Sunday 12 February 2012

Intel Updates Sandy Bridge Graphics Drivers

by Andrew Cunningham on 2/7/2012 6:15:00 PM
Posted in GPUs , Intel , Sandy Bridge

Intel has posted versions 15.22.54.2622 (32-bit) and 15.22.54.64.2622 (64-bit) of its drivers for the Intel HD-series lineup of integrated graphics processors, which includes both Sandy Bridge and older Nehalem-based chips in both desktop and laptop computers. The drivers are available for all editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Of the Big Three players in the graphics market, Intel is the most erratic about its driver releases - their last generic driver was posted way back in September, and while that driver brought a good number of performance improvements and bug fixes, Intel's latest and greatest fixes just three documented issues: a crashing issue with a program called Interstage Studio Standard J-edition, an issue where the driver would change the refresh rate while on battery power, and an issue where content would appear strangely when rewound. Not terribly exciting, given the wait, but I'm sure that the people experiencing those problems are grateful for the fixes.

As always, Intel notes that these are generic drivers which may or may not be missing features present in the drivers provided by OEMs. I've never had issues using generic Intel drivers on any of my machines, from homemade desktops to OEM laptops to Macs running Windows, but your mileage may vary.

Source: Intel

Print This Article 4 Comments View All Comments Post a Comment I might be pleased! by Aikouka on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 "an issue where the driver would change the refresh rate while on battery power"

I think this might actually fix something odd that I noticed. I turned my AVR to my HTPC the other day, and I noticed that XBMC didn't look right at all (looked like the resolution got messed up). I realized after reading that fix that my power went out for a brief moment prior to that event, and it would have gone on battery backup. I don't know how much XBMC likes having the resolution (including refresh rate) adjusted while it's running. Aikouka Reply Same ol' Intel by MonkeyPaw on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 Didn't Intel say they were going to put more effort into graphics drivers? 5 months later and we have 3 updates. I guess they have better places to go with their record profits.

This is why Intel graphics are met with so much skepticism. Sure, more performance is found in each new version of the hardware, but the support is outright pathetic. AMD and nVidia spend lots of time, money, and effort on drivers, because it is a very big deal. MonkeyPaw Reply Who'd a thunk it? by fic2 on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 "Intel's latest and greatest fixes just three documented issues"

Must be because Intel's graphic driver is so close to perfect that nobody can find any bugs in it!

(Or maybe the one guy at intel that does the graphic driver took a holiday in December and three bugs is all he had time to fix) fic2 Reply Also, interestingly by KaarlisK on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 You can find their Ivy Bridge graphics driver at station-drivers.
And guess what... it only supports Ivy and Sandy bridge.
Which basically means that they're probably continuing to only support the two latest GPU generations in their latest branch. Which basically means if you want features and performance improvements in the long term, do not go for an Intel GPU, even though the hardware may support everything you need. KaarlisK Reply Subject Comment Post Comment Please login or register to post a comment.
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