L502X GT540M Issue

Just bought a new 502x and it is only picking up the integrated Intel HD chip and I am unable to change this setting, can anyone please assist?

 

I think I'm having the same issue. My 3dmark06 scores are only coming in at 3600.

Spec:
i7-2720qm
gt540m 2gb
6gb dell ram
FHD 1080 screen

 

I ran Direct x Diag and its only picking up the integrated intel chip, tried 3d mark 11 and it barely ran the test which only picked up the integrated card as well

 

I got 8226 on 3dmark06 (1280x768) but it definitely is only reading the intel chip, this comes up as my GPU.

Any help 'turning on' my GT540m would be greatly appreciated.......

 

Think you really that Intel graphic card can do 8200 at 3dmark06?
3dmark06 has an issue it shows Intel card even if is used Nvidia card.

 

How do you explain that dxdiag shows the Intel card?

 

Because Nvidia card uses buffer Intel card, they have a common output.

 

Fair enough, tried 3dmark 11 and it scored 269!! Still trying to find updated drivers, as you can probably tell, im new to this sh*t

 

To all you guys having dramas getting programmes to work using the GT540 remember to right click on the programme icon you should then see "Run with graphics processor". Go into there and make sure " High-performance NVIDIA prodcessor" is checked as default. This goes for any programme you want to use it by default. Be carefull not to overdo it though

 

8226 is the Nvidia, the intel does 3000 or less

 

Did the above and had the following results.
SM2.0 - 1139
-Return to proxy - 10.625fps
-Fireflie - 8.358fps

HDR/SM3.0 - 879
-Canyon flight - 8.822fps
-deep freeze - 9.361fps

CPU sore has been in the 3000

I'm running the current gt540 drivers from the dell site, and have the application switched over to GPU. Any insight on why my numbers are so low would be helpful.

 

I switched to the 271.20 drivers found in another post in this site.

 

just tried that and my 3dmark06 is still only 4500

 

I'm at a loss of what to do. Time for dell tech support.

 

why dont you just add the program to nvidia gpu in the nvidia control panel?

 

i think that he has a real issue.

 

Hey Smedley use these drivers instead of the Dell ones: v270.28 Windows 7/Vista 64bit | Mobile OEM - LaptopVideo2Go Forums

Download both the driver and the Modified INF file that is on the page there. Once you extract the driver place the INF file in the Display.Driver folder and rewrite it. Then run the setup.

With 3Dmark06 you should be pushing about 8200-8500 for a score.

 

I'm having the same problems. ClearIzzy, I tried installing that driver, but I'm getting the same kind of errors as have been reported on page 2 of that topic. Any idea how I could work myself around those?

Also on an XPS15 w/540M by the way.

 

Which error are you getting?

 

I'm simply getting an installation error after selecting either custom or express installation. It doesn't even try and gives the error right away.

With the original .INF, I don't even get past the hardware check though.

 

Seems like Dell released new drivers as well now. Let's see if these solve the problems.

edit: installed the "new" Dell drivers (267.21 @ nvidia actually) and now I seem to be able to install the 270.28 drivers as well without problems

 

I installed the new drivers as well. No, the GPU doesn't downclock even with the Nvidia Inspector.

 

I'm having problems with the 270.28, says that I don't have enough resources to run Aero for windows etc....plus it runs much slower.

 

The new driver from Dell has made my system completely unstable....going to have to go back again.....random lock ups, won't boot, have to power down/power back up. Not good.

 

Yeah, removed them as well. Crysis 2 would not use the Nvidia card with these drivers no matter what I did.

 

I just installed 267.76 in combination with help from this thread here
My 260.99 for Dell XPS L501X - LaptopVideo2Go Forums
and it's working perfectly. I'd definitely mod the ini file yourself as that thread would be hosting the older version but if you've done it wrong it won't install so no danger there.
Or if anyone is after it let me know and stick it online.
It seems worth giving it a go as another option and these are much newer than Dell's without any lose of functionality.

 

On L501X the HDMI output could only be managed by the dedicated card, while the internal screen is managed by the integrated one (so it means that you CANNOT duplicate desktop on 2 screens on L501X with optimus). Is this "issue" (or choice IDN) fixed in L502X (with Optimus too)? I also noticed that on HDMI, if the dedicated card crashes due various causes, you also lose audio signal cause it's all managed by nVidia drivers (and not the Realtek ones )

 

in for later.

 

Warning: often with driver not from Dell website (with inf modified), GPU can't downclock itself automatically, so it's better for you to check if this happen.

 

That driver still enables the card to downclock

 

In related to all this, I'm seeing something interesting: Despite no load on the discrete GPU, the core clock will often keep itself at full speed (672 MHz). Then every once in a while it will downclock (core clock) to ~200 MHz, then finally ~50 MHz. But then it'll spike back up again. And as far as I can tell it bears no relation to any programs or actions I'm taking. This could definitely have consequences for power consumption, temperatures, and fan noise.

 

Here's a screen capture of a trace of the GPU temp, GPU load, GPU core and shader clocks, along with the NVIDIA Optimus tool. The fan coming on seems to correlate with the increase in temperature caused by the increase in clock speeds.

Now, it could be partially related to the program I'm running (MSI Afterburner), but I have seen it drop to 50 MHz and stay there for an extended period while that program is running, so I don't think it is that.

 

You can run internal display, HDMI and miniDisplayPort simultaneously.

 

Yeah, you can run them simultaneously, but can you duplicate them or just extend the desktop to have 3x desktop area?

 

I have this system with the i7 2720 chip set and decided to do a clean reinstall of Win 7 and downloaded the drivers directly from dell website. Since then however when I play my favorite game I have had serious lock ups and system problems.

It works great since clean install on playback of blue ray discs, internet use, and my start up is way better. When ever I game (world of warcraft) within 5 mins to 45 mins randomly I get a hard lock up screen freezes no commands work and only manual shut down and restart can fix it. I have already set nvidia drivers to auto load WOW game with higher performance graphics only.

Dell support cant/wont help since they do not have a log of the error as the system does not get that far before I have to shut it down or stare at a frozen screen in game with nothing esle working and the system revving up fans and process but no HD action going on.

Does this bahavior possibly indicate I need a new graphics card or does anyone have any other suggestions before I chuck this otherwise awsome laptop back at Dell?

* quick P.S. to my wall of text * The reason I am leaning to think it is a graphics card problem is the default game settings when WOW scans this laptop say I should run fine with good to high video settings. When I had this problem the first thing I did was lower all the settings and it seemed to fix it until about the 45 minute mark still locking up though its taking longer at lower settings.

 

I didn't try cloning as that's not a scenario I have ever had a need to use. I understand how two is useful, say internal display and a projector for a large audience, but I have never run into a situation that would have benefitted from three displays with the same content. If I get some time tonight, I'll hook them up again and check it out.

 

I got severe lockups with Shogun II on Medium/High settings, it detects Ultra....I don't know, I went back and everything is fine right now.

 

Oh ok, i badly formulated the question my curiosity was only about to check 2 displays cloning (via HDMI), i agree with you saying that 3 is useless BTW thanks if u'll find some time to make the test with 2

 

Glad yours cleared up not sure what to do with mine. I would hate to have to call and request a replacement laptop when everything else is working great.

I read a few pages back some people used "older" drivers directly from Nvidia website I may try that but dont know that is ideal vs. using the ones from dells website.

 

Ok, I had a chance to monkey around with this. Using the displayport, you can extend or clone the desktop. On the HDMI output, the desktop can only be extended. If you had to clone to an HDMI device, a simple $7 MDP to HDMI adapter would resolve the issue. Hope this clears things up.

 

I'm still having the issues with my score hovering around 4000-5500. I've tried a wide range of drivers from the dell releases and a few nvidia versions.

I also monitored the usage, gpu clock, and temp while playing a couple games and numbers were fluctuating so the card must be working.

Anyone else have an idea of why my scores are still low?

 

If you run Nvidia System Tools, what is the clock speed during the bench? When u install new drivers, do you select 'custom install' and then check option 'clean install'?

 

Hi, are any of you guys having problems with your HDMI port?
I know clone mode doesn't work, but even "Projector Only" mode has huge overscan for me..
I have tried on 3 different native 1080p HDTVs so far (/w3 different cables), all with the same results.
I have done numerous clean installs, various combinations of the latest and oldest A07 nvidia drivers and A04 intel drivers released yesterday.
I have also tried downloading the beta drivers directly from the Nvidia site.
I also finally updated the bios to A04...

...... none of this helps.

can someone with 1080p screen confirm that their HDMI port works with external display?

Thanks.





DELL XPS 15 L502x | i7 2720QM | FHD B+RGLED | GeForce 540M 2GB | 8GB RAM | BD-ROM Drive | Centrino Advanced-N 6230 + BT 3.0 | BackLit KB |

 

I have a 4 or so year old Sony Bravia 40" 1080p and my HDMI out works fine with either mirroring or extending my desktop.
I used the Nvidia control panel to fix the overscan issue.

 

OK thanks for the info.
Oh, I've tried the Nvidia control panel, but it actually changes the resolution to some weird number. I want it to remain at 1920x1080

 

Gpu was at 670 and I always did the clean install option. I even booted in safe mode for a couple of the driver installs.

 

Sounds right, just make sure you are not in power saver mode when you bench. Also, check your power brick, make sure it's a 130W not a 90W.