Can't switch GPUs.

Hi all, I bought my laptop 2 weeks ago and some problems already popped out.
As the title said, I can't switch my GPUs.
When I run dxdiag, the display tab shows Intel(R) HD Graphics Family, and not NVDIA GeForce GTX-580m.
I read that fn+f7 should switch them but all it did was pop out a window that said "Your graphics solution is automatically configured for optimal performance."
My power setting is already at high performance and plugged in.
Opening NVDIA control panel is also impossible.
I can't think of any way to solve this problem.
Hope you guys can help me out.

Thanks.

 

That's because the 580m doesn't use manual switching. It uses NVIDIA's Optimus system where it switches when it needs to. Since running dxdiag doesn't require the beefy 580m, it just uses the integrated GPU and it displays it instead of the 580m. If you fire up a game, the computer will automatically switch over and use the 580m. The manual switching is for 6990's.

As far as NVIDIA's control panel not showing, you may want to re-install the video drivers. Install the Intel Graphics driver from Dell's support site, then download and install the newest NVIDIA drivers. Make sure before installing that you have completely removed all traces of NVIDIA and also preferably the Intel video drivers as well. So uninstall anything NVIDIA related, use CCleaner to remove any lingering NVIDIA references in the registry, reboot, install Intel driver, then NVIDIA driver.

Here is the link for the Intel graphics driver from Dell:
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers...rFileFormats?DriverId=39JKW&FileId=2731102467

Here is the newest NVIDIA driver:
http://www.geforce.com/Drivers/Results/41704

 

:facepalm:
I've already downloaded the driver from NVIDIA...just forgotten to install it.
Well thx for the help and sorry to waste your time .

 

No problem. Here to help. I'm on a question answering spree today!

 

I've tried various things to get mine to switch. Both my AMD and Intel gpu drivers are up to date. I've run AlienAutopsy, yet I still can't change to the intel gpu. Also, I can't put this thing into sleep mode without waking it back up to a black screen.

 

what system do you have and what are your specs?

 

Sleep mode never worked reliably for me (the black screen), even when I had the regular 560M installed. I tried problem solving it, and tried various things, but could never fix it - well, I got an SSD to mitigate.

 

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name CHRIS-PC
System Manufacturer Alienware
System Model M17xR3
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM CPU @ 2.00GHz, 2001 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Alienware A04, 3/28/2011
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name Chris-PC\Chris
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 6.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 5.95 GB
Available Physical Memory 3.39 GB
Total Virtual Memory 11.9 GB
Available Virtual Memory 8.04 GB
Page File Space 5.95 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

 

You need to use drivers from DELL.com to be able to use switchable GFX

 

I've tried messing with the drivers but all it does is blue screen. I'll then restart the thing and nothing has been accomplished. Also does the bluetooth feature disappearing from my device manager in any way have any relevance to this?

 

Ok Chris:
Uninstall all Graphics drivers
Reboot into safe mode
Use Driver Fusion in safe mode and select all AMD/Ati and Intel graphic options and remove
Reboot into normal mode
Install the latest Dell driver from the dell support page.
Reboot
Your problem should now be resolved.

 

Good stuff, I would skip the Driver Fusion part though, just remove and re install both drivers manually if possible.

 

Driver Fusion & Driver Sweeper are tools to clean all amd drivers just for the cleanest of installs.

 

I understand, I personally don't like to use any of those tools unless it's absolutely necessary, they could mess up the registry.