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    Integrated and Discrete Graphics

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Hideto, Aug 21, 2011.

  1. Hideto

    Hideto Notebook Guru

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    Good afternoon Guys,

    I have been quite pertubed by an issue with my graphics card.

    I am quite sure i have been using my Radeon HD 6970M graphics card all along instead of the Mobile Intel HD Graphics (integrated) as i did not do a graphic card switch. I have been able to play Crysis at Very high settings etc so i am pretty sure Radeon HD 6970M is the one running (a check under CCC confirms "High Performance Card" is in use).

    However, when utilising Ccleaner and Game Booster, the graphic cards these program list out is "Mobile Intel HD Graphics". The only way to make them show "ATI RAdeon HD 6970M" is to disable or uninstall the "Mobile Intel Hd Graphics" under Device Manager.

    Anyone know why? Cheers!
     
    Hideto, Aug 21, 2011
    #1
  2. zoolian982

    zoolian982 Notebook Deity

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    zoolian982, Aug 21, 2011
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  3. Hideto

    Hideto Notebook Guru

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    Hey zoolian, does disabling integrated chip have any disadvantages? Can i just disable them from the device manager then?

    What i am confused about is how come programs detect intel when radeon is the one running.. hmm..
     
    Hideto, Aug 21, 2011
    #3
  4. zoolian982

    zoolian982 Notebook Deity

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    None as far as I know. The only disadvantage is no more 3d if u own the 580m, but that's not a problem for you.
     
    zoolian982, Aug 21, 2011
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  5. Hideto

    Hideto Notebook Guru

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    is there another way that involves not having to disable the chip? like just make the programs recognise the radeon is in presidence, not intel.. not sure if anybody else faces this problem.
     
    Hideto, Aug 21, 2011
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  6. Brabostaan

    Brabostaan Notebook Deity

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    You are always on the AMD card so why would you disable te IGP? AMD card works perfect right?

    Because of whats Cc/game booster is showing?? Doesnt make any sense. :confused:
     
    Brabostaan, Aug 21, 2011
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  7. Hideto

    Hideto Notebook Guru

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    hey barbostaan, i don't think you get what i mean..

    my concern is that if my programs such as ccleaner / game booster is identifying intel hd graphics as the graphics card (no mention of radeon at all), would this actually bring any decrease in performance or something? why is it showing IGP when it is using AMD and not IGP? Why didn't it show radeon when it is the one i am on? makes sense?

    i am not well schooled in this. As a layman, of course the normal instinct would be to check what to do to make all your programs recognize AMD as the graphics card..
     
    Hideto, Aug 21, 2011
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  8. Brabostaan

    Brabostaan Notebook Deity

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    I would not worry to much about it since the games run well.

    You can manualy swith from IGP to dGPU it wont switch back unless you do so.
     
    Brabostaan, Aug 21, 2011
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  9. Hideto

    Hideto Notebook Guru

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    ah i see.. thanks for your advice! I shall just take it that ccleaner and game booster is the one at fault :)
     
    Hideto, Aug 21, 2011
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  10. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    You see the same thing in GPU-Z, with the Intel GPU always shown as active when the utility is launched even though you are using the discrete card, but in GPU-Z you can at least switch to the other card easily. I think that these utilities have not yet been refined to accommodate switchable graphics or to recognize which one is being used. It has no practical effect on your performance.
     
    The Revelator, Aug 21, 2011
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  11. paradigm

    paradigm Notebook Deity

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    if you were to physically disable the iGPU..you would loose ...quite massively on the battery time
     
    paradigm, Aug 21, 2011
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  12. Hideto

    Hideto Notebook Guru

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    i see.. thanks to all that replied :)
     
    Hideto, Aug 21, 2011
    #12