M11xR2 Optimus Test Tools!

Here is the gift I was talking about for you all. Finally ways to see when the Nvidia GPU is in use!
These are the same tools that reviewers used to identify when the Nvidia GPU was in use.

Optimus State Viewer


Optimus Test Tool



With these you will finally know when the Nvidia GPU is actually on. The Optimus State Viewer seems especially useful since you can actually see the applications using it and how many references are being made.

Download them over at LaptopVideo2Go

WARNING: Be careful playing games online with these tools running as there has been at least one report of being banned because of them.

Big thanks to Darmach over there for pointing them out.
Note: The above screenshots were taken on my HG notebook.

 

Thanks! 10char

 

OMG THank goodness!

 

Thanks +Rep

 

Thanks Nautis, you gave me this via PM but wanted to come here and rep you for your good work!

 

Thanks Nautis! Just wondering, is there supposed to be a 32bit package? Cause on that forum it seems to link to the 64bit one...

 

Pretty sure if you're using an R1 or an R2, you're on 64 bit

That is... if you don't wipe it and slap a 32 bit on there.

 

Yeah I guess. What a waste it would be But he does have a link to 32bit on the other forum, it just links to the wrong package that's all...

 

Thanks again, Nautis!

 

Sure thing guys. I for the life of me cannot figure out why nvidia would leave everyone in the blind about exactly when the nvidia portion is working. I understand it from a marketing standpoint as a 'look the user cant tell, see how cool that is' but for technical reasons it is great to know if things are working properly. Brian Burke himself even mentioned releasing these in the nvidia blog.

BTW 258.69 beta is out. I was going to take a look at it for you guys and see if they finally included the M11xR2 in the INFs. Oh and the 32bit link was fixed, sorry was posting while tired. EDIT: Seems like the string for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M in the R2 is not included in the Dell Verde INF in 258.69. Looks like another mod may be in order.

 

Looks like I must "spread the love" before I try to rep you again Nautus. The tool and the modded inf both work great for me!

 

This is pretty cool although i been using EVGA precision to see if GPU was in use.

 

I'm really happy that these got posted. We're still hoping nVidia will provide this functionality in a future version of their video driver by default.

 

You are the best! I finally can confirm the fact that Google Chrome makes me run on the 335M. Now to figure out a way to change that. Even when I right click Chrome and select run on integrated graphics the 335M still turns on. Gotta find a way around this...

EDIT: looks like the 335M only turns on if I am watching youtube or something like that. Normal websites don't cause the 335M to turn on. However, isn't the integrated supposed to be strong enough to run flash players and what not? Still trying to figure a way around this.

 

Flash triggers the internal mechanism in the driver to automatically render with the 335M. The way Chrome handles flash may be causing the drivers to not understand the attempt to force Intel HD to handle it.

From the Optimus Whitepaper:

 

Ah you're right. I ran youtube on firefox and the 335M didn't turn on. Thanks for the explanation! The lack of a hard switch is somewhat disheartening. Luckily this laptop still runs cooler than my last laptop. Otherwise, I think this would be a deal breaker for me.

 

Looks like it's dead for me, redirects to a 404 page on both links.

 

TQ TQ TQ!!! Nautis.

now I have both the latest drivers and the test tool. If only I am at home right now.......

 

Works fine here. LV2G has some pretty stringent leech protection make sure you click the link directly and don't use a download manager (these are small files anyways).

 

Interesting... it worked when I switched to Safari. Apparently doesn't work on OS X Firefox. Thank ya kindly.

 

Using this tool, just because the 335M is on, is it possble that the m11x is still using integrated graphics? Reason i ask is because i had a game open with nvidia on and disabled the integrated graphics through device manager and my screen when blank. Had to unhook the battery to restart the darn thing.

If you dont want the 335M used for a program you can always disable it via device manager to make sure right?

 

The 335 utilizes the IGP to display output. You don't want to disable the IGP.

 

I wholeheartedly recommend the latest official 257.30 drivers over the 258.69 with the modded INF posted below. Since 257.30 has been released by Dell/Alienware it means those are the ones they fully support. They also need as much feedback as possible to fix any issues with it. I am only posting this INF and modding information for educational and last resort purposes. You don't want to lose the friendly support from erawneila (Brian) here, he is working his butt off for you guys.

-

The following information and modified INF is use at your own risk. It has not been tested to the extent the officially released drivers are for your M11xR2. As with any untested drivers they may cause additional problems with your machine. There is always a risk of unofficially released/modified drivers causing your machine to run much hotter which could do serious damage. Always be aware of the consequences of what you install.

All that is really needed to get the new 258.69 beta Verde drivers working on the M11xR2 is to essentially add the ID strings to the INF.

Extract 258.69_notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_international_beta.exe (I use WinRAR)

Open NVDM.INF and add the lines below under the sections in brackets []

Code:

[NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTamd64.6.1]
%NVIDIA_DEV.0CAF.01% = Section050, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0CAF&SUBSYS_04651028

[Strings]
NVIDIA_DEV.0CAF.01 = "NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M"

Or of course you can just download and replace NVDM.INF with the one I put together which includes an additional PhysX and Screen Rotation sections in the Nvidia control panel.
Nautis' 258.69 INF for M11xR2 (V3)

Comparison File: 258.69 Nvidia Verde vs 258.69 Nautis M11xR2 (Changes highlighted in red.)

And don't forget the Optimus Test Tools, so you can see if the Nvidia portion is actually in use if you run into any issues.

Please make sure you mention the version of the driver you are using when reporting any issues on here. This helps avoid any confusion and will help get you the best drivers possible in the future.

 

Nautis. Does it matter that these drivers (258.69) are the 32bit win7 drivers? As most of us R2 users are running on 64bit systems?

 

Won't work dude. It's coming up with this error after I changed the INF to your modded ver -

Any ideas?

 

use the 64bit the link he provided is 32bit and did not work for me but his INF is perfect


NVIDIA DRIVERS 258.69 BETA

 

Sorry guys fixed it. Yes its 64bit only.

 

figured.....

 

Issue with the 64bit install as well

 

Hmm.. I suck today eh.. I thought I got those.. let me edit.

EDIT: Ok reupped. Should work now. Sorry. Redownload the INF and try it.

 

they still will not install

 

New day, new head to look at things. They changed up some things with 258.69 so chances are these are what are screwing things up. Any error messages would be helpful.

BTW.. if you follow my instructions and mod the INF yourself it should work, if it does not its a screw up on nvidias part and I will have to create a new one.

 

Third times a charm. Re-upped full 64bit 258.69 INF with proper M11xR2 additions, PhysX/Rotate Control Panel & ToggleWidescreen HotKey additions.

Added comparison also.

 

Where dude?

 

Don't worry. I'm being dim

 

Nautis. Your the man! +rep
GPU monitor live on startup at reset. Looks like Optimus is picking up every program I have now. Got Shadow of the collossus running on PSCX at a solid 45 fps with this. Gonna run 3dmark and post benchscore later

 

Good deal. No worrys I got a million things going on so sometimes my posts are a bit vague.

For those that are confused I updated the same INF file so just redownload it again if you have previous.

 

Nautis. Better than my previous 3dmark 06 score. But still only picking up intergrated GPU.

 

it only picks up intel when it is scanning your system specs. It is clearly using the nvidia by your scores. Are you bothered because you are trying to upload your results?

 

Nautis,

Since you know a lot about Optimus, would you say it is impossible to manually switch between integrated and discrete GPU on Optimus systems? As far as I know, the automatic switching is controlled by software via the drivers only, so... why can't the user manually chose the GPU if they so want, via say the taskbar in Windows?

 

I have researched a lot on Optimus but am not an engineer or programmer by any means. It is very difficult to say if "switching" will work as we do not know how the drivers were written. I would think that it is possible from a technological standpoint. Switching in this case should be just be a matter of forcing the Nvidia part as always ON or always OFF. But again it really comes back to the drivers and if they are written to have an always ON state or if they are entirely conditional.

Optimus is still very new and I think the only people who really know the ins and outs of it are nvidia. Since Optimus is primarily a software technology we may see it evolve a bit over time with what it is capable of.

 

would be good if someone made a windows gadget for optimus on off.

 

Special Request: There is a new version of NVTweak released which includes some untested Optimus settings. The 1064 version is very Beta so use at your own risk.

I have noticed under Hardware it has:
Optimus
-Max AA
--Defualt
--2x
--4x
--8x
--16x
-Rendering Mode
--Integrated*
--Enabled
--User Editable
--Override

I am not fully sure what the settings above do but I will ask H4ck3D. Test at your own risk.

 

New version of PhysX 9.10.0224 with Optimus fix.

^That could be a problem for some.

 

it will work with ur modded INF (258.xx) right?

 

@Dalli

Yes, physX is a separate installer which is often just installed with the nvidia drivers too. But you can update that without touching the nvidia drivers no problem.

 

I think there is a tool for Mac OS X, called gfxCardStatus which allows you to manually switch between the two cards for the Optimus MacBooks (Or Apple's own implementation, I know they didn't use Nvidia Optimus). Maybe it even was open source. But if this can be done on Max OS X, it must be possible on Windows as well...

 

It is indeed open source. I took a look at it and researched a lot on Apples "implementation of Optimus" and it actually seems like it may be more similar to Hybrid Graphics than Optimus. Maybe even a sort of combination of the two.

Optimus has partially come about because of the legal issues between Intel and Nvidia. This may be one of the reasons Apple claims they developed the technology they use.

 

it would be awesome to have the optimus test tool as a gadget which could sit on the screen without having to be turned on every time

 

On mine, it doesn't activate the 335 gpu if I run quicktime videos (or hulu videos). The reason I point this out is for 1080p content on quicktime; activating the nvidia gpu would run the content much smoother.