xps 15 L502x Video card confusion (intel and gt540M)

I bought the Xps 15 L502x for work. I have the nvidia gt540M. I also notice that I have intel graphics.

I looked on the net and it says that when what I do is video card intensive, it switches to my nvida automatically.

My problem is that I look at pdf plans and there are a lot of details and I would want to make sure it uses my gt 540M at its full power when I use adobe acrobat.

For adobe acrobat, I went to the nVIDIA Control Panel --> Manage 3D Settings --> Global Settings --> Preferred Graphics Processor --> High Performance ( nVIDIA ).

When I open my acrobat, how do I know that it really uses the nvidia gt540m card, I know the fans starts when I open it and browse the plans, but I want to make sure it uses that video card and I don't know how to verify that it does indeed use it instead of the intel graphics.


Now if I want to force a program to use the nvidia card, I always have to do this?

Thanks for the help, I'm a little confuse about the switcheable graphics.

 

If it's set to use it, it should be. The reason you aren't noticing a difference is that the Intel graphics are perfectly capable at running Adobe Acrobat.

 

From your Nvidia control panel if you want to be perfectly comfortable knowing the GPU is active there is a tray Icon you can list. I am not infront of my system but its on one of the drop downs above all your Nvidia graphics options that says something like "include tray notification on use" or something simpler than that.

If I was infront of my laptop I could tell you exactly but that adds an item to you bottom right < windows 7 tray that looks like a little GPU chip icon and when you have a program running it will list the program or programs running with the GPU vs the intergrated grapics.

 

Think this is it ?

Second picture is another interesting option, you can lock it to use the nvidia graphics

 

Exactly you found it. That will show you a little GPU icon in your bottom right windows 7 tray that if you open the fly out and mouse over it will show you exactly what is running on the GPU.

You may need to click the 2nd and last option actually the one mentioning the tray notification as well as the bottom one to show activity.

Its silly to really "need" that but when I was first working with optimus I wanted to have that visual check just to satisfy myself. Really the performance is so different when using the GPU vs intergrated graphics that you notice right away if a game is not using it.