Hidden Intel Integrated Media Chips??

The Sony VAIO offers the option to switch between the integrated intel graphics chip, and NVIDIA chips if they are equipped with one. This got me wondering if there are other laptops that have the Intel graphics chip on board, but are not recognized by the BIOS. I checked my XPS M1210, and there is no intel chip on board. However, the laptop's motherboard with the NVIDIA chip looks identical to the one without, excluding the NVIDIA chip that soldered onto the PCB.

In fact, I can see that chip that I suspect is the integrated Intel graphics card. Does anybody know if this is true?

If it is true, is there a modding community that writes custom BIOS scripts to enable these "hidden" graphics cards?

 

no, they usually sell the integrated as an option, i believe. If not, I don't think that both could be enabled at the same time.

 

Not trying to enable both at the same time. Just trying to see if there's a hack that I can use to resort to the Intel chip when my NVIDIA one inevitably dies.

 

Check what your chipset is. If it's a 945PM, then you're out of luck.

 

Ah man. From the header, I thought someone had found a hidden switch I could flip to make Intel graphics suck less. Oh well. The search continues...

 

Laptops with Intel integrated graphics have chipsets that do NOT have an external PCIe-x16 interface for a graphics card. Chipsets that have a dedicated card "slot" do NOT have the embedded IGP within. The Sony laptop has something else entirely, I am not sure what.

They are entirely different parts.

Also, the Intel graphics solutions are built into the northbridge of the motherboard. It is not a separate chip.

So unless the laptop specifically markets having two GPUs, what you are looking for will not exist on the laptop.

 

really, because my intel X3100 is a separate chip. I can give you a photo if you want.

 

I had not heard that, but it is possible...

Edit: Just saw your edit...

 

I'm not exactly sure now.

I will post a photo and you tell me

 

Ok some pics of my motherboard:









I have more if you want.

So it looks like a separate chip?

 

lol that post you gave a link to is so wrong.

The arrow that says "intel X3100" is pointing to the chipset.
The arrow that says "chipset" is pointing to the X3100.

and in the second pic:
And the arrow that says "chipset" is pointing to the nvs 135.

Epic fail.

 

here is what it should be:

 

It looks like they have two northbridges and switch them depending on need.

 

That is what I'm wondering. How do they switch through the LVDS signals from either IGP or nvidia/ati?

1/ the same set of signal lines going to the same pins equivalent pins on each video chip and just ensure one is off while other is on (??). Equivalent to an open circuit.

2/ go through a digial switch to choose one sets of signals or another.

If attached using (1) above then could start scouting around using baredit and the ICH9M datasheet to try to enable the IGP link. Would need to know how to disable the ati/nvidia link if found to be present.

 

I reeeeeely hope you're joking, moral hazard. If not, you really ARE a hazard!

The top picture is almost correct in the first post. The northbridge chipset is the bottom chip on both pictures. In the first picture, the "Intel" chip on top is something else entirely. The northbridge and the X3100 is the same chip. The X3100 requires a cooling solution.

In the second picture, the top chip is the discreet nVidia graphics chip. The bottom chip, is still the northbridge, but it does NOT have the X3100 on it.

The "gold part" is not the chipset - modern northbridge chipsets require a cooling solution. Long gone are the days of having a chipset that was passively cooled! That particular chip could be the southbridge, the USB controller, network chip, audio chip, practically anything.

On the picture of your own motherboard, MH, the left is your CPU (obviously) and the right is your chipset and X3100, which are the same chip. You can find out what the top "Intel" chip is by googling the numbers printed on it. Post those numbers here, if you don't mind? I'd like to know what that chip is.

The main problem with this is that pretty much every notebook that has a discreet GPU doesn't have an IGP-included chipset. I would be a 945m instead of a 945gm.

 

I have a Joybook S42 with X4500/GeForce 9600M GT switchable graphics.

The motherboard appears to have another PCI Express port (see attachment - kind of..).

You can only switch over the graphics if close to no programs are running besides Aero.

 

I guess I am wrong.

I will post the numbers for you.
Just give me ~20min to take it apart and put it back together.

 

It probably works much like a desktop motherboard with an IGP and a PCIE slot. If you setup the BIOS right, and install the right drivers you can enable the IGP and PCIE card at the same time.


moral hazard, no rush. I was just curious as to what the chip was. Whenever you have free time is fine, I'll be here all day.

 

well I got it, I think you were right about it being the southbridge.

here is what is written on it:
intel
NH82801HBM
L7525152
SLA50
'05
MALAY

 

so here is what I think now (fell free to correct me):

 

This is what I think it is:

 

yes, ok you're totally right.

 

Yea, the chip you gave the numbers for is the ICH8-M. It has the network and storage controllers in that chip.

namaiki has the layout on the picture right.

 

So, to reiterate, do we have a consensus that the IGP has been seen to be located on the south bridge of the processor?

What about a hardware switch? The XPS M1210 motherboards with and without the NVIDIA chip both use the same bios version (A08). Perhaps the bios is configured upon installation, but isn't it also possible that this property is set in stone with hardware?

 

The IGP is in the northbridge.

 

Does anyone care to speculate how to switch functionality from an NVIDIA chip to an IGP?

I'm wondering if there would be a way to copy the registry of my GF's laptop (M1210 w/o NVIDIA) into a text file, and diff it with the registry of mine. If the address range of the BIOS can be determined, it should be feasible to be able to switch between one chip or the other.

 

Could use baredit to compare the different graphics pci devices and various configuration registers between systems. Still requires the IGP to be electrically connected somehow to the LVDS lines of your LCD. You'd need the ICH8M datasheet to understand what your looking at.

 

Honestly, it's going to be pretty impossible to do so, unless your laptop came with the functionality.

Pretty much no laptop maker is going to put an IGP and GPU in the same machine. The northbridge chipset is going to either include it or not. If it doesn't, you're out of luck (the chip is actually physically lacking the transistors that make up the graphics core).