A few days ago, my PC started crashing during Windows load - screen flashes, then it restarts. Safe Mode worked fine. I have a 4070 Ti Super and Intel Xe iGPU (both previously coexisting fine), on a ASrock Z890 Pro-A Wifi mobo with latest chipset drivers. Reinstalling both NVIDIA drivers and iGPU drivers helped me boot normally again, but games now run noticeably worse despite the 4070 being used in gaming. Both GPUs work fine and I've confirmed the iGPU has zero activity during gaming. But it never used to be like this. Disabling the iGPU in BIOS fixes game performance. I suspected a bad Intel driver update - so I DDU’d the iGPU drivers. But after rebooting with iGPU enabled in bios (but drivers uninstalled), the flashing/crashing returned during Windows load. Symptoms: With iGPU enabled and installed: Windows boots, but game performance is worse. With iGPU enabled but not installed: Windows crashes during boot. With iGPU disabled: Everything works fine. Goal: Go back to the way it was - both GPUs enabled/installed, Windows boots fine, and games run fine. The only thing that changed the previous day of the first crash was that I updated mobo wifi+BT drivers. I don't see how that could cause this though. And I tried uninstalling them too, but to no avail. At this point i've exhausted all ideas and think it's Windows that's at fault, so probably need to reformat. It's extremely bizarre though. I'd really rather not do a full windows reinstall so thought I'd ask you guys first.
Since IGFX uses ram, I'd start cleaning the ram contacts, then run a ram test. Does your ram support XMB? I'd disable any "overclock" in the bios as well. Power supply next, specially the 12v rail. (hwinfo64). Next step would be getting a spare ssd and try a clean windows install. Good luck!
Thanks so much for the suggestion! The reason I don't think it's RAM is that nothing else is affected, and this problem with the iGPU causing lower perf in games only happens when the iGPU is enabled in bios - turning off is a noticable difference. But more importantly, the computer is/was crashing on Windows load during that brief period when I had uninstalled iGPU drivers (but had enabled it in bios). In other words, the two problems are almost certainly linked, and IMO they point to more of a windows issue. The computer itself and the RAM are both quite new and there have been/are no other noticable issues that might suggest RAM. The main reason I'm trying to troubleshoot it is that it's such a weird issue and so specific. The crashing on windows load without iGPU drivers enabled is really quite telling, but I just don't know of what. It points to some kind of driver stack issue, wouldn't you say?
Here's the most relevant info: OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100 Other OS Description Not Available OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation System Name ORZDESKTOP System Manufacturer ASRock System Model Z890 Pro-A WiFi System Type x64-based PC System SKU To Be Filled By O.E.M. Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 5 245K, 4200 Mhz, 14 Core(s), 14 Logical Processor(s) BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends International, LLC. 3.04, 22/04/2025 SMBIOS Version 3.7 Embedded Controller Version 255.255 BIOS Mode UEFI BaseBoard Manufacturer ASRock BaseBoard Product Z890 Pro-A WiFi BaseBoard Version Platform Role Desktop Secure Boot State Off PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32 Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1 Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.26100.1" For your reference - I keep the bios and chipset + drivers up to date. Also - the previous day, while there was no iGPU driver update from Intel (I use their Driver Assistant), there was a driver update for the mobo wifi/BT. I'm wondering if somehow, that has bizarrely caused this. Only, even with uninstalling those, it didn't fix the issue - but it's still not out of the question I guess??
My current Nvidia driver is 576.28 (a week old), but I only updated to that a few days ago - this issue in question arose while I was still on 566.36, and that hadn't been touched in many months, nor was it fixed by updating the nvidia driver/DDU'ing it etc.
Make a MemTest86 or MemTest86+ bootable usb and test your ram just in case. Apart from that, try a clean windows install, maybe on a different drive/partition so you don't have to wipe your current one.
I should do a memtest just in case, you're right. Though it's only a few months old, on a new setup, with no problems so far (and it passed memtest with flying colors after building it). The problems in question also aren't 'random' at all - i.e, crashing upon windows load only if the iGPU drivers aren't installed (and iGPU is enabled in bios). Which I believe is strongly linked to the game performance being worse when the iGPU is enabled. My last resort, yes, is a Windows reinstall. However I'd rather avoid that just in case it's say a driver issue - I was hoping someone might have experienced or seen something like this before and could pinpoint "ahh yes, that's just Windows losing its marbles". But at this stage, it sounds like I have no other option I guess.
One last question and I leave you to your own convictions - where are you connecting your monitor(s) and what purpose does the igpu serve you considering the 4070 you have?
Monitor is connected to the 4070, not the mobo. The iGPU is useful for video encoding - the Intel chips excel at that. So ideally I want it to be active and usable. No offense - but several friends did suggest that to me as well - "why bother even turning it on?". Aside from it's use case, it's also the fact that previously they were both working fine together with no performance drop, but now there's this strange issue. I guess I really like troubleshooting and diagnosing, but this one is stumping me.