Windows 11 crashes after setting primary GPU to Nvidia GT 420-m

kun1gunda · Sunday at 10:52 AM

Good day everyone!

I have a very weird issue that keeps happening on my Dell XPS l501X. This problem happens in the exact same manner in the exact same scenarios when Windows 10 is installed instead of 11. What I do is I update the drivers to the latest version, which for my card (Nvidia GT 420-m) is the "GeForce Game Ready Driver 364.1", then I go into the Nvidia control panel and set the primary GPU to the 420m over the ancient Intel HD one. At this point everything is good. Then after I restart I notice Windows crashes whenever I try to bring up the start menu or search. Opening firefox, file explorer, nvidia control panel ect. works fine. Another instance where it crashed is as I was loading into Team Fortress 2 right before the main menu would be shown. Dxdiag also crashes. An another anomaly I noticed is that if I go into System settings > Display > Graphics, and I try to slect which GPU to use for what application the IntelHD is shows as the power saving and the performance option, the nvidia one is not shown although the GPU shows without any issues in device manager.

The crash consists of, for example the last crash which happened with the start menu, the box does not appear as it should, instad of it I only see a black rectangle and the top and bottom of the screen also go black (I managed to bring up the Run window, although nothing inside the window loaded), icons dissapear. Then after a little bit the entire screen goes black, except the mouse which shows something is loading, and finally I hear the USB device connected sound and the screen turns off (no backlight or anything else). At this point I have to force reboot as I cannot get anything on the screen. Essentially every crash follows these steps and I found no way to avoid them.

The only way this does not happen is if in the Nvidia control panel I set the primary GPU back to Auto or the IntelHD one. I tried installing older drivers (using DDU too), all of them do the same thing. This time I tried installing custom drivers, specifically the "XG 391.35 Mobile WIN10 x64", same story. I tried looking through Event Viewer but no special error or warning came up. I looked right before the event which says the system didnt shut down properly. The only driver that did not crash the system is the original one I can find on the Dell support page, which is the release 2012 one. So far as I said everything down to the last detail happens in the exact same way on Windows 10.

The last system the GPU worked well with, and this is why I dont think the hardware itself is at fault, is Windows 8.1. On there after I install the latest driver, which is the "GeForce Game Ready Driver 388.43" I can set the main GPU to the 420m and everything works perfectly. I cannot install that driver in Windows 10/11 though, because it complains it was not made for this system (I havent tried installing with compatibility settings).

I tried searching online but I simply cannot find anybody else with this problem, I dont think the driver itself is at fault either, because the latest one is made for Windows 10 and it crashes in the same way on Windows 10. The only thing I could think of is that my CPU (i7 620m) does not support Advanced Vector Extensions, but in theory that shouldnt be a problem in Windows 10, as to 11 I am not sure. My windows 11 build is: 26100.4351.

I hope somebody can help me as I honestly have no clue what the problem is. Im fine if the answer is that its impossible on Windows 11, but in theory Windows 10 should work without any issues, and considering the issue is the exact same on 10 and 11 I believe the problem will be the same on both versions. Thank you for your time!

bobkn · Sunday at 11:33 AM

That's a rather old laptop. (I see a review from 2010.)

The I7-620m CPU is supposed to support SSE4.2, so it should be able to run Windows 11 24H2.

I'm sorry that I can't suggest a solution for your problem.

I see that Dell only offers Windows 7 X64 drivers for it.

OAT · Sunday at 12:38 PM

kun1gunda said:
Good day everyone!

I have a very weird issue that keeps happening on my Dell XPS l501X. This problem happens in the exact same manner in the exact same scenarios when Windows 10 is installed instead of 11. What I do is I update the drivers to the latest version, which for my card (Nvidia GT 420-m) is the "GeForce Game Ready Driver 364.1", then I go into the Nvidia control panel and set the primary GPU to the 420m over the ancient Intel HD one. At this point everything is good. Then after I restart I notice Windows crashes whenever I try to bring up the start menu or search. Opening firefox, file explorer, nvidia control panel ect. works fine. Another instance where it crashed is as I was loading into Team Fortress 2 right before the main menu would be shown. Dxdiag also crashes. An another anomaly I noticed is that if I go into System settings > Display > Graphics, and I try to slect which GPU to use for what application the IntelHD is shows as the power saving and the performance option, the nvidia one is not shown although the GPU shows without any issues in device manager.

The crash consists of, for example the last crash which happened with the start menu, the box does not appear as it should, instad of it I only see a black rectangle and the top and bottom of the screen also go black (I managed to bring up the Run window, although nothing inside the window loaded), icons dissapear. Then after a little bit the entire screen goes black, except the mouse which shows something is loading, and finally I hear the USB device connected sound and the screen turns off (no backlight or anything else). At this point I have to force reboot as I cannot get anything on the screen. Essentially every crash follows these steps and I found no way to avoid them.

The only way this does not happen is if in the Nvidia control panel I set the primary GPU back to Auto or the IntelHD one. I tried installing older drivers (using DDU too), all of them do the same thing. This time I tried installing custom drivers, specifically the "XG 391.35 Mobile WIN10 x64", same story. I tried looking through Event Viewer but no special error or warning came up. I looked right before the event which says the system didnt shut down properly. The only driver that did not crash the system is the original one I can find on the Dell support page, which is the release 2012 one. So far as I said everything down to the last detail happens in the exact same way on Windows 10.

The last system the GPU worked well with, and this is why I dont think the hardware itself is at fault, is Windows 8.1. On there after I install the latest driver, which is the "GeForce Game Ready Driver 388.43" I can set the main GPU to the 420m and everything works perfectly. I cannot install that driver in Windows 10/11 though, because it complains it was not made for this system (I havent tried installing with compatibility settings).

I tried searching online but I simply cannot find anybody else with this problem, I dont think the driver itself is at fault either, because the latest one is made for Windows 10 and it crashes in the same way on Windows 10. The only thing I could think of is that my CPU (i7 620m) does not support Advanced Vector Extensions, but in theory that shouldnt be a problem in Windows 10, as to 11 I am not sure. My windows 11 build is: 26100.4351.

I hope somebody can help me as I honestly have no clue what the problem is. Im fine if the answer is that its impossible on Windows 11, but in theory Windows 10 should work without any issues, and considering the issue is the exact same on 10 and 11 I believe the problem will be the same on both versions. Thank you for your time!

Ideally, you shouldn't set your nVidia as primary and you should not turn off your on-chip Intel GPU unless you have the resources and the system to do so. The Nvidia is used with applications or games to add some performance when the primary Intel is insufficient - if the game/application supports it. The Windows GUI uses the on-chip Intel and system on-board RAM for all other light tasks.
Since you have it disabled, GUI is forced to use GPU RAM which isn't sufficient so your system crashes.

You could on some systems with enough DDR5/6 RAM (with >6-8 GB) run only the secondary GPU but it would be wasteful and uses more power. This could lead to some overheating issues as well.

bobkn · Sunday at 12:56 PM

OAT said:
You shouldn't set your NVidia as primary and you should not turn off your on-chip Intel GPU.
The Nvidia will be used with applications or games to add some performance when the primary Intel is insufficient - if the game/application supports it.
The Windows GUI uses the on-chip Intel. Because you have it disabled, when the GUI is used, your system crashes.

I've never run a laptop with an nVidia Optimus setup, but I believe that is incorrect.

OAT · Sunday at 1:04 PM

bobkn said:
I've never run a laptop with an nVidia Optimus setup, but I believe that is incorrect.

That would not be the first time and it is my understanding anyway.
I have added some details referring to resources to clarify but I don't know much about that aging laptop, I agree.
The linked content states that the nVidia Optimus relies on the discrete GPU for display purposes.
"Using NVIDIA's Optimus technology, when the discrete GPU is handling all the rendering duties, the final image output to the display is still handled by the Intel integrated graphics processor (IGP)."

bobkn · Sunday at 1:29 PM

I checked. Things may be more complex than I imagined.

Some laptops have a setting in the nVidia control panel that allows the iGPU to be disabled. Windows will run normally on such a laptop, at the cost of greater power usage. That's my usual expectation.

But some older Optimus setups may not be able to do that.

This review isn't for exactly the same model as the OPs, but it may apply, as it has the same iGPU. 1GB of dedicated VRAM for the nVidia GPU. I don't know whether that's enough to run Windows, but I'd expect so. Seems like it could be an improvement over using the iGPU, as the laptop is limited to 8GB of main RAM.

As mentioned by the OP, the newest available drivers for the GT 420m are 391.35., for Windows 10, dated 2018. None are listed for Win11.

OAT · Sunday at 1:35 PM

I think the OP has answered his own question:
"The only way this does not happen is if in the Nvidia control panel I set the primary GPU back to Auto or the IntelHD one. "
There are unknown factors here though such as refresh rate and resolution which would hike the requirements.

suatcini54 · Sunday at 1:48 PM

The latest game ready driver for your gfx card is 391.35 for Windows 10 64-bit released on 27 March 2018.

Driver Details | NVIDIA

OAT · Sunday at 2:07 PM

suatcini54 said:
The latest game ready driver for your gfx card is 391.35 for Windows 10 64-bit released on 27 March 2018.

Driver Details | NVIDIA

Well, that is a bit old isn't it and a Dell laptop GPUs might have separate OEM driver requirements on top of it.

Helmut · Sunday at 2:12 PM

Your hardware is around 14 years old, that is pretty much end of life particularly for an Optimus type Laptop that gets very hot in use.
i7-620m TDP 35w plus GT420m 23w
At the very least some of the hardware will have gone out of spec.

In this case your Nvidia GPU and/or associated components are dead.

I know as my old Laptop is 2 years younger, the Nvidia GPU is disabled, still working but only on the intel iGPU.

suatcini54 · Sunday at 2:15 PM

Further to my post above, can you connect your notebook to an external monitor or TV through HDMI port and observe if you can avoid crashing ?

The above is from Dell FAQ page. It mentions Nvidia Knowledge Base Article 2758 but I couldn't find it.

Helmut · Sunday at 2:42 PM

In that type of Optimus Laptop it is only 3D Graphics calls that go via the Nvidia GPU, the display depends on the iGPU or part of it.
Nvidia part is not a full display device.

bobkn · Sunday at 3:41 PM

Helmut said:
In that type of Optimus Laptop it is only 3D Graphics calls that go via the Nvidia GPU, the display depends on the iGPU or part of it.
Nvidia part is not a full display device.

I'm not sure whether that is true.

Even an RTX 5080 mobile GPU doesn't have a stand-alone graphics output. But I believe that some Optimus laptops that include one could be set to use the 5080 for all graphics, not just gaming. (Probably never the default.) Obviously, some motherboard circuitry must be used to pass through the graphics signal.

kun1gunda · Sunday at 4:09 PM

bobkn said:
That's a rather old laptop. (I see a review from 2010.)

The I7-620m CPU is supposed to support SSE4.2, so it should be able to run Windows 11 24H2.

I'm sorry that I can't suggest a solution for your problem.

I see that Dell only offers Windows 7 X64 drivers for it.

Thank you for your answer :)

kun1gunda · Sunday at 4:11 PM

suatcini54 said:
Further to my post above, can you connect your notebook to an external monitor or TV through HDMI port and observe if you can avoid crashing ?

View attachment 138094

The above is from Dell FAQ page. It mentions Nvidia Knowledge Base Article 2758 but I couldn't find it.

I will test this out as soon as I can, thank you :)

kun1gunda · Sunday at 4:13 PM

OAT said:
I think the OP has answered his own question:
"The only way this does not happen is if in the Nvidia control panel I set the primary GPU back to Auto or the IntelHD one. "
There are unknown factors here though such as refresh rate and resolution which would hike the requirements.

Yeah my base idea was simply that overall I will get better performance in the OS itself too if the main GPU is the nvidia one. I will see how everything works with the settings on Auto, as I can always change the GPU if needed per application. Thank you for your insights :)

Helmut · Sunday at 4:53 PM

It is true, you just have to run DXDIAG
Display 1 tab (Intel) for Device type will say: Full Display Device
Display 2/Render tab (Nvidia) for Device type will say: Render Only

You cannot change the GPU per application, only divert 3D calls though the Nvidia GPU hence render only.

bobkn · Sunday at 8:30 PM

Helmut said:
It is true, you just have to run DXDIAG
Display 1 tab (Intel) for Device type will say: Full Display Device
Display 2/Render tab (Nvidia) for Device type will say: Render Only

You cannot change the GPU per application, only divert 3D calls though the Nvidia GPU hence render only.

You'd say that it's impossible to set any Optimus laptop to use the nVidia GPU all the time?

Helmut · Sunday at 9:28 PM

That is not what I am saying.
Older laptops of the type mentioned most were Optimus with no MUX Switches, the Nvidia GPU is used for 3D graphics calls.

More recently pricier Optimus Laptops can have those additional MUX switches enabling use of the Nvidia GPU all the time.
I have one and can set it to Nvidia only or Optimus Mode. The Optimus mode has around a 10% speed penalty.

That speed penalty is always present in the older type of laptops with no MUX switches. The selection of "preferred graphics processor" to Nvidia is just the 3D graphics calls.

It does not give detail in the Nvidia control panel.

bobkn · Sunday at 10:38 PM

Helmut said:
That is not what I am saying.
Older laptops of the type mentioned most were Optimus with no MUX Switches, the Nvidia GPU is used for 3D graphics calls.

More recently pricier Optimus Laptops can have those additional MUX switches enabling use of the Nvidia GPU all the time.
I have one and can set it to Nvidia only or Optimus Mode. The Optimus mode has around a 10% speed penalty.

That speed penalty is always present in the older type of laptops with no MUX switches. The selection of "preferred graphics processor" to Nvidia is just the 3D graphics calls.

It does not give detail in the Nvidia control panel.

Thanks for the clarification.

I've never owned an Optimus laptop. Old or newer types.

Windows 11 crashes after setting primary GPU to Nvidia GT 420-m

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