How to turn off intel video card?

So I have a new XPS 15z with the 2gig Nvidia graphics card. Is there anyway to turn off the Intel graphics card so the system just utilizes the Nvidia card? I've done a search and some posts say on certain systems you and achieve this in BIOS but that's not the case on the 15z.

any suggestions would help!

 

Sorry, you can't.

 

This is one of the reasons I don't understand why people like Optimus so much. At least with the AMD switchable graphics there's a physical switch, so you can control which GPU is used when. Granted, with Optimus the switching is automatic, but I'd rather spend the extra .5 second flipping a switch then not having control of the hardware in my own machine. Nvidia really needs to come up with a simple app that allows you to manually select which GPU to use if you so desire.

 

You can.....

Right-click on Desktop, go to "Nvidia Control Panel" or something like that. Click the "Manage 3D settings" option on the left. You can then select which GPU to use as a default (it is usually set to auto-select). The other tab lets you override for individual programs, you can add ones not in the list by clicking "add" and navigating to said program's .exe.

Personally I leave mine on auto-select. I have no need to be using extra power and generating more heat if I am just sitting on the desktop or web browsing/typing. For games and my CAD work the good GPU switches on. And I manually set the NVidia GPU for the odd game that doesn't auto-select properly. It's not that hard honestly.

You could just set the default to use the Nvidia, but then your fan will run non-stop and your battery life will go down the toilet.

 

Yes you can choose to run a program with the gpu but the intel graphics will always be active managing your screen or display, I don't know how to say this.

 

Well how the Optimus works is that all graphics are rendered by the Intel chip. When the NVidia card is asked for, the NVidia does all the processing and just sends the results to the Intel chipset to display it. There is no software OR BIOS way of circumventing this, it is how it is wired. The 3D systems are different in that the Intel graphics are permanently bypassed.

I don't see what the problem with the Intel managing the display is? I know some people don't like it but honestly I have had no problems with it. I suppose there is a .000000001s delay between the NVidia rendering and the the Intel displaying, but that is not noticeable by the human eye.

 

I have my NVidia chip turned off globally, and set to only run on games. Intel HD 3000 is fully capable of doing anything except gaming.

 

Well, AMD is starting to go the same direction as Nvidia Optimus for their switchable technology.
A couple of preview models are available for purchase now.

 

Very true, and I've been considering doing this except I have too many games, lol.

 

There might be a way, but there's no reason to. Your graphics card kicks in whenever you need it for something, whether it's running a game, video, etc. Using integrated or not in Windows won't affect it all, the Intel HD is enough plus it saves power.

I have the 15z too and I had a problem with the GPU automtically kicking in so some of my games would just lag. I just dled the latest software from NVIDIA and it works perfect now. This was after I installed a fresh x64 Professional so I didn't have any of the Dell presets installed.

 

you guy's do not understand, sometimes we need to turn off this automatic switching because of some things.

For example, my dxdiag would not let me get results from the nvidia GPU and i cannot start nhancer because it does not recognise the nvidia chip.


Any help on shutting it down temporarily?

 

You just can't shut it down completely...

 

As was said in this thread already, in the NVidia control panel->3D settings, just set the system default to one card or the other. Or change it on a program-by-program basis. Real simple, works great, fixes any detection issues you may have.

And all output to the display is still done through the Intel buffer, nothing you can do about that. But Windows doesn't really know that, it just sees one card or the other depending on your settings in the NVidia Control Panel.

 

It cannot be done, sorry. The only way to get dxdiag to run on the Nvidia GPU is to run an external monitor.

 

Well the reason I would like to do so is just so that games that detect hardware settings recognize it. I love Optimus but it doesn't kick in until the game is a few seconds running. Games like Halo 2 perform a hardware scan before even starting the game and it only sees the Intel card and spits out an error window claiming insufficient resources.
But I'm curious if running it on an external display with the nVidia card would fix this? I have a new monitor coming in and I'm going to try that. Just for kicks.

 

right click on an application shortcut or the "exe" that you want to run...

click "run with high performance nvidia GPU" or whatever the option is (something to that effect anyway) - this works with pretty much any game or application and DOES bypass the "auto-switching" feature... Alternatively go into the nvidia control pannel, go to program options and you can manually add/select games or applications to automatically use the nvidia GPU.

however... some people here don't seem to grasp the concept of Optimus technology... your laptop monitor is PLUGGED IN to the Intel graphics, if you turned it off then you'd get no picture at all. When running games or applications which switch between the 2 GPU's what's basically happening is the Intel card recognises it needs more power and the nvidia GPU kicks in... sending the output to the Intel card and then to the monitor

 

Never mind this message, fixed my problem. Matt you are 100% right

 

Hi!
I experience some troubles with Nvidia Optimus and ENB mod for Skyrim. The problem is that ENB just don't run the game on nvidia GPU, but on intel. It is written in the documetation that to fix that I must turn of intel gpu in bios. I tried it but there is no way to do that. Any suggestions? Maybe someone else faced this problem and successfully solved it?

 

Skyrim plays great on my L702X. Seems wierd you would be having trouble with this.

 

Actually the game runs smoothly without any graphics mods on my GT 540M (22-27 FPS; AA 8x; AF 16x; all on high/ultra, only shadows on medium), but with ENB I have 12 FPS due to Nvidia GPU doesn't engage. I marked this in GPU-Z.
Do you run ENB? If you do, this is really weird...

 

A problem with optimus matt is when im running gta 4 i cant use the enb series mod because optimus doesnt detect the d3d9 file as a .exe so switches to the intel card rendering the game unplayable. I have a temp fix to this by plugging the pc into a external monitor which uses the nvidia card straight away allowing the mod to work.