So here is my problem. I just built a new computer with the AMD A10-5800K. When I tried to install Windows 7, the process would start and then the Windows logo would become distorted. I tried booting the Windows XP disc and all that came up on the screen was a non-flashing cursor but I could tell the boot process was working. I put in an old NVidia video card I pulled from an old computer and there were no video problems. So I went ahead and installed Windows 7. Then I removed the NVidia video card and tried booting the installed Windows 7 and the same video problem. It appears the video adapter on the CPU is not initializing properly.

I then tried to boot to the Windows 8 DVD. It worked. Although I will not install Windows 8 — anybody who knows me knows I think Windows 8 is far FAR worse than Windows ME because at least Windows ME gave you a start button — the fact that the Windows 8 DVD works with the integrated video tells me the CPU/GPU is not bad.

I fixed the problem by updating the UEFI firmware to the latest version. Once I did, everything worked fine. Without the extra video card, this would have been a classic Catch-22: I can’t update the UEFI without Windows, I can’t get into Windows to update the UEFI without the video working.

But at least I learned that these new APU’s (CPU/GPU on one chip) can be affected by the UEFI or BIOS. From now on, if I ever build another computer with an APU and no external video card, I will update the UEFI or BIOS right away.

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