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    7970m Manual Switching?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Raidriar, Jul 16, 2012.

  1. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    I know the 6970/6990M had manual switching, does the 7970m on the R4 still have this feature, or is it solely automatic switching? I wasn't able to find a definitive answer on it and I created an IdeaStorm thread for it

    Idea Storm
     
    Raidriar, Jul 16, 2012
    #1
  2. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

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    Are you referring to manual or auto switching?
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Jul 16, 2012
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  3. OblastSRT4

    OblastSRT4 Notebook Evangelist

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    If you are talking about turning off Enduro, yes FN + F7 turn it off (once you reboot) so you can run off JUST the 7970m. You can also have it on so it switches automatically between the integrated and dedicated cards.
     
    OblastSRT4, Jul 16, 2012
    #3
  4. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    I was referring to (on the R4) the automatic switching system. Does it also include a manual switch option for IGP and Discrete GPU? The ideastorm post is to encourage Dell to include a manual switching option.
     
    Raidriar, Jul 16, 2012
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  5. Coach Knight

    Coach Knight Notebook Consultant

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    Yes it still has a manual switching by FN+F7.
     
    Coach Knight, Jul 16, 2012
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  6. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    So in Windows 7, FN+F7 changes between IGP and 7970m WITHOUT reboot?
     
    Raidriar, Jul 16, 2012
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  7. Eddie12390

    Eddie12390 Notebook Consultant

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    It requires a reboot.
     
    Eddie12390, Jul 16, 2012
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  8. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    This was the point of the ideastorm then, to re-implment manual graphics switching w/o reboot, as it was in the R3. Shouldn't be too difficult, I played with a unlocked bios setting in the R3 that allowed me to go from manual switching to automatic switching with the 6990m.
     
    Raidriar, Jul 16, 2012
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  9. long2905

    long2905 Notebook Virtuoso

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    thankfully yes.
     
    long2905, Jul 16, 2012
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  10. Coach Knight

    Coach Knight Notebook Consultant

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    Sorry, I misunderstood the question. As has already been said, reboot is required. Of course, with my SSD that takes all of 22 seconds. LOL

    I used to dread any reboots before this SSD, now it is no issue. But I totally understand what you are saying about how nice it would be to do so without reboot.
     
    Coach Knight, Jul 16, 2012
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  11. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    vote up on ideastorm them :D
     
    Raidriar, Jul 16, 2012
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  12. rixarena

    rixarena Newbie

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    can you not have autoswitching enabled and still use the manual override?

    Regards Sam
     
    rixarena, Jul 17, 2012
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  13. OblastSRT4

    OblastSRT4 Notebook Evangelist

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    Its one or the other. Either you leave auto switching on, or you disable it with FN+F7.
     
    OblastSRT4, Jul 17, 2012
    #13