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    [ASK] M17x R3 NVIDIA Card + Optimus issues real ?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by little_one, Sep 30, 2011.

  1. little_one

    little_one Notebook Consultant

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    Hi Guys

    Sorry if this questions is repost :eek:

    So I read about nvidia optimus horror stories .... about how optimus randomly causes BSOD , about how optimus cause nvidia card cannot be used in certain games cause those games always use intel graphic only ( even though we set global settings / application specific settings in nvidia control panel ) , about how optimus screwed up games using punkbuster ,etc

    So id like to ask the owners of m17x with Nvidia card here , is above really true ?

    Hows your experience so far with nvidia card + optimus ?

    Thanks in advance :)
     
  2. worldedit

    worldedit Notebook Consultant

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    so far i didt get any BSOD while playing game...

    u can set via "application specific settings in nvidia control panel" it work well for me.
     
  3. Brabostaan

    Brabostaan Notebook Deity

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    The 460m had some BSOD's, dondt hear anything about the 560m/580m.
     
  4. Roykirk

    Roykirk Notebook Consultant

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    I've not experienced BSOD's with my Optimus 460m, but I have heard that others have.

    There are issues with the Dell drivers not detecting certain games even when you specifically tell the Nvidia Control Panel to use the 460m with those games, but I solved that by using later drivers with modded .inf.

    I'm currently using the 280.26 drivers and have been extremely pleased with their performance.
     
  5. zoolian982

    zoolian982 Notebook Deity

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    Only the 460m as far as I've known had the bsod issues.

    It was a nightmare for me to fix it D:
     
  6. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

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    only had BSOD's when i upgraded to a driver that didn't work. :( only game i couldn't really play was GTA 4 because it wouldn't detect the 460. Other than that I love how it works :)
     
  7. Roykirk

    Roykirk Notebook Consultant

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    And I just upgraded to 285.38 drivers using the LaptopVideo2Go modded .inf a few hours ago. No problems yet and games running as well or better than they did under 280.26.

    Both those driver sets appear to be stable in my experience, so they should work well for you. I recommend clean installs if you try them.
     
  8. Lanscaper

    Lanscaper Notebook Consultant

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    No problems here. Had 1 or 2 programs I had to tell to use the nvidia card in nvidia control panel.. that is the extent of my inconvieniance. Am happy with the long battery life provided with optimus ;)
     
  9. aaronw1986

    aaronw1986 Notebook Guru

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    Just something I found out recently- an external display connected via hdmi or displayport always uses discrete graphics. So, if you do use another monitor, you would never have to worry about game performance.