ever again.

You can also try selecting the driver manually buy Doing Driver in control panel up date and select from list  you want to select  Radon RX Vega driver option. It may or may not work is a bit of a coin toss.

And I really really liked it when I first got it but have dreaded it since January this year, as Support just went out the window.

I am in the process of planning a new Build and will be going All AMD on a Micro ATX platform.

Intel did the Dirty on all who got  the Hades Canyon.

And to think they are still being sold.

Windows Version 2004, Build 19041.450
Intel® NUC Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G 3.1GHz 4.2GHz Turbo 4 Cores 8 Processor's O/C to 4.6GHz
32GB Ram 2x 16GB DDR4 2400+ SODIMMs O/C to 2600
Razer Core X - E-GPU Fitted with a Radeon RX 5700 O/C to 2011MHz
Has been flashed with the Radeon 5700 XT Bios
512 GB M.2 SATA SSD Operating System and Apps
1TB M.2 SATA SSD Game's only Windows and Steam

[BHarr8]

"And to think they are still being sold."

That could get them into legal trouble actually. Intel is selling a gaming focused mini PC that wont ever get a graphics driver update to address issues in games that arise after April of 2020. This in combination of a promise of 5 years of support would make for a slam dunk class action lawsuit. Sure, like 12 of us bought this so Intel is in no financial trouble here but the press has been crappy to Intel for a while now, the news would not help.

I've got mine running with a small OC and undervolt + DDR4 3600 CL 16 + 2 800P in RAID 0. The device is insanely fast for the size, like impossibly fast. I want to continue loving this thing but Intel seems to adamantly disagree with my position. Hell, they even canceled the 805Ps I was going to upgrade to.

[powerarmour]

FWIW if you just want to install the latest 20.8.3 graphics driver on it's own (without the control panel) you don't need to modify any .inf files, just extract the whole .exe package with 7zip etc, then manually install them via device manager, browsing to the drivers folder and selecting 'Radeon RX Vega' from the device listings.

I've personally not had any issues running them on Windows like this, but obviously this is an 'unsupported' method, and your mileage may vary (so to speak).

[BHarr8]

Going to retry this because that was not working at all the last time I tried.

Device manager would report that I already had the best drivers installed when I pointed to the extracted files.

[BHarr8]

So a forced install using the Vega 64 branch seems to work and does not even give me a warning about compatibility. The only negative side effect is that ATI's control panel does not like this at all and refuses to open.

I tried the lost watch demo from Nvidia and was getting 330FPS @ 1080p so these are definitely working.

https://www.nvidia.in/coolstuff/screensavers#!/lost-watch-2-aeur-nvidia-edition

Let me know what FPS you are seeing powerarmour.

FYI, I am running a mild OC and my RAM is running at 3600 CL14.

[powerarmour]

@BHarr8 

"Let me know what FPS you are seeing powerarmour."

I don't have that particular demo, but with the 20.8.3 drivers I get 8738 points in 3DMark Firestrike, with everything stock, so the performance seems to be fine:

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/23390573

[BHarr8]

**bleep**, that was super consistent. I ran the same benchmark and got 8745.

My RAM is slightly faster than yours so that is probably the reason for the small uplift, higher turbo as well but that does not last long enough on a test like this to matter much.

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/50086289

[Alan_J_T]

@BHarr8 

@powerarmour 

Well I was feeling a tad left out got the driver update done OK and I see some one had clocked the CPU to 4.6 I have mine locked down to 4.1.

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/50091423?

And I am guessing my score for 3d mark is from the RX 5700 not the one listed in the test.

Intel® NUC Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK
Intel Core i7-8809G 3.1GHz 4.2GHz Turbo 4 Cores 8 Threads
32GB Ram 2x 16GB DDR4 2400+ SODIMMs O/C to 2600
Razer Core X - E-GPU Fitted with a Radeon RX 5700 O/C to 2011MHz
Has been flashed with the Radeon 5700 XT Bios
512 GB M.2 SATA SSD Operating System and Apps
1TB M.2 SATA SSD Game's only Windows and Steam

[powerarmour]

@Alan_J_T 

"And I am guessing my score for 3d mark is from the RX 5700 not the one listed in the test."

Yep, that's definitely using the RX 5700, though for some of the newer 3DMark tests they've now added a drop selection so you can actually choose the renderer (useful for testing IGP's etc, and you can also do this in Win10's new graphics menu too).

[Alan_J_T]

@powerarmour 

and you can also do this in Win10's new graphics menu too

Not sure I have that update yet but should make it a lot easier for E-GPU Users and Lap tops with dual GPU. I remember on my old AIO it was a right pane to get it to use the High end GPU it had in it.

[powerarmour]

@Alan_J_T 

Yes, the built-in Win10 method is obviously still clunky as you have to set it per app:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/103965-set-preferred-gpu-apps-windows-10-a.html

[Ronny_G_Intel]

Hi everyone,

I totally understand your frustration regarding the lack of updated Graphics drivers for Hades Canyon and I apologize for that, we are still working on this matter and unfortunately I don't know when or how we are going to make this happen but as soon as I get more details I will be posting a quick announcement under our NUC community landing page.

Regards,

Ronny G

[BHarr8]

FYI, the nuc8i7hvk driver page is currently down.

Drivers & Software (intel.com)

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[Alan_J_T]

To late have given up and retired the NUC Biggest waste of money have a 2 grand paper weight