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    M11x R2 Win 7 - Sluggish external/dual monitor? Forces integrated adapter?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by NickericanDream, Dec 6, 2015.

  1. NickericanDream

    NickericanDream Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have an old (2010) m11x R2 with Optimus that automatically switches between the crappy Intel integrated adapter and a GT 335M Nvidia adapter for gaming. Over Thanksgiving I bought a home office set-up including a Plugable USB 3.0 docking station and two Dell U2414H external monitors. The Dell monitors have a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 each. Everything works correctly after setup off my Alienware, but then today I tried playing League of Legends, which my R2 normally runs great (60 FPS, etc.).

    However, on the external monitor(s) I only get 5-10 FPS. I tried turning off, then unplugging, one of the two external monitors and that did nothing. My Nvidia control panel is of course set to use the Nvidia card both as a global setting and for the all the .Exe files for all my games.

    When I go into the properties of an external monitor, it only shows the integrated Intel adapter, with no option to change it to my Nvidia adapter. At first I thought this was the problem, but then I read on another forum that the R2 uses the Intel for display, while actually rendering on the Nvidia if that's set up properly. So maybe it's fine that the external monitor shows that it is using only the Intel adapter?

    So I am not sure what my problem is and how to run 1 (or 2) external monitors for gaming while my laptop main screen is turned off so that I can play on a nicer, bigger screen. Is my Nvidia card not being properly used when I'm on the Dell monitor(s)? Is it a problem with the large native resolution size of my monitors? Do I need special Nvidia drivers to use my Nvidia adapter on external monitors?

    I have never used external/multiple monitors before, so any help would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.
     
    NickericanDream, Dec 6, 2015
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  2. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    The external displays are running at a higher resolution than your native 1366x768. It makes sense that you will get higher framerates on your native display versus the two 1080p external displays. There are many more pixels on the screen making the gpu work harder.

    That being said, 5-10fps does seem low for a game like lol even on 1080p. Try forcing the game to only use the Nvidia Graphics using the Nvidia control panel.

    Here's how (ignore the Autodesk part, just choose the game from the list or click add and browse to its executable):

    https://knowledge.autodesk.com/supp...fault-Integrated-Graphics-for-InfraWorks.html
     
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2015
    kosti, Dec 7, 2015
    #2