HP Envy 15-3200 Dynamic/Fixed

Hello,

I realized that the owner lounges probably wasn't the best places to post, so I'll try here.

So, I received my envy last thursday and am pretty happy with it so far. Wonderful screen, blazing fast, and pretty nice on the gaming end, too. One problem I'm having, which I was wondering if anyone else has had/resolved, it with the switchable graphics. Everyone and his cow bought Skyrim, myself included. However, in the initial menu before the game starts where you choose video options, the only card available in the Intel HD graphics. In the "switchable graphics" menu I have TESV launcher and TESV itself set to run on "high performance", but it seems to change nothing. Any suggestions?

I read something about being able to enter bios and switch between dynamic and fixed graphics, but I don't see any setting even remotely similar, after updating to (what I believe is) the most recent bios.





Edit: For whatever reason, I can only choose to have either TESV of its launcher on high performance. I've tried both, though, and it doesn't seem to've made a difference.

 

You have to go into the bios and change the GPU setting from dynamic to fixed. My brothers Envy had the same problem.

 

Are you getting good frame rates in Skyrim? My guess is that you're fine, and that it's already running on the Radeon instead of the Intel 4000.

The configuration application is showing only the Intel 4000 available because it's probably a separate .exe file than Skyrim game itself, and by default is running in Power Saving mode. I don't have Skyrim, but this happens in other games all the time. Even though the config apps are set for the Intel 4000, when you run the actual game, it clearly is being switched properly to the Radeon 7850.

I would not recommend changing the BIOS setting to be fixed, because that will really kill your battery life if everything is forced to run on the Radeon.

 

I have tried finding that BIOS setting several times and can't. I have an ENVY 15-3200 with an i5. Does that setting only work for i7 owners?

 

Right when you turn it on, spam f10.

 

Don't worry, I'm in the same boat. It seems that the Envy 15-3200 doesn't have the options. Not sure about the other Envy 15s, but it's unfortunate. In time another bios hack might be released to enable the option, like the tweak in one of the stickies.

 

Wait. Isn't the HP Envy 15-3200 supposed to have Enduro graphics switching? I though it was supposed to be an improvement on the old awful way of dealing with switching.

 

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with "enduro". Care to explain?

 

Yea, I haven't seen much of anything on Enduro, but here is a press release from AMD a little bit ago.

AMD LIVE!™ ReadyNews Release

Also here is one other useful article on it.

AMD Launches Radeon HD 7000M Series With Enduro Graphics Switching - HotHardware

I'm really surprised how it seems like nobody knows about it, or how it has improved over the previous generation GPU's. If anyone knows, feel free to share.

 

It is really quite irritating. I cannot play Eve Online (it doesn't recognize my graphics) and screws up my desktop whenever I exit. So I have no way to force enable graphics for that came (even though I tried forcing it through the graphics selector). Anyone else have any similar issues?

 

Hey Dystout, I'm having the same EXACT problem and been trying for hours for Skyrim to recognize my Graphics card. (I actually registered just to post in this thread!). Other threads have said to change the setting from Dynamic to Fixed but I am also having trouble locating this setting in the BIOS. I've tried disabling the integrated graphics through the device manager but have come up empty. Have you found a fix yet? I can't keep playing on the integrated graphics! :/

 

I had the same issues when getting my laptop and was even about to send it back for refund because most of the games would not even play, I could not see the ATI video card listed in the Benchmark tool, crashes, etc...

A couple of tips that I figured out for resolving graphics issues to share:

#1 - For ENVY 15-3200 there is no Graphics option for switching to Dynamic or Fixed in BIOS. AMD Dynamic Switchable graphics mode uses Intel 4000 graphics all the time and utilizes the discrete ATI video chip when the Power is set to High Performance and the particular application is set to High Performance in the Catalyst CC. Just right-click on the desktop and select Switchable Graphics to access the menu. This way, even on batteries, games can be run at full power. It actually makes a huge difference when ATI chip kicks in, FPS in games show the numbers to prove.
There are lots of online information resources about AMD switchable graphics, I took a little bit of time to go through it to figure out how it works.

#2 - Right out of the box and even after installing the Windows updates, games such as Max Payne 3, Call of Duty 4 and other new titles did not run and crashed. I was about to send the laptop back to HP after calling the support in India who were totally useless and clueless about graphics and suggested to ship it back. But after resetting back to factory in Recovery Manger and installing all the latest versions of the drivers, everything is now working great. Just make sure all the latest drivers which are related to installed hardware for your laptop are installed. It is better to uninstall the old one before installing a new version, especially for video - delete the drivers software from Device Managers for both cards, reboot and run the HP version of the driver which is 8.951.9.1000. I did not care about installing the ATI 12.4 one on top of it, it already works great and I don't want to take chances or see any need for it. The customized HP version is also 12.4.
When the video driver was reinstalled, the Benchmarking tool saw the ATI card when running GPU test and it did not find it before.

The link to all 15-3200 Windows 7 (64-bit) drivers - HP ENVY 15-3200 Notebook PC series- Download drivers and software - HP Business Support Center

There is another link on this site which has updated drivers for 15-3XXX too which is a great place to download them too - http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...ivers-hp-envy-15-3xxx-envy-17-3xxx-intel.html

Hope that helps!

 

Don't worry about Skyrim. Even though the launcher says it is using the HD4000, the game itself, as opposed to the launcher, uses the Radeon.

I'm getting 35-40 fps on a modified high setting, using no AA or AF. That kind of performance is not possible on the HD4000 (I'm seeing things about that only managing playable framerates at low-medium settings), so the switchable graphics are working. (Though, this is with the AMD 12.7 beta installed over the HP drivers, as 12.7 brings a significant boost in framerate)

The problem is in other games, such as Shogun 2 Total War. It will not recognize the discrete card in the ingame settings. However, it just occurred to me that the game still may be using the discrete card, just not recognizing it in the menu. Tomorrow I will see what sort of fps I get trying to play at the max graphics it lets me, and then compare that to the FPS with the Radeon 6670 in my computer downstairs. If this is the case, the only problem is that the game would lock me out of the ultra unit size.

And if the above is not the case, and the game is actually using the HD4000 -well, we are still waiting on a BIOS that allows a fixed graphics mode...

Now sleep. Tomorrow, !!SCIENCE!!

 

Thanks, Lucidreamer! I really do appreciate your help.

Just a few notes, I'm well aware of CCC and experiencing the same issues as Dystout as I too am switching the two .exe file of Skyrim to "High Performance" but still am using the integrated Intel GPU; so I feel that this is out of the question for the fix.

Will try second solution and post back on results.

Thanks once again for providing links and procedure, Lucidreamer!

[EDIT]: Few questions on the second fix:
1. Do I need to reset my laptop back to Factory condition for this to work or is uninstalling both card drivers, enough?
2. Procedure:
1. Uninstall Drivers (and delete)
2. Reboot
3. Download and install drivers
Am I missing anything?

Thanks.

 

Hi Mistercheif, I have also heard that Skyrim will not list your external GPU card on the drop-down menu but will use it regardless. I feel this is not the case with my laptop as using Fraps shows that I am running on 17-25 FPS on Low setting which is no where close to the capability of my Radeon 7750M Graphics card. I feel that this a driver issue due to my Laptop being a relatively new model being the HP Envy 15 3200t.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

No problem, Dorhawk, glad to help!

I am not 100% sure about the issue, probably would try to install the Novabench benchmarking free tool from NovaBench - Free Computer Benchmark Software and see what card is being displayed on the application under Graphics. I have ATI Radeon 7750M shown there and it was Intel HD 4000 before I updated to all the latest drivers. Also, when running this benchmarking tool in High Performance the GPU test window shows which card is being used. If you have ATI chip listed there, then drivers are probably fine and it is the issue with the Skyrim.

 

Yup, the Intel 4000 is the only GPU listed when I start up the NovaBench application so it looks like I'm facing the same issue as you. :/ Hopefully, your method will work for me. Could you look over the questions that I asked in the last post under "EDIT" for the procedure? I just want to make sure I get this right!

Thanks!

 

Yeah, sounds like the same drivers issues to me. About "EDIT" - I would try to resort to Factory Settings option as the last choice, unless you have no objectives to losing all your settings/installed apps.
I recovered from the factory image because after playing with the video drivers for quite a bit, it started acting weird and it was safer to start from ground 0.
Please try to go through this link and make sure ALL the latest drivers are installed ONE BY ONE by comparing the existing versions from Control Panel to the version posted on that link. I think it's crucial to follow the advice in the Description for each component by uninstall the previous drivers first, if recommended, reboot, if needed, etc. This was exactly what I did and that just resolved the ATI card issues for me and every single game now plays just fine. I actually used that particular link too. About games - I don't believe this video card has enough power to run Max Payne at highest resolution/settings, but I play it at 720p with all High and it runs very smoothly.
My bet is that the latest version of Intel (not ATI) Control Panel or Framework Engine has fixed the graphics issues, therefore, manual updates to these components drivers are actually needed.
Good luck with it and keep us posted on the progress!!

 

Hey Lucid,

Kinda stuck on something. I downloaded the driver for the 7750M off the link you gave me and uninstalled the original drivers for both cards, rebooted and installed the new driver but I do not know what to do after that. I do not think that the computer recognizes that I've installed the driver and both cards do not show up in the Device Manager after installing the new driver. Am I missing a step in the process? Help to overcome would be great!

Thanks!

 

That's strange and I don't remember having those issues. Sounds like you did it correctly. Just checking... Did you install that one, right?
ENVY 15-32XX (7750M)
ENVY 17-32XX (7850M) Windows 7 x64 8.951.9.1000 (AMD)
8.15.10.2669 (Intel SG) 20 May 2012 CVA, HTML
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp56501-57000/sp56896.exe

When installing the driver, was Custom option selected with everything checked? Did it show the big green checkbox stating the installation was successful? The log file next to the checkbox (or cross if something failed) also has the status of the installation and determine what components had issues or something.

 

Yup, that is the driver I downloaded and actually I realized that after uninstalling the drivers for the Intel 4000 and Radeon 7750M I did not reboot but went straight to the install the new drivers because when I do reboot, Windows automatically installs old drivers, which I don't want. Does that affect the process? Or do I have to uninstall and reboot?

In regards to your other question about the Catalyst, it does complete the install but an error log shows that I already have some of the items that it has but does not have any errors pertaining to the install of the GPU driver.

What did your computer do after installing the drivers? Because mine does not recognize the driver at all!

 

I think I know now what the possible issue was .... There should be no errors in the log after the installation, looks like uninstall was not made properly and that messed up the new install.

By uninstalling the video drivers - I meant uninstalling HP and ATI video applications from Control Panel first, then going to Device Manager and right-click on each of the card to select Uninstall. I think I mentioned about Device Manager in my post. It should prompt "Remove Software?", select Yes. Then reboot. On the reboot it will install the Windows drivers for both, which is fine, just do it. After that, install the downloaded HP video driver which is 8.951.9.1000. Always reboot, if prompted. I even installed Catalyst 12.7 Beta on top of HP last night and it is running fine too but that is optional, it should be installed on top of the HP custom drivers (8.951.9.1000).

 

Well, I tested Shogun 2, and it does in fact use the 7750m, even though the graphics options menu only recognizes the HD4000. I was getting 50-60 fps in a 3000 soldier battle, with an improved high graphics setting (some settings bumped up a notch above high).

That is definitely no integrated card performance. I'm going to have to look at the ini's to see if I can set unit size to ultra that way.

[EDIT] And unit size is set to ultra now. It seems all the problems I had are fixed worked around now! =)

 

When you say "uninstalling HP and ATI video applications", do you mean any specifically, which ones do I need to uninstall? I think I'm close, I just need to get these last few things clarified!

Thanks!

 

Just launch the HP video installation package and select Uninstall. Then go to Device Manager and click Uninstall for each of the video cards. Reboot. Let it pick up Windows drivers. Launch the HP video installation package, select Custom, make sure everything is checked. Verify the log.

 

Did everything you said and this time the log and installation were all successful, but both Skyrim and Novabench STILL do not recognize my 7750M.

Is there a maybe a setting on Novabench I have to choose to make it change GPU's?

 

I don't think there are any settings in Novabench to select graphics. Switchable graphics are governed by the video drivers depending upon the intensity of the particular graphics task and the set power mode. Try setting the Novabench to High Performance in the "Configure Switchable Graphics" options on the desktop, make sure the Power mode is set to High Performance too in systray, not HP recommended or Balanced. If that does not help, uninstall and reinstall the Novabench application. Not really sure why it does not list the ATI video card. If it gives higher FPS numbers in High Performance vs the Power Saver mode, that means the ATI discrete chip is working for graphics anyway.

 

Hey Lucid,

I tried everything you said but neither the Novabench app nor Skyrim are picking the graphics card up. I'll probably need to talk to HP and see if they can do anything about it. Do you have any other suggestions? Also, I greatly appreciate the help you have been providing me through this process!

Thanks!

 

Hmm... that was probably all I could suggest, running out of options at this point, sorry. All the latest updates for all components were installed from that link posted earlier, correct? Can you see both cards listed in System Information under Display or Video (can't remember exactly). On mine - the ATI is listed first and has a resolution details but Intel HD 4000 is second and not detailing much data there.

Just curious.... what is the Novabench score for GPU test you are getting? I get 89 FPS for 1920x1080 with 2x Anti-aliasing settings. If you get close to that, that should indicate that the ATI chip is used. I would not worry about that anymore. Calling HP will not likely resolve anything on the phone, they will suggest to ship your laptop for benchmarking tests or something.

 

Hey Lucid,

Sorry for the LATE reply. Was out on vacation.

Tried everything you said, but still no luck! My Novabench score was around 900-ish which I have no ides whether it is good or not (but I'm sure it was using the 4000). The Intel 4000 is listed first followed by the 7750M.

REALLY need a fix for this so I can start Gaming.

Also, could it be that I may need a fresh OS install or would that not change it. I feel like that CCC is not integrated into the OS, so a fresh install would have no change.

Thanks.

 

ok guys try running the game/application even if it says on the launcher "intel hd 4000" most of the time the 7750m will auto start. if it doesnt, that means u got a faulty card or faulty software. there are some games that dont work with enduro/optimus (i heard shogun is one) and they arent only not able to be played on the 7750m.

 

are 12.9 beta mobility drivers okay? i have a quite smooth framerate at dishonored at 720p(it's set for high performance) , but i am not totally sure if the 7750m switched on at my 3200 envy. but at native 1080p it quite bogs down in performance. anyone ran dishonored?

 

12.9 beta so far are fine for me. i did a little search because yet again im pulling an all nighter and need alittle break. dishonored apparently runs at 1080p max settings around 25-35 fps with the 540m. our card (7750m) is around 2x in performance so u should be getting 50-70 fps meaning urs isnt switched on. put it on high performance and make sure ur plugged in and try it.

 

Hi
I have approx. 40-45 fps in Dishonored all maxed out, 50-55 when i o.c. with 12.9 beta. On a side note, the gt640m scores approx. 1700 in 3dmark11 and our card scores approx. 1950 stock.