Dropped WEI and performance after installing drivers, help!

So, I have the Alienware m11x, core i5, etc. etc. Today i DLed and installed the latest drivers from the intel website, found here: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/ (Graphics->Laptop graphics controllers->Intel HD graphics). Windows 7 Basic 64-bit. Now, my system had something like a 6.5 rating on the "gaming graphics" category of the Windows Experience Index. It dropped to a 4.4 after installing the drivers! The weirdest thing is, the only other category that changed was "Graphics," which rose from a 2.9 to a 3.3. Extremely unexpected. These are the latest drivers, the website says so. What happened! And there is a definite decrease in performance, before i was running just cause 2 and modern warfare 2 at high settings with amazing fps, now portal isn't even running too well. I have no idea what i did.

 

You need to install the drivers from Nvidia - only these drivers have the hybrid optumis features you require. Your laptop is now only using the Integrated video card and not the discrete video card.

If your unsure what driver to get just download from Dell web site

 

Alright, went straight to Nvidia website, auto-scanned my computer and found a driver for it that was version 260.99 (it said the current version i have right now is 0.0, maybe that had something to do with it), it's a 135 mb file, let's see how this goes!

 

Also WEI isn't a reliable indicator of performance, as long as your games play fine I wouldn't worry about the WEI score

 

Update-installation failed, apparently it "could not find compatible graphics hardware." I find that curious seeing as how it scanned my computer FOR THE PURPOSE OF giving me the compatible software, haha. Anyway, i ran Portal and L4D2 anyway to see how they run. Portal- very good, which is odd considering that i'm pretty sure I did nothing (the driver installation failed). Ran L4D2 and it ran decently. I haven't ran it before though, so I don't know if there would be a difference..I'll have to download MW2 again to check it out.

 

Don't bother scanning. Just download it yourself.

NVIDIA DRIVERS 260.99 WHQL

 

i did. I downloaded that exact one. When i opened it up the installer ran and it said it's not compatible with my graphics hardware.

 

I have the i5 too, this is my score:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b245/VIdaluko/Sinttulo-15.png

Is in spanish, but you can see the number to match it, I have the latest nvidia official drivers and the intel ones...

 

Reboot. Rerun installer. If the device isn't accessible for one reason or another, it might interfere with the installation.

 

Have you tried something like system restore (on the off chance it's helpful for a change)?

You might also want to see if you can uninstall those Intel drivers, then see if the install works. Just curious, why did you choose the Win7 Basic download?

 

I don't know, I thought that's what I had is that not the case?
Ok, so I stopped downloading stuff on steam and just launched portal-ran very very well. L4D2-same story. So i'm happy, right? Well I download the Just Cause 2 demo from steam and open it up. I get a DirectX fatal error 15! Mass Effect 2 demo- same thing. so i uninstalled the intel drivers, the drivers themselves plus intel rapid storage technology (i left the intel control center there). I also uninstalled NVidia drivers that I apparently had and NVidia PhysX 8.10.17. Off to Nvidia website now to download the original driver suggested. Wish me luck!

 

:O uh oh! After i uninstalled intel drivers resolution dropped to rockbottom. Installed Nvidia driver...rebooted computer...Just Cause 2 gets a "Directx Fatal error Code 2: 0X0 S_OK." tried to change my resolution but i don't know how, the Intel HD graphics component in the desktop tray is gone. Can't run other games either....this really screwed up, please help!

 

I got Just Cause 2 on Steam today ($7.5) and runs awesome, so you should uninstall all video drivers and install them again, I dunno if you need to follow a path to do it, like first the nvidia drivers or something like that....

 

I was just about to buy it, but what's with this directx error??

 

Found this at the JC2 forums:

DirectX Fatal Error!! Please Help! - Eidos Forums

I think you are running JC2 with the intel GPU, not the Nvidia, because I think it is an error that shows when you don´t have system requeriments to run the game...


If not, there is other "solution" in yahoo:

Just Cause 2 directx fatal error on windows 7? - Yahoo! Answers

 

I simply just reinstalled Intel drivers, everything went back to normal and the directX errors went away! Maybe i just had to install them in the order of Nvidia then Intel. Anyway, res is back to normal, JC2 and L4D2 fps absolutely skyrocketed. HUGE thanks to everyone who posted!