Installed SSD, W7 Fresh Install, GPU Question

Hey guys! I got a new M4 and I installed it on HD Bay 1. Installed Windows 7 on SSD and installed all drivers by following Batboy's guide on fresh install.

I was trying to switch my GPU to my discreet from my Intel by pressing Fn+F7 and its showing me this:



It will not change anything and that prompt will stay there unless I close it. And it doesn't change my display to using my 580M.

This is basically my install sequence and everything I installed after windows.



Did I miss anything?
And my 580M is detected by Device Manager with installed driver and noted as working.

Also, can somebody direct me to any link on how I can downgrade my bios from A10 to A08 for the SATA III speed?

Thanks guys.

 

That's normal. Nothing to worry about. Optimus decides when to use integrated and when to use your 580M. If you prefer to run your computer on discreet graphics only you can always flash to the unlocked A08 BIOS and disable IGD.

For the stock A08, I believe you can download that from the dell website under drivers and downloads.

 

Before I did this fresh install, since I got this unit last week, its always running on discreet GPU. So will optimus change it to discreet when I start playing game?

Also, do you know any procedure on how to replace my bios from A10 to A08? Thanks.

 

just download and run the file from dell support located below and you will be running stock A08. As to optimus, it's been on your machine since you got it as dell ships the Nvidia 60htz m17x's with it. Obviously its been doing a great job of working since you couldn't even tell its there.

Let the machine restart after the bios flash

Alienware M17xR3 BIOS

 

BIOS A08 is available from Dell here: Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States].

Unlocked version of A08 here: M17xR3 UNLOCKED A08 BIOS.rar.

 

Lol! I know my machine comes with optimus but I thought I still have to select which card to use by switching using Fn+F7. So optimus has been deciding for me all the while! Thanks guys.

Thanks, is there any difference between the two aside from the last being fully unlocked?


EDIT:

Hey guys. I tried running the stock A08 exe file and it gave me this message:

"The requested operation requires elevation".

Is it requiring to be run in DOS environment? Dell procedure says I will need a bootable diskette. Lol, where will I get a diskette? And where will I insert it in my R3?

Can I just go to command prompt?
Thanks!

 

Nope, otherwise identical so far as I know.

Edit - try right clicking and Run as Administrator. You can flash A08 either from within Windows or from a DOS environment. Check the installation instructions on the download page.

 

Thanks. Administrator did the trick!