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    Disabling Optimus on nVidia GT540M

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by sidox, Sep 13, 2012.

  1. sidox

    sidox Newbie

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    Hi everybody,

    This is my first post on this forum.
    So, I'm looking for a modded Acer TravelMate 5742g BIOS that can help me with disabling Optimus on my nVidia Card.

    I actually want to disable it because I have that "nVidia Kernel driver stopped working" crash AND my games tend to run slow (25 to 30 FPS max, sometimes drops to 12 FPS). So I was made aware that disabling Optimus could help. If there is some alternative way to disable Optimus beside a modded BIOS please let me know.

    So here is my specs :
    Acer TravelMate 5742g
    -Intel Core i5-480M 2.60GHz (2.93GHz with TurboBoost)
    -nVidia GT 540M 1GB VRAM wih CUDA
    -4GB DDR3 RAM
    -500GB HDD (Seagate)
    -Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
     
    sidox, Sep 13, 2012
    #1
  2. conscriptvirus

    conscriptvirus Notebook Evangelist

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    Unfortunately there is no way to "disable" optimus.

    Not sure about the nvidia kernal driver crashes, but for the games running slow, try to make sure that your laptop is using the nvidia card instead of the intel one. You should be able to set what GPU the program/game uses via the nvidia control panel under Manage 3D settings > Program settings.
     
    conscriptvirus, Sep 13, 2012
    #2
  3. Rudlin

    Rudlin Notebook Consultant

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    I strongly suggest you reconsider modding BIOS to get rid of optimus.

    Your problem might be

    #1 Integrated card selected in optimus menu
    #2 Game you run outclasses 540m
    #3 Fiddled Nvidia settings
    #4 Old graphics drivers (laptop CD?)
     
    Rudlin, Sep 13, 2012
    #3
  4. sidox

    sidox Newbie

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    Well, thanks for the quick replies.

    @conscriptvirus:
    About those crashes they are well known on youtube.
    And about that setting you suggested, it's clearly mentionned that it doesn't affect the multi-GPU processing technology from nVidia (check the help tips)

    @Rudlin:
    So to be accurate:
    1. Where is that menu actually located ?
    2. Games I'm running are NFS The Run and GTA IV, both on the lowest possible settings (still getting to 12 FPS frequently)
    3. Settings are left on defaults
    4. I have the latest drivers. I always Update them when there is new updates.

    I actually know that the GT 540M with 1GB can run those games with maxed-out settings @ 60FPS with no problems.

    Thank you for your time.
     
    sidox, Sep 13, 2012
    #4