Skylake and Windows 10`

[Ian_B]

Does anyone know of any Windows 10 problems with Skylake CPUs? My i7-6700 runs fine most of the time and the system is perfectly stable, but some applications behave unpredictably. Chrome and Edge are the worst offenders - neither will corrctly render complex websites such as YouTube, for instance. I've eliminated the possibility of any hardware issues other than the CPU itself, but that passes all of the diagnostic utility tests so is presumably fine.

Any suggestions other than a bug in Windows? Microsoft third-line support have been looking into this for weeks but don't seem to be getting anywhere!

[n_scott_pearson]

Sounds to me like a graphics problem. Two suggestions,

1. Update your BIOS to the latest available.
2. Update your graphics driver(s). Presuming this is a Desktop (instructions for laptops would be different) and you are using processor graphics, the latest available driver can be downloaded from here: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30266.

Hope this helps,

...S

P.S. If this doesn't fix it, we'll need more information for our subsequent analysis. Please download and run the Intel System Support Utility for Windows. Select all data categories, generate the report and then have the tool Save the report to a file. Don't try to use the Submit capability; it doesn't work. Finally, using the Drag and drop here or browse files to attach dialog below the edit box for the body of your response post, upload and attach this file to the response post.

[Ian_B]

Hi Scott,

 - The BIOS is at the latest version - Dell posted an update as recently as 23rd Feb. 2021, which I have installed.

 - I've tried the CPU in a Gigabyte motherboard, using CPU graphics instead of my usual NVidia card and a fresh Windows install. This produced exactly the same behaviour, so it's not connected to the video card or driver.

So, with that in mind, here's the SSU Report that you asked for.

Thanks.

IAn.

[Alberto_Sykes]

Ian_B, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

I just wanted to check if the issue with some applications behaving unpredictably persists and if you still need assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ian_B]

Hi Alberto,

Yes, it's still very much a problem. However, I'm already in contact with Leonal (I don't know his second name) who I assume is one of your colleagues. Hopefully he'll help find a resolution - if not, I might get back in touch with you!

Thanks for you interest,

Ian.

[n_scott_pearson]

I will point out that I see absolutely nothing concerning in the SSU report, so have no ideas on this one - other than possibility of being memory-related, but I don't know if same memory was used in the secondary motherboard test.

...S

[Ian_B]

Update:

I obtained an i5-6500 and swapped it out for my i7-6700. (No, it's not as fast, but it is compatible with my system and was available for less than half the price!). And guess what? Everything is now working perfectly! Without doing anything to the Windows installation MS Edge behaves just as it should and I was able to upgrade Firefox to the latest version which is now totally stable.

So I'm 100% convinced that the problems that have plagued me for years are due to a faulty processor, although why the diagnostic routines fail to spot the problem is a mystery.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that the system shipped with the faulty processor in the very beginning, and it wasn't until I'd owned it beyond the end of the warranty period that I found the software - Firefox 63 - that provokes the error. This is, obviously, pretty annoying!

Ian.