Sandy Bridge integrated graphics: VGA or DVI for hardware acceleration

I just built a new PC with an i5-2500 Sandy Bridge processor and am using integrated graphics.

All the specs I can find on the processor say it supports hardware acceleration by default.

I can't run Windows Movie Maker. I get this error:

"Windows Movie Maker cannot start because your video card does not support the required level of hardware acceleration or hardware acceleration is not available".

I ran Movie Maker on an earlier Core 2 Duo without issues.

My monitor is connected to the DVI port. I am wondering if "hardware acceleration" is available only through the VGA port??

I don't see anything in the BIOS that appears relevant.

I am using a Gigabyte H67A-UD3H motherboard. The manual says nothing relevant to this issue.

Any ideas?

WIndows Live Movie Maker system requirements:

Windows Live Movie Maker Help Center - What Are The System Requirements?

The graphics card requirements are similar to those needed to run Aero Glass effects.

What's your WEI (Windows Experience Index) for graphics? If it's 1.0, that is often due to using generic VGA drivers. The download for your board is:

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList...64_6series.exe

bobkn said:

WIndows Live Movie Maker system requirements:

Windows Live Movie Maker Help Center - What Are The System Requirements?

The graphics card requirements are similar to those needed to run Aero Glass effects.

What's your WEI (Windows Experience Index) for graphics? If it's 1.0, that is often due to using generic VGA drivers. The download for your board is:

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList...64_6series.exe

Bob:

Thanks, I think I got it configured OK now.

I'm actually using Movie Maker 6 from Vista. Windows Live Movie Maker was a downgrade from MM6 the last I checked. MM6 works fine---you just copy it over to Win 7 program files (x86).

I apparently was using a generic MS driver from 2006. I had downloaded that driver you list, but either had not installed it or thought I had but it had failed.

I did have a 1.0 graphics WEI, but did not know if that was abnormal given my processor. I had not noticed any particular graphics issues, but I don't game and am not highly fussy about moving images. And I'm not obsessed with WEI scores.

It has moved up to 5.1 (5.8 for gaming graphics) with the proper driver--up from 3.5 on a discrete X550 card I had on a Core 2 Duo.

About this driver. It is listed at Gigabyte as "Intel VGA driver". Would you take that to mean that it has no effect on the DVI port and if I use the DVI port I will be forced back to a generic MS driver and a 1.0 graphics WEI? Or is "VGA" driver a misnomer in this case? Gigabyte manual is of course useless, but I can't find outright confirmation that any and all Sandy Bridge IGU capabilities are available on both VGA and DVI ports.

I was using my DVI port until my first post in this thread, but went to VGA thinking that the Gigabyte driver might not apply to the DVI port?

I went to Intel on a driver hunt and although they have one, the update utility discouraged me from trying it in lieu of the Gigabyte driver.

This new driver puts an "Intel Graphics and Media" entry in the control panel. I have been fiddling with settings to only some avail for the last half hour. Skin tones appear too pink and I can't (yet) tone them down despite alleged controls.

Fabe:

Thanks. It appears to be working OK, other than the noticeable change to skin tones--slight oversaturation, like a sunburn.

I can now run Movie Maker 6 and the Passmark 3D benchmarks, which locked me out until I moved to this driver.

No particular thanks to Gigabyte--cryptic manual, lack of detail, Engrish, etc.

Now I get to sit back and decide if I want to stay with Gigabye in April when all Sandy Bridge upgraders get to swap out. My first impulse was to buy an Intel board, but I went with Gigabyte largely on impulse.

ignatzatsonic said:

Bob:

Thanks, I think I got it configured OK now.

I'm actually using Movie Maker 6 from Vista. Windows Live Movie Maker was a downgrade from MM6 the last I checked. MM6 works fine---you just copy it over to Win 7 program files (x86).

I apparently was using a generic MS driver from 2006. I had downloaded that driver you list, but either had not installed it or thought I had but it had failed.

I did have a 1.0 graphics WEI, but did not know if that was abnormal given my processor. I had not noticed any particular graphics issues, but I don't game and am not highly fussy about moving images. And I'm not obsessed with WEI scores.

It has moved up to 5.1 (5.8 for gaming graphics) with the proper driver--up from 3.5 on a discrete X550 card I had on a Core 2 Duo.

About this driver. It is listed at Gigabyte as "Intel VGA driver". Would you take that to mean that it has no effect on the DVI port and if I use the DVI port I will be forced back to a generic MS driver and a 1.0 graphics WEI? Or is "VGA" driver a misnomer in this case? Gigabyte manual is of course useless, but I can't find outright confirmation that any and all Sandy Bridge IGU capabilities are available on both VGA and DVI ports.

I was using my DVI port until my first post in this thread, but went to VGA thinking that the Gigabyte driver might not apply to the DVI port?

I went to Intel on a driver hunt and although they have one, the update utility discouraged me from trying it in lieu of the Gigabyte driver.

This new driver puts an "Intel Graphics and Media" entry in the control panel. I have been fiddling with settings to only some avail for the last half hour. Skin tones appear too pink and I can't (yet) tone them down despite alleged controls.

The driver ought to support the onboard graphics, regardless of whether you're using the VGA or DVI ports.

If Intel has newer driver's they're probably worth a try.

As regards tint shifts, do you have the .inf file installed for your monitor? (On my system, the monitor .inf actually seems to make things *worse*, mainly noticeable as strong yellow cast in the Windows picture viewer. I end up using a generic RGB one as the default.)

Perhaps the Win7 color calibrator might help. (I haven't used it.) That's something separate from any controls in the Intel graphic control panel.

bobkn said:

The driver ought to support the onboard graphics, regardless of whether you're using the VGA or DVI ports.

If Intel has newer driver's they're probably worth a try.

As regards tint shifts, do you have the .inf file installed for your monitor? (On my system, the monitor .inf actually seems to make things *worse*, mainly noticeable as strong yellow cast in the Windows picture viewer. I end up using a generic RGB one as the default.)

Perhaps the Win7 color calibrator might help. (I haven't used it.) That's something separate from any controls in the Intel graphic control panel.

I'll be testing if the DVI port works well with this driver.

I suspect the Gigabyte "Intel VGA driver" and Intel's own "Graphics Media Accelerator driver for Windows 7 64" are effectively identical. Both setup.exe files are 1,018,392 bytes; both readme.txt files are 2569 bytes, and both driver revision numbers end with a .2279. Gigabyte file is supposedly a month earlier than Intel, but I'm wondering if Gigabyte just dated it wrong (Dec 7 rather than Jan 7) on their web site.

I'm using a "generic PnP" monitor driver on this build as on previous build, but the skin tone change just showed up when I went to this new video driver. I had a bad experience (like you) with monitor manufacturer software a few years ago, but may try an NEC driver by itself to see if it helps.

And I will fiddle with the manual controls on the monitor. Window Calibration would be a last resort.

Overall, the new build is working fine. Here are Passmark benchmarks I ran. The PCs are identical other than CPU, motherboard, and new RAM (ordinary 4 gigs in both cases):

i5-2500 3.3 ghz, not overclocked:

CPU Mark: 6910.8
2D Graphics Mark: 873.0
Memory Mark: 1607.7
Disk Mark: 818.1
3D Graphics Mark: 290.4
PassMark Rating: 1783.3

Previous PC: E6600 Core 2 Duo 2.4 ghz, not overclocked:

CPU Mark: 1548.2
2D Graphics Mark: 397.5
Memory Mark: 712.8
Disk Mark: 762.5
3D Graphics Mark: 215.0
PassMark Rating: 842.7

Frankly, I only occasionally notice the speed increase, but I didn't build for that reason.

ignatzatsonic said:

Fabe:

Thanks. It appears to be working OK, other than the noticeable change to skin tones--slight oversaturation, like a sunburn.

I can now run Movie Maker 6 and the Passmark 3D benchmarks, which locked me out until I moved to this driver.

No particular thanks to Gigabyte--cryptic manual, lack of detail, Engrish, etc.

Now I get to sit back and decide if I want to stay with Gigabye in April when all Sandy Bridge upgraders get to swap out. My first impulse was to buy an Intel board, but I went with Gigabyte largely on impulse.

Try the Biostar TH67B+ mb...much better than the other big names.