dv6t-61XX / dv7t-61XX Switchable Graphics Discussion

There are still quite a few quick-ship dv6t-60xx models still available on eBay. New, factory packaged and unregistered. Not that hard to still find at the moment.

 

With AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics technology, full enablement of all discrete graphics video and display features may not be supported on all systems (e.g. OpenGL applications will run on the integrated GPU or the APU as the case may be). Always check with your system manufacturer for specific mode capabilities and supported technologies
With this statement by AMD I am sure that the problem is with HP and should be fixed by them.

 

I just found something.

GLDirect | Download GLDirect software for free at SourceForge.net

 

Not going to help you.

 

Worth the try!!

 

worth the try, also: titaniumgl.tk

 

give virtualgl a try

this is what we used to get optimus working on linux

VirtualGL | Main / The VirtualGL Project

there is a windows client

 

So, I just got a dv7 6135dx and was browsing the thread and saw that FSX won't run on the dedicated chip (I have the 6490 not the 6770). Anyone get it to work on the 61xx series and if so how?

 

I could not get any of the two I posted to work with Amnesia or Photoshop.

 

it works as soon as you set it on performance mode.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-pavilion-notebooks/583203-dv6t-7-switchable-graphics-96.html#post7649713

 

You, sir, are a genius. Works great now, Thanks! +1 rep

 

what is the windows rating for the 6770M graphic card?

 

From reviews I've seen, I think 6.9.

 

that's funny. I and HP spent hours trying to get FSX to show the Radeon chip (along with the option to use Direct X 10) on a 6100, and all the "performance" options in the world didn't get it to use the Radeon. I had a 6000 which worked like a champ, but returned it, due to non-graphics issues. I set the executable to high performance (countless times), and set every option available, to "high performance"... we tried various drivers, nada. HP gave up, and so did I.

I'd like to see a screen shot of the graphics options screen where the Direct X 10 option is visible. Also, something to show you have a 61xx.

 

look at the resolution... have you ever seen 6000 in 1080p?

edit... i guess i could have used an external on the 6000... i'll post a pic of auto switching scheme

 

LOL! My 6k outputted 1920 all day long, to an external monitor.

I see you edited your post to reflect you reflecting on your comments. LOL!

 

awesome. (I was hoping for a shot INSIDE of FSX, on the graphics options screen, where "Preview of Direct X 10" is visible ONLY when the Radeon is active) TIA

is your unit a DV 6 or 7? (sorry if I missed that).

1 or 2GB video memory?

date of mfgr?

 

i have a dv6t-6100 CTO model, ordered on 5/22/2011 delivered on 6/10/2011.
it has 2gb vid memory.

i do not have the preview of direct x 10 option on my options page. but it's very obvious the 6770m is working (1920x1080x32 resolution at ultra high and 2xAA is not something the intel HD can get 30fps on), as shown by the clock rate log in afterburner as well.

someone else with a 6100 had the directx 10 option enabled. i don't know too much about FSX to know what exactly he did to get it, but the fps is quite comparable at the same resolutions, so obviously both of us had the 6770m running.

source: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-pavilion-notebooks/583203-dv6t-7-switchable-graphics-72.html#post7627665

and my pic posting my fps and dynamic switching, 2gb video ram, as well as afterburner log:

Spoiler

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

this is what MSI afterburner looks like when the 6770m is off:


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

All I wanted to say was that I can't believe you use the full names option in the taskbar in Windows 7. It looks soooo ugly!

 

you're never going to use 2gb of memory on midrange card like the 6770m

 

everyone on here says that, so I guess it's true, but what about something like the Crysis 2 high resolution texture pack? it requires at least 1 GB of memory on desktops even at 1080p

 

no 2gb is completely useless. i got it with the hope that it would be a better binned chip "worthy" of 2gb of ram - hence would overclock better. but... overclocking isn't possible at all on the 6100 series. so that was a good waste of $50

i open many different excel files side by side quite often - switching between them becomes quite unmanageable if they are all cluttered into one single icon on the taskbar.

 

Got my Hp dv6 laptop from bestbuy today...love the screen.....1080P...just a quick question.................why does my Radeon Card show the bus width as 32 bit.....is it ..me...whoz reading it wrong....or has best buy ........really messed it up this time..........cause i thought the Radeon 6770 is a 128bit

see link http://postimage.org/image/iqncjw78/

 

I'm not.......sure... Maybe more...........ellipses.

jk, the 6770m drivers are a bit off ATM as far as showing the right information about the card in programs like gpu-z

 

the card can't handle settings high enough to even get there

 

As I am reading that, I take that to mean; "we know where the issue lies, however, there is not enough public outcry as of yet for us to commit the resources to do anything about it."

HP is a hardware distributer first. They do not necessarily design or write the code that makes their products run. They just put the pieces together. The drivers still come from AMD. When they packaged the Intel and ATi drivers, I do not believe they outright decided to kill OpenGL support with descrete graphics. If anything, IMO, it is up to the hardware manufacturers (HP, Dell, IBM...) to put the pressure on their suppliers. HP should not have to fix AMD's drivers or tell them how to make their products for them.

If HP is truly guilty of anything at all, IMO, it is of underestimating how their product(s) was going to be utilized. The Pavilion line was always meant as a "multimedia" machine. Not a gaming nor a design-oriented PC. It is geared towards "entertainment". Movies, family videos, pictures, etc... I am not sure how the Envy is faring right now with this issue, but there is HP's gaming system, IMO. Even then, I read somewhere about how the vast majority of modern, high-end games, were direct X anyway - makes sense to me that HP banked on OpenGL being a non-issue. Not a smart thing, mind you, but I can see from a busienss standpoint, what they might have been thinking. Still, if I were doing alot with OpenGL (non-gaming) or needed to utilize Adobe and AutoCAD products, as part of my regular routine, I would have looked more towards the higher-grade business line products with descrete nVidia GPU's from the start. So far as Gaming is concerned, the Radeon HD 6770M is a good card, but not "great". You simply do not make a Gaming rig of any sort worrying about how you will save on power. If I were putting together such a machine, it would not be with "switchable" graphics. I would have also used a better, dedicated card. But that's just me... and I confess that I am way, way, far from an expert in this field.

 

Also do you guys recommend updating drivers to 11.6??

 

With sliders all set to high, I could get over 45FPS on the Radeon, on my 6000. At busy airports, with traffic, frame rates would dip into the 20's.

If you can't see the "Preview of Direct X 10" in FSX, I doubt the Radeon is being reported to FSX properly. Without running DX10, FSX leaves something to be desired, IMO.

 

Actually HP is no more JUST a hardware distributor than apple is. They write a lot of software. and as far as this issue goes I believe AMD gives HP the code for the drivers and lets HP change it however they want.

also if you are saying this issue is in any way excusable because its not advertised as a gaming or designing machine then you gotta be kidding. theres no reason they would have the hardware offerings they only meant for people to use it for ""entertainment". Movies, family videos, pictures, etc... " the hardware would be ridiculously over kill.. this is a "high performance" notebook meant for what ever the user needs. (unless you need high performance OpenGL haha)

Anyway to sum up I thought your post was stupid. no offense.

 

FSX never recognized the radeon card for me, but using hwinfo64 shows that the radeon is clocking at 750mhz while FSX runs so it must be using it.

 

No more stupid than having two models that accomplish the same means to an end - Envy and Pavilion. And there is the business side to all of this. No company, software and machine manufacturer alike, in the business to make money, is going to give it's proprietary code (intellectual property) out to another for the purpose of "changing it however they want". No offense, but that was a stupid thing to comment on. The Pavilion models are advertised and touted as "entertainment" PC's. They have been for many years now. Even more so now, they distinguished themselves as entering the gaming market by purchasing Voodoo to go head-to-head with Alienware. But yes, you are correct in saying that more and more, HP is in the business of writing software for the products it produces. Whether or not it is it's own code is another matter entirely.

I mean really... just because you slap a high-end CPU and alittle RAM into a rig, doesn't make it a "gaming" machine. It's like calling your '10 Cadillac STS a "sports car". And if you did your homework and read alittle here, you would know that what is going on affects more than just HP products. This is industry-wide issue that began with hardware equipped with AMD/ATi products. It's just more noticeable on the HP-side of things because (in my opinion) they are the no.1 hardware producer in the business. More people purchase their products than Dell or elsewhere. And as stated by many here, with the dv6t, you get a helluva lot of hardware for the price. Money talks and not having to shell it out speaks in volume. Think about it (silently); is it no wonder why so many people have flocked to this machine, even with all of the issues, as of late, that have mired it's reputation?

 

There is nothing at all wrong with using switchable graphics. If I have a gaming machine, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm gaming fullbore all the time. Sometimes I might want to watch a movie or something, and I don't need those SLI GTX 485s or a 6950 chewing through my battery.

The only downside to switchable graphics is when it doesn't switch properly and it can't be manually switched. If the switching was working correctly or there was an option to force it, this would be a non-issue.

 

Sorry for the double post, but I don't need to buy a gaming rig to have a reasonable expectation of playing games on it.

 

And your expectation is right, IMO. I just believe that A) the issue needs to be addressed primarily, but not exclusively, by AMD. B) HP, other PC makers and their partners need to encourage AMD to make this "right" and C) switchable graphics in laptop PC's and gaming have no business together. I just do not see, given the state of the technology and willingness to properly develop it, how the two will ever mesh well.

 

Class action law suit anyone?

 

You keep saying this, but you don't seem to understand how it works.

If it is correctly implemented, there is no reason to not have switchable graphics in any computer. If anything, gaming PCs have even more of a reason to include switchable graphics, because their GPUs drain the most battery life. There's no reason to have a high end graphics card on and drawing power when you're looking at pictures of cats on the internet and maybe downloading a file. It's just a waste. As long as it's possible to correctly switch between the two, a switchable solution offers the best of both worlds, high battery efficiency during light use and high performance during heavy gaming. Implemented properly, there is no tradeoff.

 

Actually I'm pretty sure it can...

Someone was running Crysis 2 texture pack at the highest settings with the texture pack and getting something like 30+ fps, then he put it on ultra and got 15-20. He posted in the gaming thread in this forum.

 

Well yes - I really don't get how it works. But I do know that it doesn't work. At least not yet. And until it does, there is no reason why we should be going through the inconvenience we currently are. I mean, using another anology here; its like the hybrid automobile. Great idea. Nice concept with only the best of intentions and advantages in mind. But, if you know anything about them, it is clear from a far perfect technology.

 

IMO that's a bad analogy as hybrid vehicles work amazingly well considering I own one. Wouldn't give it up, not with these oil prices.

 

How's that heater in the winter (below 10 degrees farhenheit) months?

 

Where do you live, the North Pole? I'm near NYC and average temperature is 30 in the coldest months...

 

It works on most laptops. When it works, there is no downside. If the manual switching function wasn't broken, this wouldn't even be a discussion. I'm curious as to what you think the problem is (aside from broken implementation in the dv6t/7t).

Also, my dad has a hybrid Ford Fusion. I've gotten up to 60 mpg in it and it drives like a dream.

 

Nah... I just know that quite a few models suffer from keeping passengers warm in the colder climates due to the fact that the gasoline engine only kicks on either during certain conditions. A car heater doesn't kick out a great deal using the e;ectric motor alone. It would just drain the battery too darn fast. Indiana and the mid-west tend to go to the extremes. Hot summers and cold winters.

 

I'm just going off of what I have read here on the forums. None of it is good and everyone seems to be singing the same tune of how this implementation is broken. And truth be told, I have my own issue concerning the nature of graphics drivers to begin with. They are updated all the time, like clockwork. They just have to be with how other system software (games, production apps and web content) that utilizes the GPU changes all the time. Yet in this situation, we have to rely on one source that is notorious for infrequent driver updates or updates only when something is broken. And in that, how long can we expect HP to deliver updates before signing off? Their track record is one year to a year and a half tops. I also do not care for the BSOD's that frequent my system (logs all point to drivers and Radeon GPU). Am I going to get one this time around when I switch? I just don't believe that HP signed on for this or went into using these chips knowing of the potential issues that could (and did) arise.

I'll concede to your idea of why this technology can do nothing but benefit users on all sorts of hardware configurations in the end. But looking at HP for the answers, is just not the way to go. If I'm going to spend the money (and I did, believe me as I dropped just shy of $3000.00USD when I purchased my hardware), I had better damn well receive something that works as intended. Don't use me or my money as the guinea pig for your little expirament to step into your brave new world. I could have sent it back, but I would like to think that at some point, someone's eyes will open and make this right. The hardware is good. I believe in the quality of this build. But it would be nice if one of the companies would step up and acknowledge concerns and propose a timetable for making this right. This broken implementation is problem enough to warrant my opinion.

My condolensces.

 

What you're reading here is not indicative of the whole spectrum of switchable graphics implementations. This is one computer with problems, there are many more that work very well. It's like having a problem with one hybrid car and deeming all hybrids crap.

The Fusion is great and I love it and wish it was my car.

 

There are problems with AMD's switchable graphics implementation. There were problems with NVIDIA's Optimus when that first came out. What I'm not impressed with is, and I agree, that we're being used a test subjects for new tech. It's definitely not the first time this has happened in the tech industry.

However, to say that this is not a machine that we should expect to game on is a bit mistaken. Sure it's not the most powerful GPU out there but it's definitely up there. At the very least it should work with OpenGL. The problem is that in general (for both desktop and mobile GPUs), AMD's drivers support for OpenGL has been awful over the years. So they thought hey why bother getting OpenGL working properly with this new tech we have. Let's just disclaim it in the small print and go on our merry way. It's downright decietful from both HP and AMD. They are both at fault. HP for buying a technology that's half baked and AMD for making it.

When switching works, especially dynamically, its a benefit to us all with mobile equipment. I dont care if you game a lot or just surf the web and watch the odd HD movie...it's made for all of us.

Why would you want a 17/18 inch "gaming" laptop that runs hot, hard to carry around, weighs a ton and generally resembles desktop anyway? The DV6T, when working, will be one of the best truly all-purpose laptops around. If it wasnt for the fact that this machine was so well specd and priced none of us would bat an eyelid and none of this furore would be going on. It'd just be another overpriced or underspecd machine.

 

It would be nice if there could just be one standard renderer and everyone could support it and we could all be happy.

 

It ran terrible FR's on my particular 6100, so it wasn't using it. And even if it was using it, but FSX couldn't recognize that the Radeon is onboard, then we're out of luck getting to the DX 10 option, and that's a deal breaker for me.

 

Actually, I've been able to enable the Preview DirectX 10 option since I set the .exe to high performance when I first got the laptop. The only problem I had was getting the Radeon to go above 100 MHz, but that was solved back on page 86. Now it runs at above 50fps at default airports.

 

Excellent. If you want to eliminate any microstutters, do you know about [JOBSCHEDULER] AffinityMask=12? that was the most awesome thing I did to get my installation of FSX on my 6000 to run flawlessly in 2d and 3d cockpit modes, and also to smooth out the Spot Plane mode (so that you don't have to use the Fixed Spot Plane mode to avoid terrible jerkiness). FSX ran buttery smooth once I set AM to 12.