Replaced motherboard, no more Optimus. Good or bad thing?

Long story short: My M17x R3, brand new only-one-month-old woke up to a no video and 4 beeps on trying to start it a couple of weeks ago.

After calling support they sent a representative to check it out/fix it and they said they were going to replace the RAM and the motherboard, which they did.

After the replacement Windows wouldn't boot at all, so I had to do a reinstall but noticed something strange in BIOS: it only listed the NVidia GTX 460M video card, and under "integrated card" it said "none".

After installing Windows, it only detected the NVidia card, installed latest verde drivers and worked without a problem. Tried to install Intel Sandy-whatever driver and it said there was no Intel video card.

So, in short, they killed the "Optimus" technology on the laptop (it is not a 3D one, it's the 60 Hz which had Optimus before; I know it because I had some trouble with a game on it).

Now I don't know what to do. Should I call them and ask them why did I get a motherboard without Optimus support? Should I be happy about the fact I don't have to deal with Optimus issues anymore?

I just want to make sure I didn't get a worse motherboard than the one I had originally. It has the same RAM (8 GB) and the same processors (8 cores, same speed) so I guess I should be happy?

I would appreciate any input on this matter

Edit: It did come with A00 BIOS, which I promptly upgraded to A08; in both cases it said no Intel integrated graphics.

 

You have failed to mention if you are running 120hz or 60hz screens.

Assuming you are running 60hz, the guy didn't plug the LCD cable into the proper port. There are 2, one specifically for 120hz (bypasses the IGP) the other for 60hz, (connects with IGP)...

Optimus is seriously fail technology. I would prefer it disabled myself

 

I mentioned it was the 60 Hz screen, sorry if it got lost in the wall of text.

Now I am worried about it, do you think I will have trouble because video card is connected to the wrong port?

 

Not the video card, the LCD cable. You can actually open it and check yourself. If it is plugged into the one on the right (with screw holes) that is the wrong one, it should be plugged into the one without.

Also, I see 60hz now, I think I skipped over that portion

 

I guess I could open it to check myself but my question still prevails:

Do you think I will get any trouble if I leave the connection as-is? I wasn't a big fan of Optimus anyway, and I never use my laptop on battery power.

Does also that mean that anybody who wants Optimus disabled can do that "trick"?

 

That would be news to me as I wasn't aware anyone actually doing that.

It wouldn't hurt anything, no. But a good idea is to check

 

Thanks!

I am in the process of reinstalling everything (drivers, programs and such) since I failed and never got an Alien Respawn disc made .

I will, however, open my computer and check when I have enough time, probably this weekend! Will come back and post results in case anybody is interested.

Thanks a lot for your comments! If anybody else knows anthing related to this matter, input will be appreciated

 

I opened the computer today, and found out the cable was plugged into the slot without the screw holes . I even took a picture from the phone but haven't downloaded it, can attach if necessary.

What do you think about it? Should I be worried then? Did they kill Optimus some other way?

 

Well you could definitely call them and demand a solution. Its abnormal for this to happen. If you would like to take the chance to keep it as it is then its your call. I hope its not a problem with your driver or lack of some software that operates optimus. Optimus must be working because of some software instruction.

Thats my take.

 

AFAIK that port is the port you are supposed to use.

 

Yeah, I'll call Dell on Monday and ask for (another) mobo replacement, since this isn't the only issue, as you can see on:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...reinstall-no-audio-using-updated-drivers.html

What a chore!, will it ever end? I just want to get my system up and running as it was for a month after I bought it :X

 

Sorry for bumping this.

Finally, after 3 long distance international calls to Dell (I live in México) will get somebody to come replace my motherboard again, tomorrow or on Friday.

I just want to kindly ask any of you M17x R3 owners: could you please upload for me a picture of the BIOS stating that there should be an IGP plus the NVidia video card?

My computer right now only shows up the NVidia one, and it says there is no integrated card. I need to show it to the tech guy tomorrow in case the new motherboard does not detect the IGP as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

I would tend to disagree with you about the abnormality of it. This situation sounds ever so familiar to me. I have been embroiled with Dell support for the last 2 weeks over a similar situation, but with an ATI 6970m. They have replaced my motherboard and video card once already and are basically now trying to assert to me that the M17xR3 doesn't support switchable graphics at all. EDIT: I have a 60hz screen just to be clear

I have gotten lots of answers from different supervisors that lead me to now believe that certain motherboard build revisions don't work with switching at all.

At any rate, I highly suggest anyone with problems switching from discrete > integrated graphics complain. Please don't let it slide.