Questions About Optimus

Hey guys, so this is my first laptop that makes use of optimus, so I'm kinda clueless on anything about it. So I have a couple of questions below which may seem noobish:

1. Can I force optimus to run on the GT555M on command?
2. How can I make sure games run on the GT555M and not Intel?
3. I want the GT555M to run WEI, is this possible?
4. How can I use EVGA to OC the GT555M when the default GPU is the Intel? Does EVGA detect the GT555M even when running on Intel?
5. Can I use drivers from the NVIDIA website or do I have to use those from Dell or "optimus compatible" drivers. (follow-up question:What is the best driver for GT555M in M14x anyway?)

Well basically that's it..I'm pretty sure these questions have been asked about a million times already but I just wanna consolidate them in a single thread for clarification purposes. Thanks!

 

No, you cannot force optimus to switch to GT555M whenever you feel like. Thats the thing about optimus. It automatically calculates the graphic usage of each program and switches to the relevant GPU.

You can whitelist the game by going to nvidia control panel. Also, before running any game, just right click on it>run with graphics processor>High performance NVIDIA processor.
To permanently change the GPU preference, right click on game>run with graphics processor>Change default graphics processor.
It will you to the nvidia control panel. Udner mange 3D Settings, select the program and select the preferred GPU and click apply.

WEI displays score for both IGP(intel) and GPU(NVIDIA) separately. So you need not worry about it.

I havent used EVGA. But i guess it automatically detects your dedicated GPU. Try using MSI afterburner for OC'ing the GPU. It automatically detects NVIDIA GT555M.When you install this program, all options are pretty straightforward. You just drag the slider to desired value and click apply. you can save upto 5 profiles for different scenarios.

Current driver that dell is providing is the same driver you get from NVIDIA website. You should use drivers available on nvidia website because they are being updated regularly as opposed to dell's own drivers which appear once in a blue moon. you don't need to mod any inf file or anything for it to work. simply download>install>reboot. Heres the latest driver for GT555M.

 

Thanks for the very useful insights! You pretty much answered all my questions. Rep added. Thanks! One question though, my WEI score is 6.3 which is the score of both windows AERO and Gaming Graphics so it seems pretty low for the GT555M doesn't it?

 

Seems reasonable if you dont overclock. My 460m gets a 7.0 stock and 7.2 overclocked. If you really wanna test your graphics card though run 3d mark vantage and compare your score with similar systems in the benchmark thread.

 

I was hoping to hit at least a 7..GPU is the lowest score with SSD and RAM both at 7.9.. Oh well, I know WEI isn't very accurate or useful, but HIGH NUMBERS ARE PRETTY!! lol, thanks, will do benchmarking, my obsessive compulsive nature makes it very distracting for me to not know when I'm actually on dedicated graphics or not..I prefer the manual switching A LOT more..:|

 

Score for windows aero is the score for your intel IGP. Reading from your specs, you have kingston 1866 Mhz RAM as well as SSD. That pushed your intel Score to 6.3. My windows aero score is 5.8. But it is because i am using stock RAM and HDD. If you OC your GPU, i guesss you can reach 6.9- 7 mark.

thanks for the rep+. glad i could help

 

You should be getting more... My overclocked gt555m shows 7.1 for both graphics and gaming graphics with WEI so thinking you should be around the 6.8 mark

But then again it could be the drivers you're using, both the official dell and whql nvidia drivers are well outdated now, your best bet is to get the beta drivers as they've made a fair few advances when it comes to performance on the gt555m, especially with new games such as bf3 and skyrim

If you're worried about performance then try running 3dmark06 or 11 and comparing results to people with an Alienware m14x or dell l702x which also use these cards


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.124236,-0.146975

 

But you can manually select it can't you? Go to the Nvidia Control Panel and go to Global Settings. Under Preferred Graphics Processor, change it from Auto-select to whatever you want. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that what it does?

 

Since Nuaron already answer all of the question, then I'll just fill those that look like need more info, which is:

4. I use EVGA to OC the GT555M, and yes it also detect the GT555M even you use program that's using the Intel's and that I confirm when I'm editing movies in Windows Movie Maker (If you didnt know WMM does not allow you to change GPU setting, it will be using the iGPU permanently), and during the time I editing, and I see my GT555M still OC at the 2D app rate (600/1200/900)/

You're not alone, I'm also found it quite irritated when I see that score the first time I rate the laptop. However you can also able to enable a feature called "GPU Activity" which allow you to see if program or game is using the GT555M or not, it can be enable in the NVIDIA Control Panel under Desktop > Display GPU Activity icon in Notification Area (You can find it between Edit and 3D Settings on the menu bar top of the program), so then when in game, alt tabbing out of the game in the "Notification Area/Hidden Icon" if the GPU is being used, then it will show you which program is being use.

 

Doesnt always work and it still switches whenever it feels like it. AMD's manual switching works wayyyy better imo

 

agreed with Jon vMagic ... I get 6.9 on graphics. and 6.9 on gaming graphics. Thats without a overclock

 

yes. optimus sucks. I user powerdvd 11 to play Blu ray movies.But no matter how much i try, it will play only with intel gpu. It doesnt even allow me to whitelist the program to run it with nvidia GPU. how hard can it be to allow manual switching ?

 

Also, when i updates to latest NVIDIA beta driver, my WEI jumped from 6.8 to 7.0 ( OC'd) . So i guess updating drivers do have their own benefits.

 

the newest drivers aren't always as good for benching. I actually use 285.38 for benching my card and that is how I got my highest scores. Maybe it will get you higher scores on the m14x too idk. Just a thought.

 

when i did WEI benchmark using 285.38 ( driver that came with my machine) my windows aero score was 5.8 . when i updated it with nvidia beta driver, it jumped to 6.8

 

Gonna be updating to driver 285.62 from NVIDIA website. Hope everything goes well. Has anyone noticed the "Disable integrated graphics" on BIOS? Well does it work? Maybe if we disable it we run purely on GT555M if we wanted right?

 

You can't disable Intel GFX or you won't get any output.

 

Okay so using driver 285.62 driver from NVIDIA and score jumped from 6.3 to 6.9 though score is the same for AERO and Gaming, is this normal? I mean shouldn't they be different on account of the AERO makes use of intel GPU while gaming makes use of NVIDIA? I mean at least that's from what I understand. Should I update to BETA driver 290? I'm a little wary cause I'm afraid it might be unstable..BTW, noob question but is the whitelist the feature under NVIDIA Control Panel>Manage 3D Settings>Program Settings>Add? Thanks, hating on Optimus right now, so prefer my old M11x R1 with manual switching..If they have to put Optimus they should've at least allowed manual switching through NVIDIA Control Panel..Geez

 

Yes it's for whitelisting a single program. If you feel lazy you can just set the preferred GPU to Nvidia under global settings so almost every program will use Nvidia except Windows itself of course.
I believe Intel HD 3000 handles much better than my Intel HD (and it's ULV low clocked too!) but I still can watch videos without stuttering so it shouldn't be a huge problem to you
btw I don't rely on WEI too much because the real performance is much more important than it.

 

Yeah i know..But seeing a 6.9 and WEI score indicating that GPU of all things is the bottleneck kinda sucks..I know it means nothing but it just feels wrong for a gaming laptop to be bottlenecked by the GPU.. Well Anyway if I can get to a 7 score after OCing with EVGA I'll be happy.. Hmm,would updating to BETA driver 290.xx help increase performance? Can someone with this driver confirm stability?

 

I don't really think GPU is the bottleneck.
If your CPU temperature gets really hot, it will be throttled too, which makes most games unplayable.

 

I think the processor doesn't throttle until at least it hits a temp of 105C I have never had CPU throttling on mine so i don't know but I do know the processor is rated to be run up to 120C without damage.

 

I think that's the overheating point for CPU, but I think those manufacturer set those limit because of if they do really not limit it, it might also endanger other component as well though this is what I think. And I think the reason your CPU never throttling is because of the M17x's good air ventilation system.

 

yea thats a good point you have there, I'd rather not end up with a liquid motherboard. as the m17x's cooling system, its better than the m14x, but you still gotta watch your temps with the higher end cards. my 460m has never breached 67C, but thats because I only play games with the back end of the machine elevated

 

Okay so Optimus works, now I'm a little worried about temps..I'm in a fairly cool room with a full size electric fan pointed straight at my laptop. Playing Assassin's Creed: Revelations at max settings with x4 AA and I'm averaging temps of around 80-81 degrees right now without OC and when OC to 700/1400/1080 I average temps of 83-84..Now I don't know why the temps are so high when I know the fans aren't dirty and it's sitting on a flat table. Is BIOS A05 doing this? Are these temps safe? I'm worried it'll cause extensive wear to the GPU over time..

 

GPU should just work fine so make CPU temp the top priority

 

No problems with CPU temps, I hit like 62 or something so I don't think that's an issue right? GPU temps are scary with my OC I reach 83 degrees..:|

 

Without my cooler I can reach 105C CPU and 99C GPU.....

 

You need to have GPU thermal pads changed and a thermal repaste.just contact dell n tell em about high temps.IF cpu is is in 60's i dont think GPU shud have temps exceeding 80+. Try calling them.

 

Meh, dunno... Although I've not seen my gt555m go over 75ish I wouldn't worry about exceeding 85, unless it's becoming uncomfortable on the palm rest... Isn't really a problem until post 90


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.124353,-0.147153

 

What's weird is my laptop doesn't feel hot externally at all..Can't contact Dell cause I'm from somewhere far, far away lol. Don't have warranty support or any type of support for the matter..It's all DIY around here lol. Just hit 86 awhile ago, though just at one point, 84-85 seems to be my average for Assassin's Creed: Revelations at all high and x4 AA and overclocked..Though I swear my laptop doesn't feel hot at all..

 

if you open up this laptop, you will see there is nothing beneath palmrest save for HDD. so even if your GPU is at 100C+, you wont notice it because heat is only localised to top area middle part of keyboard because thats where CPU is located. and GPU is not supposed to reach 80c + in my opinion. While benchmarking, thats a different story but while gaming it shouldt be at that level. It might endure high temps right now, but it will kill the GPu in long run. Shouldn't bother you if you dont intend to keep it for then 2 years.

 

Okay so given the temps of my GPU average around 84-85 degrees with a maximum of 86 degrees overclock @ 700/1400/1080. I decided to up the overclock even more just to see if temps would rise higher! That's just how dumb I am lol. So I OC'd to almost the maximum capacity of most GT555Ms without increasing voltage @ 800/1600/1080 and here comes the weird part. Temps now average 78 degrees and top at 81 degrees. Playing the same game, same number of hours, with the same settings on the same place and on the same time of day (or night for the matter). So how in the world did that happen??

I would like to repaste though I'm afraid I might screw things up..Have experience with desktops and laptops though nothing as complicated as having to take the entire laptop apart..5-8 degrees cooler will do wonders though..

P.S. CPU hits like 70 on average, is this fine?

 

Its hard to pinpoint exact cause. can be anything ranging from software to enviromental.

there are numerous guides on how to tear apart your alienware m14x both here and on youtube. you can consult them. Plus if you are unsure about doing it right, take these guides to a laptop repair guy. He will do it more safely.

Here is a fantastic guide to disassemble your m14x posted by on of our user ComputerMD82: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-m14x-disassembly-teardown-upgrade-guide.html


Just go through it

 

Well i have had days where temps on my cpu crossed the 100C barrier. Nothing happened so far. Even the guy on tech support said that this machine can handle temps worse then 100C . Yours are in 70 so you should worry AT ALL. Plus its core i7, it is born to set things on fire!