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    Nvidia Optimus Feature on the M11x R2 - How to add games/applications to whitelist

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by DELLChrisM, Jul 19, 2010.

  1. DELLChrisM

    DELLChrisM Company Representative

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    Go here to see the video.
     
  2. .PoNeH

    .PoNeH Notebook Evangelist

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    So apps/games that aren't in the WhiteList won't automatically play in high video performance mode?! If this is true, i feel we can all get way better battery life by forcing browsers etc. out of it.
     
  3. BatBoy

    BatBoy Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I have marked this thread as a Sticky for now - for better visibility as there have been a number of posts on this.

    Thanks for the info Chris-M!
     
  4. ACHlLLES

    ACHlLLES Notebook Virtuoso

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    I have problem nvidia kicking in when IE used to watch flash video. Firefox uses intel for flash however.
     
  5. jpyaa

    jpyaa Notebook Enthusiast

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    how do you know when nvidia is kicking for youtube video or not?
     
  6. ACHlLLES

    ACHlLLES Notebook Virtuoso

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    258.96 drivers tells you in task bar.
     
  7. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

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    You have to turn on that feature in the Nvidia Control Panel under the View menu.
     
  8. jpyaa

    jpyaa Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thank you guys!!
     
  9. Noah14

    Noah14 Notebook Evangelist

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    Hey guys, when you install a new driver, you can just install over the old one or should you uninstall the old one then install the new one?
     
  10. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    you can install over the old one. technically it works ok. however its recommended to run driversweeper basically to clean out any trace of the previous drivers and start fresh with the new one. also there are some cases where when you "install over" and found out there are missing functions eg. some newly added feature not avaliable to you. some ppl also report that its more stable for them after doing a clean up before installing new. just many factors. but its entirely up to you. you can install on top of what you already have.
     
  11. Noah14

    Noah14 Notebook Evangelist

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    Oh ok thanks.
     
  12. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    I think I have explain this before. This is not a problem neither its an issue. If you are running Flash 10.1 it's meant to that the GPU will kick in to accelerate. This is a FEATURE and not a bug. For example if you are running Dell's 257.30 with Firefox even if you are on 10.1 GPU will not kick in and this is a BUG and it's fix in 258.96 as far as I have tested. If you revert your flash to version 10 I believe GPU will stop kicking in be it on IE or Firefox. I hope this is clear enough for you
     
  13. Noah14

    Noah14 Notebook Evangelist

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    Wait...quick question.
    With nvidia graphics on, will I be able to stream HD(720P) video from youtube smoothly? Or will I still have to wait it to buffer.
     
  14. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    u are talking about 2 different thing. buffering is your connectivity has nothing to do with nvidia. rendering wise nvidia can handle 720/1080p smoothly as long as your internet connection speed allows.
     
  15. Noah14

    Noah14 Notebook Evangelist

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    Ah got ya.
     
  16. Neil McRae

    Neil McRae Notebook Evangelist

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    great video thanks.
     
  17. DHELL101

    DHELL101 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I find that I can't force SOME steam games since the executable file is from steam o.0. for example Alien Swarm...
     
  18. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    they are inside c:\program files(x86)]\Steam\SteamApp\Common
     
  19. mobilezila

    mobilezila Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes you can add it to the whitelist. I play Alien Swarm with no issues... ;)
     
  20. DankDarko

    DankDarko Notebook Enthusiast

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    What about steam games that use the modified HL2 exe. Seems i cant get CS:S, DOD:S, or TF2 to work properly.
     
  21. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    just add the hl2.exe. they are all from the same folder.
     
  22. Tedster59

    Tedster59 Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks. This is very useful.
     
  23. MikeeDinh

    MikeeDinh Notebook Evangelist

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    any one tried this with sc2 yet? i can't until im off work and thats another 3hrs =/
     
  24. mobilezila

    mobilezila Notebook Evangelist

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    Yup. I just installed SC2 and the sc2 executale file appears automatically in the drop down for the whitelist. You just have to select it from the drop down and ask the GPU to run it using the high power option and hit apply. Easy as abc. :)
     
  25. MikeeDinh

    MikeeDinh Notebook Evangelist

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    thanks for confirming it for me mobilezila =]
     
  26. Shredd

    Shredd Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi there - the challenge I'm having is that the white list is not being saved. Or at least it appears that way. I have added Left4dead (EXE) to the list and then if I leave and come back it's not there. But if I try to readd it, no "apply" button pops up and the game is still trying to use the Intel graphic card. In fact most of the games I'm adding to the list do not appear after a reboot but yet if I try to readd them, no apply button pops up for them.

    Suggestions?

    M11x R2, i7
     
  27. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

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    They're probably already in the default list of applications. Uncheck Show only programs found on this computer. L4D is on that list already.
     
  28. Shredd

    Shredd Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thank you Slickie- I will check that. Now the other challenge is with games like Left4dead and Portal is that even though I have the apps on the white list, the game starts with a warning screen that they are going to be using the Intel graphics - am I missing something here?
     
  29. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    thats how optimus works. go nvidia site and read the technology whitepaper you will understand why
     
  30. MaxGeek

    MaxGeek Notebook Evangelist

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  31. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    nautis posted this in another thread few days back. thanks for the update thou.
     
  32. sfrrsman64

    sfrrsman64 Notebook Consultant

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    I'm having the same exact problem.
     
  33. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    there is nothing wrong with it as said before. please read up technology whitepaper to understand why is this so. http://www.nvidia.com/object/LO_optimus_whitepapers.html

    basically the whole concept work sort of like how 3DFX works in the past where your main display is the main component that draw stuffs and display on screen. and the GT335M is only working as a 3D acceleratorwhich will handle all the 3D calculation then copy them over to Intel to be output on your screen.

    Remember Nvidia aquire 3DFX in the past. SLI is also technology that has been use by 3DFX in the past. Today they are just reusing another old technology but being improvise into today's technology and made it slightly more advance in a sense.
     
  34. theleeshore

    theleeshore Notebook Enthusiast

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    everytime i had hl2.exe as an exception or to the list it never stays , why is that.
    i'm trying to play a third party source mod (jailbreak) and can't get it to run on the nvidia card
     
  35. kopicha

    kopicha Notebook Evangelist

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    add from your jailbreak folder
     
  36. theleeshore

    theleeshore Notebook Enthusiast

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    only an uninstall exe in there
     
  37. oncdoc

    oncdoc Notebook Consultant

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    anyone know where the exe of lotro is? I cant seem to find it exactly. the turbine launcher does not work.
     
  38. oncdoc

    oncdoc Notebook Consultant

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    how about steam games ? how do you add steam games?

    never mind got under steamapps and comon
     
  39. surfxombie

    surfxombie Notebook Evangelist

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    Could look at what is running when you are playing it.
    Ctrl-Alt-Del , Start Task manager and look in the processes tab. Then search for that exe.
     
  40. hikarate

    hikarate Notebook Consultant

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    I just figured this out, in case it helps anyone:


    I'm using 257 drivers and apparently the Opera browser was using the GPU. Added to the whitelist to force usage of IG, and now I have 4:50hrs, at 94%.

    Previously it was 3 hours, because of Youtube I believe.

    Thanks for the tip.
     
  41. 1201NFTW

    1201NFTW Notebook Evangelist

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    this doesn't work for me and chrome when i go to youtube it activates the gpu, do i need to put the flash exe as integrated only?
     
  42. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

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    You can't white list Flash directly.

    What driver are you using?
     
  43. 1201NFTW

    1201NFTW Notebook Evangelist

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    257.30 and i have chrome on the list
     
  44. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

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    Upgrade to 258.96. Easy instructions posted by kopicha in the forum.
     
  45. djnasti

    djnasti Notebook Enthusiast

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    can u just turn on 355m and leave it on
     
  46. 1201NFTW

    1201NFTW Notebook Evangelist

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    why would you want it on all the time? having optimus switch it off while no game is being played increases battery life significantly and the integrated graphics can easily handle even high definition youtube and hulu
     
  47. BhavinsAWalphaomega

    BhavinsAWalphaomega Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yah absolutely! This feature is so key for students like myself. I added all the browsers I have onto the whitelist. No problems right now. I have yet to try again with this, I will install NFS Shift, see how that works out. I was really sketched out about optimus at first but I think this is a great thing to have now, it is just the sort of control that we need.
     
  48. Whiplash

    Whiplash Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the video.

    The guy sounds like Eddie Murphy. :D
     
  49. Whiplash

    Whiplash Notebook Consultant

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    I'm still confused as to how you can tell if optimus is engaging the 335m. There doesn't appear to be anything in the nVidia control panel.
     
  50. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

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    Nvidia Control Panel > View > Display GPU Activity Icon
     
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