How to Get nVidia optimus working with Windows 8

So I just installed Windows 8 as a dual boot on my computer and I went ahead and installed the latest nvidia drivers along with msi afterburner as well. When I check the core clock and memory clock on the msi monitor though, it shows it as almost always running at the default clock, occasionally (and only occasionally) dipping down into the same lower clocks that it used to have on Windows 7. As a result my laptop has been running hotter and with the fan spinning louder than it did on Windows 7, and I don't know how to get my computer to use the integrated graphics all the time except for in games. If it is using the integrated graphics, it's not underclocking the gpu properly.

I have a core i7 3610qm processor and an nvidia 650m graphics card. Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

You're supposed to install the Intel Graphics 4000 drivers before the NVIDIA one.

 

All GPU monitoring programs need to be off. Including Msi afterburner/HWINFO64/GPU-Z/ThrottleStop(GPU temp monitor), also Steam/Adobe reader are set to use NVIDIA GPU by default, you'll need to switch them to HD 4000 in NVIDIA panel by yourself after every NVIDIA driver update.

Remember that even monitoring the temperature is counted as using the NVIDIA GPU.

And always install intel HD4000 driver before installing NVIDIA driver when doing a fresh OS install.

 

the new driver that was launched yesterday 10/10 is also geared towards windows 8 compatibility so i would make sure you are using that

 

Thanks for the suggestion everyone. I am going to try that right now.

Really? I thought those programs didn't really affect the clock of the graphics card. I ran it on my Windows 7 install and my graphics card was always underclocked properly. I could tell because the clock reading was much lower, but also because the fan never spun up past its minimum speed on Windows 7 while I was just doing ordinary browsing and my laptop wasn't as warm as it is now.

 

It says that my current driver version for the Intel HD graphics is newer than the one listed on the website. Which means that my previous setup was correct, yet the optimus still wasn't working correctly. Any thoughts on what to do next?

 

Tips given Please read the post I posted again. If you leave any GPU monitoring programs on it also means that the dGPU is being used.

Edit: I see, so your gpu's clock isn't hitting the idle clock at all. What version of the NVIDIA driver are you using? And what programs are running at that moment?

 

My nvidia driver is 306.97 and my intel hd driver is 9.17.10.2828. My idle clock on Windows 7 used to be 135 mhz for core and 405 mhz for shader and the load clock, which is what it is almost constantly at in Windows 8, is 745mhz for the core and 2000 for the shader. Now, it does drop down to the idle clock every once in a while, but it only stays that way for a couple seconds at most and returns to the load clock again for the majority of the time.

Usually I only have sticky notes and chrome open with a couple Windows 8 apps running in the background. Maybe a Word document or something like that but otherwise nothing. It really puts a strain on my battery life when I'm trying to use my laptop elsewhere instead of just in my room. Even then I'm not crazy about the constant white noise that the fan produces, or the extra dust that it's going to pick up.

Again, thanks for the help! Just for good measure, I uninstalled the nvidia drivers, rebooted, installed the older intel hd graphics, rebooted, updated the intel hd graphics, rebooted, reinstalled the nvidia drivers and rebooted again.

 

You could try this: close Msi Afterburner/Any GPU monitoring programs and go to NVIDIA Control panel. Over the top there are some tabs to select, go to "Desktop" and tick "Display GPU Activity Icon in Notification Area". Then check if any programs are using the NVIDIA GPU at the notification area on the taskbar.

 

Woo the problem fixed itself! I just booted up a game to see if the optimus was working correctly or not and after I exited the game, the gpu is properly underclocking itself now. I've only been monitoring it for 10 minutes or so, but it seems to work now.

Thanks for all the help .

Edit: Well...it mostly works. Every once in a while it jumps back up to the normal clock again, so it's doing the opposite of what it was before. At least the majority of the time it's running at idle speeds. It's good enough I suppose.

 

Thanks for the informative thread, guys.

Has anyone noticed that Google Chrome always causes Optimus to enable the nVidia card win Windows 8? This happens to me even if the nVidia control panel has Chrome set to use integrated graphics. Internet Explorer and Firefox seem to stay running on the integrated chip just fine though...

 

sorry to bring up such an old thread, but i do have the same problem and have been for some time. it says in test viewer that dwm.exe is using the nvidia gput, and when i end dwm it is fine. also it says dwm is using integrated in the settings. im not sure how to fix this?

 

Edit: oops didnt realise it was an old thread