XPS 13 Studio SLI Question

I have an issue with my XPS 13 Studio. In High Performance, It says "Boost Performance", but WOW actually is more choppy and slower. If I put it down to power save, it runs smoother.

Any ideas why?

Thanks
Jeff.

 

Firstly, ensure you have the latest Nvidia drivers.

Secondly, are you using WoW Windowed or Fullscreen? I dunno about latest drivers but I know for a fact on the older drivers (possibly the newer ones) Windowed mode + SLI = slowdown. This is/was a known bug to Nvidia.

 

Ok, here's an update:

I do run WoW in windowed mode so I tried it in full screen and it was still slower and choppier under performance mode than in save power mode. I checked my drivers and I currently use the 179.82 version put out by Dell. I tried to update my drivers by installing the most current nvidia one which is 186.03. However, when I get into the installer, it only allows me to install the audio HD driver. I tried manually uninstalling the old drivers and still no luck. Then I tried installing new(er) drivers from laptopvideo2go.com. While I had success installing them, I had trouble switching to SLI mode. It kept asking me to "boost performance," but it wouldn't do anything when I clicked on the button to. So, in the end, I reverted back to the old dell drivers and everything is working like before. It still runs slower in performance mode than in power save.

Also, I tried running it in my native resolution (I normally hook the laptop up to an external monitor). You can still tell it runs slower in performance mode. Not sure what else to do. Suggestions?

Thanks

 

I'm not sure what cards you are using, however may I suggest:

Go to nvidia's website and download the latest drivers. If you don't want the latest, I'd advise 185.85, they're very stable drivers. (I prefer them over 186.03)

Download these, make sure it's for your card!! Then restart your computer and constantly press f8. Start up in safe mode. Install the drivers from safe mode.

They should install without a problem if they are the correct ones for your card =-/

 

Ok,
I currently have the 9500M G card on my laptop. I'm running the 64-bit Vista. The drivers you mentioned (185.85) look to be for XP/Win 7 only. I tried downloading 185.86 which is supported by Vista, but the boost performance option is still buggy. I went back to the nvidia site and tried to download the newest ones for 64-bit 9500M notebooks. It still gives me an option to install only the audio HD driver, even in safe mode after I have uninstalled the previous drivers.

Jeff.

 

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_notebook_winvista64_185.85_whql.html

I'm not entirely sure what this "boost performance" option is. It may be buggy itself, try it without that option. And again, try windowed AND full screen.

Does it run any better with SLI disabled?

 

Ok, I tried the link you gave me (thanks) and I tried installing in safe made and and the normal OS. It still only gives me an option to install the audio HD driver, so I went into the folder that the installation files were extracted, and I tried to install the display driver. This is the error that came up in both safe mode and the normal OS.

Jeff.

 

Not sure why that is, but try grabbing the modded inf from here:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23940

And paste it into your extracted folder. Other than that I'm clean out of ideas, sorry =-(

 

Maybe you can try dox's driver and try that in WOW. Does WOW support SLI? Or you didn't check the setting that enable SLI in WOW. Because if the game doesn't supprot it then it will only use 9200m for the game only. That's why it performs worse than the save mode. (Save mode use 9400m which is much better than 9200m) Here is the line for Dos'x 185.85 final version. http://laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=24003

Edit: Be sure to run driversweeper before installing the driver.

 

The modded INF file helped! I was able to install the 185.85 drivers and the SLI is working much better. It runs much more smooth full screen under performance mode than in power save.

Thanks again!
Jeff.

 

Hey,

I got another question while we're on the subject. Thinking about this some more. In full power how does it determine what should be the lower end vs the higher end video card usage? Because I would think I'd rather have it use only the higher end 9400m video card like 100% of the time so it would always be fast no matter what I was doing.

That seems odd to me. I get the power saving, but to me what benefit is it to run both 9200 + 9400 vs only 9400?

Thanks
Jeff.

 

Firstly: YAAY That it worked =-P

Secondly, as for your second question, I'm not entirely sure.

If you're using two GPUs at the same time, of course it's going to be better than running just one, if even marginally.

How it determines which is the stronger GPU, I'm not entirely sure. I have a feeling it's stupid and detects it by the amount of RAM the GPU has. This would be silly, as an integrated card usually shows as using all the RAM you have on a system. Whereas the dedicated card is seen as only having it's 'dedicated' memory.

To answer your question, in SLI you'll get the benefits of having both cards. However as far as power saving is concerned, I think it's going to pick your weaker card to save power - and thus cause you lag/slowdown.

Edit: You could always try disabling the weaker card in your CP if you don't want it used, however I think that would have drawbacks with your SLI gaming.

 

As Jeff pointed out, the dedicated card is the WEAKER card in the studio xps 13 (it has half the shaders the integrated card has and slower memory).
You cannot determine the load on each card due to the way sli works (most games use AFR each card takes turns at rendering) but normally it should boost performance if only just slightly.
I'm glad it worked out for you with the newer drivers.
The ones dell uses are just bad and sli is a decrease in performance with those drivers.

 

Dell's Vista x64 drivers for the M17x have worked fine for my setup (with the 9500M GE) which are v186.12.

http://support.us.dell.com/support/...eid=R226274&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=324207

They probably should update the ones on the SXPS 13....

 

Just curious but why is this topic called SLI?

 

Because it concerns the optional (Hybrid) SLI in the SXPS 1340's 9500M GE (9200M GS + 9400M G).

 

...

2 integrated cards?

 

The 9200m is a dedicated card. The 9400m is integrated, although more powerful than the 9200.

 

So you use an SXPS 13 too? I just recieved mine 2 weeks ago and I've noticed the performance drop using Boost Performance.
The driver you posted; it makes it so that boost performance is better for most/all games rather than sli-optimized games such as CoD4?

Hmm I'm interested in downloading that too, but i have no idea how to use do it or anything >_< would u mind giving me a slight walkthrough?

 

HellDemon -

Download the 185.85 drivers I initially linked to. Then go to the second site with the modded "inf" file. Download the inf file.

Extract the 185.85 drivers somewhere, then overwrite the inf file in there with the modified one you download. Then run the setup, and it should install fine

 

so the driver you previously mentioned; it makes hybrid sli the way it should be? i.e. faster than just integrated?

 

I don't have hybrid SLI so not sure, I just know 185.85 is one of the most stable drivers as of late, and this thread shows improvement =-P

 

Hmm well i installed it, but the nvidia control panel doesnt work so i think im gonna hafta stick with the original drivers =/

There doesnt seem to be crazy performance boosts, as the 9400m still seems more powerful than hybrid sli... =// i might try the m17x drivers before going back to the sxps 13 official drivers

edit: not even for cod5, which is supposedly supposed to be optimized for SLi like cod4 shows the 9500m ge to be better than the 9400 =/ only cod4 shows a crazy increase, and it doesnt seem like there are any other games where the 9500m ge is better...

 

Okay well I just installed the M17x drivers; they work amazingly, much more stable than the current dell sxps 13 drivers, and u get the nvidia control panel and eveyrthing (you can even adjust gfx settings without needing to change power options).

The performance has been upped slightly, while for other games has been upped significantly; but one thing is for sure, once the fan turns on when ur gaming, ur performance drops =/ but hey, I managed to play DMC4 at a full 60fps at 720x480, all high settings, 4x MSAA while the integrated managed to crank out only around 40-45.

But for most other games, the integrated is still better =/ but hey, at least the game library on what the SLI will be better with has improved. Hopefully nvidia will perfect this hybrid sli stuff the same way they did with true sli

 

Heh, I have yet to do any actual comparisons. All I can confirm is running 186.12 on Windows 7 x64 is not slower than Windows Vista x64 with 179.x on SLI optimized programs XD (though I would say it definitely seems a decent amount faster). I'll probably try out the INF hack with something non-SLI optimized at some point.

+1 at everything you said. The last part involving default independent control over the GPU is rather useful. Though not present in Vista, I had stability issues with 179.x on Windows 7 x64 which have disappeared with 186.12.