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    How to tell if your R4 is running on HD4000 or 7970M

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by [Cyanide], Jun 4, 2012.

  1. [Cyanide]

    [Cyanide] Notebook Consultant

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    I know this GPU is still pretty new and with new Alienware M17x R4 owners like myself, we all would like to know what GPU is currently being utilized.

    Whlie AMD's Enduro/IGP switching technology is... ok at best (you never quite know for sure if it's switched over to 7970M properly).

    I've found a pretty easy way to verify that I'm running on my 7970M instead of HD4000 using just CPUID.

    Everyone should know by now that Fn+F7 switches GPUs on your laptop, but it never actually tells us what it's switching TO.

    Download and install CPUID here: CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

    Once installed, run it and click on the "Graphics" tab, it should either say HD4000 or AMD Radeon HD 7970M.

    Press Fn+F7 and reboot, run CPUID again, click on the "Graphics" tab and your GPU should have changed to reflect what you are currently running on.

    The 2nd tell-tale sign that you're running solely on 7970M is if you right-click on your desktop, it should only say "Catalyst Control Center" and shouldn't give you an option to configure switchable graphics.

    Hope this helps all the new owners like myself!
     

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    [Cyanide], Jun 4, 2012
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  2. truekiller28

    truekiller28 Notebook Consultant

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    The "Windows Way" to know that is going to Right Click (desktop)>Screen Resolution>Advance Parameters, it should show you the actual component your display run on.
     
    truekiller28, Jun 4, 2012
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