HP Compaq 8200 Elite CMT, Intel HD Graphics Driver freezes Windows

[Tobi1978]

Hello everyone,

I'm using a HP Compaq 8200 Elite CMT for some years with the following configuration:

CPU: i7-2600

RAM: 8GB

Video: Nvidia NVS300 as primary device with two Monitors connected (one via HDMI and one via DVI)

Integrated Intel HD Graphics with my TV-Set connected via DP to HDMI Adapter (rarely used)

OS: Windows 7 64-bit (till now)

Latest BIOS (2.33) and latest drivers from HP Website

As far as I can remeber this configuration worked w/o problems even when using 3 Monitors (it's a while ago that i used my TV as 3rd monitor).

Now i tried to upgrade to Windows 10 64-bit and noticed the following problem:

With activated on-board graphics and the Nvidia Card as primary device, Windows freezes everytime I try to install the Intel HD graphics driver. I tried the lasted Win 8.1 driver from the Intel website as well as the one MS offers via Windows update.

When I unplug the TV set connected to the on-board graphics, the driver can be installed w/o problems. But then windows freezes everytime i plug in my TV or any other display.

So I switched back to Windows 7 (clean install)  and now experieced the same problem also there. But here I sometimes see the following BSOD:

... Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed

...

*** STOP: 0x00000116 .....

*** igdkmd64.sys ...

Another interresting thing is, when I set the Intel HD graphics as primary device in BIOS, it works w/o any problem. But this is not the way I want to use it.

What i also tried:

• Re-flasing the BIOS with the latest version
• Resetting NVRAM (yellow button on the mainboard)
• HP Vison Diagnostics (incl. extended RAM tests) -> no problems found
• Windows Memory diagnostice -> no problems found
• Replaced Nvidia NVS300 by a Nvidia GeForce 310

Nothing helped.

Could this be a hardware failure? Would It help to replace the CPU (which incorporates the on-board graphics). Or is this a normal behaviour or a known incompatibility between Nvidia and Intel graphics?

Does anyone has a similar configuration and can try if he or she gets the same problem when using both graphic devices?

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards

Tobias

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Tobias:

I also have the 8200 Elite CMT running BIOS v.2.28, with Windows 11, and I am using a Nvidia GT 1030 graphics adapter.

I enabled the onboard Intel graphics and Windows update installed an Intel graphics driver from May of 2016.

I shut down the PC, and plugged the display port cable from my other HP monitor, with my Dell monitor still connected to Nvidia graphics card.

Fired up the PC, the Dell monitor came to life momentarily and went back to sleep.

The HP monitor connected via the display port with the onboard Intel graphics, never came on.

So, I unplugged the Display port cable, fired up the PC and after I got into Windows, I plugged the DP cable back in.

The PC locked up just like yours did.

So...I would have to conclude that the onboard Intel graphics does not work when you have a discrete video card installed on W10 or W11.

I went back into the BIOS and disabled the onboard Intel graphics adapter again.

[Tobi1978]

Hi Paul,

thank you very much for trying this out. Seems that I have to give up the idea of having a 3 monitors connected. But at least i'm happy that I have no defetctive hardware.

The only strange thing is, that it's also under WIndows 7 not working anymore. I'm pretty shure this was working in the past. May be this was with older driver versions.

Regards

Tobias

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Tobias.

Is there a video card you can buy that has an output for 3 - 4  monitors?

I only use one monitor, but I have two PC's close to each other so I was able to run the display port cable from the monitor I use regularly to my spare 8200 Elite with the other monitor.

Best Regards,

Paul

[SDH]

Tobias and Paul,

Just finished up a project where the user needed to run 4 total monitors off a single PCIe x16 video card slot.  Two that I worked with were the Quadro P620 and the Quadro M2000.  That P620 version is a short "small form factor" and it had the full-height metal backplane adapter at its rear end.  It uses up to 4 mini Display Port ports which have the same bandwidth as a full size DP port.  The M2000 version is a full height form factor card, and uses up to 4 full size Display Port ports.  

I was able to run 4 monitors with each of those cards, using only 1 PCIe x16 slot.  However, when I looked up the specs on the 8200 Elite CMT it states there are two PCIe x16 slots....  so my advice with that PC would be to just use two identical cards, one in each of the PCIe x16 slots.

Inexpensive ones we like (with current actively updated W10 drivers) are the Quadro K2000, and you can get those used off eBay for about $50.00 each.  Those have a bottom DVI port and two DP ports right above that.  You can't use all 3 of those at the same time, however.  A DVI plus the next up DP port, or the two DP ports only.

The PCIe x16 slots will be marked primary and secondary on the motherboard or in the technical manual... at least in all the HP Z workstations the upper of the two is the primary slot and the lower is the secondary.  Plug the monitor you want to see the boot screen on into the bottom (DVI) port on the primary PCIe x16 slot card.  Or, if you'd rather use the two DP ports the boot screen will show on the monitor plugged into the lower of the two.  We run many workstations with 4 monitors this way...

W10 best likes identical cards/drivers  for it to run two cards.  W7 was more forgiving.  Mixing and matching is a bad idea unless you are skilled in the black art of W10 display driver work.  You also want to stay ahead of Microsoft Windows Update video card drivers by installing the latest W10 version released by nVidia about once/6 months.

Scott

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Scott:

Yes, the 8200 Elite has Black 1 PCIe x 16 slot and and one white PCIx 4 slot that looks exactly like a PCIe x16 slot.

The problem is...I have no idea how one fits two video cards adjacent to each other in those slots since they are so close together.

So, I think if the OP wants to opt for a video card, it would have to be one of the two you mentioned that would drive 4 monitors off one card.

The CMT should support either card.

[SDH]

Edit:

Thanks Paul... I did not know of the close slot issue for 2 cards.  I'd be happy to advise on the DP adapters we ended up using, both the mini and the regular size types.  For the mini ones... some slide in and out and some others actually lock into place quite strongly in the P620 card.  The regular size DP adapters for the M2000 card have the normal two metal locking spurs.  We used the locking type for the P620 card... did not want accidental disconnects.

... may I add:

We ran a bunch of the Elite 8200 SFF and Elite 8300 SFF versions of these business class PCs from HP (and I believe they used the same motherboards as the CMT versions).  I always put in a video card instead of using the built-in video for best speed and user experience, and I always turned off the built-in video in BIOS for stability.  A card I settled on for the SFF version Elite 8200 and Elite 8300 boxes is the Quadro K620, a small form factor card that fits nicely in those thinner boxes and which has W10 active driver support still ongoing.

You get quite a bang for the $40.00 eBay bucks with that card.  Just remember to buy one with the right height metal backplane adapter for the box you plan to put it in.

Tobias, my guess is that some of the issue with getting your monitors to work like they did with W7 under W10 is that issue of W10 not liking different video hardware and different drivers running simultaneously in the same box.  W7 let you do that to a much greater degree.