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    M14x HDMI Behavior and i5+HyperX?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by HeavenCry, Jan 24, 2012.

  1. HeavenCry

    HeavenCry Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ive noticed some strange HDMI behavior watching movies on the HDTV via HDMI at 1080p from the M14x.
    Sometimes (rather rarely though) for a second the picture goes black and im not sure what the cause is - it could be signal loss (though with a 5m cable i doubt it since my P150HM works on a 10m one without a problem) but im thinking its more likely another optimus problem - the laptop switching for a second between the GPUs... Anyone else noticed this (is it a common thing) or do i have a faulty laptop on my hands?

    Also,
    Ive got some extra HyperX PnP 1600MHz 8GB KITs at home i could put into the GFs M14x. Its got an i5-2430m with 4GB stock 1333mhz atm. Now since the i5 doesnt officially support 1600mhz can i run into any issues with the HyperX - is anyone running this combination so they could confirm it works fine?
     
  2. seelezerkleiner

    seelezerkleiner Notebook Guru

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    Screen flickering is normal. It happens during gfx card changes.
     
  3. HeavenCry

    HeavenCry Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ok good, so thats what i expected then.
    What about the HyperX? Anyone here tried running the 1600MHz PnP with an i5?
     
  4. Harshdog

    Harshdog Notebook Enthusiast

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    How do you stop the screen flickering? I have the same problem and it is very annoying. Also when I use HDMI out to a tv I tend to have screen formatting problems, like the screen will be too "big" for the tv.
     
  5. jeremyshaw

    jeremyshaw Big time Idiot

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    The flickering is NOT due to switchable GPU. I do not want to reexplain nVidia Optimus again, but the easy way to explain is this: one GPU outputs and renders (Intel), while the other (nVidia) can take over the rendering job if initialized to do so. That way, no screen flicker is due to the nVidia GPU "switching."

    As for the screen "formatting too large," look in the Intel GPU options (right click desktop-->graphics properties) and look for a Scaling or Overscan option (not the scaling to internal panel option). The setting should only show up when connected to an external TV.
     
  6. HeavenCry

    HeavenCry Notebook Virtuoso

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    Simply put the cause of the flicker is Optimus...

    Anyone have any info on the i5+1600MHz RAM?
     
  7. alroar

    alroar Notebook Consultant

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    no its not. read post #5
     
  8. HeavenCry

    HeavenCry Notebook Virtuoso

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    Youre saying transfering the rendering workload from one GPU to another isnt part of Optimus?
     
  9. headphones989

    headphones989 Notebook Consultant

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    whenever the laptop is hooked up to an HDMI cable, should always be running with nvidia graphics and optimus doesn't come into the picture