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

Really? I think the 2GB versions are identical 'cards' (integrated into the mainboard) but just have 1 GB more of GDDR5 to access. Maybe I'm wrong but I think they're identical chips.

 

didn't work for me.

 

Yes, it should have it. Either HP forgot to add it back in or AMD never got it work correctly on a muxless design.

 

I know, it says "on supported systems", but it implies that some systems may have both (maybe the dv6 with a driver update?)

 

on my machine it was tried with 3 different drivers (I don't recall which ones). HP was desperate to make it work, given the number of hours they had invested in the tech support call.

 

thats not correct. it doesn't matter how much memory the gpu has, if it's a 6770m its still a 6770m chip, drivers, compatibilities, etc are all identical.

stop being so impatient!! i'll be getting my 6100 version by wednesday, i'll test out if extracting the drivers from the HP executables will bypass the incompatibility of the old manual switching drivers.

if someone else knows what i'm talking about, then please go ahead and test it according to below...

so, someone with a 6100 version do the following:
1) download the graphics driver from AMD High-Definition Graphics Driver HP Pavilion dv6t-6000 CTO Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

2) download uniextract from Universal Extractor | LegRoom.net

3) run uniextract and extract sp51585.exe you got from step 1.

4) uninstall all graphics drivers. control panel -> programs and features -> ati catalyst manager -> express uninstall ALL ATI stuff.

5) reboot, your computer should be using generic display driver and be in 800x600 mode. if not, go in device manager and uninstall the display adapter drivers manually (or use driver sweep)

6) after restarting, run setup.exe from the extracted files in step 4.

7) voila, you should have manual switching on a dv6t-6100. you can now proceed to install 11.5b etc... over the existing drivers.

if you are confused about any of the steps, DO NOT try this.

p.s. you can bypass step 1-3 if you have the swsetup folder from a dv6t-6000 computer. just run the setup.exe in swsetup/drivers/video in step 6 instead.

 

Here's an odd observation, perhaps someone can give an explanation.

Here is the HP Software and Drivers page for the dv6t-6000:
Software & Driver Downloads HP Pavilion dv6t-6000 CTO Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

and here is the dv6t-6000 page:
Software & Driver Downloads HP Pavilion dv6t-6100 CTO Quad Edition Entertainment Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Oddly, there are no driver downloads at all for the 6770m on the 6100 page, while the 6000 page has the drivers available to download. Just trying to bring all possible evidence to light to help solve this problem. Sup with that?

 

If I have time, I'll try this.

This looks very straight-forward.

 

impatient by asking once??

if it works for you guys, I'll be ordering another DV6 ASAP as long as HP doesn't jack me around regarding the 30% discount. I'll be going up the chain of command if they do give me any grief. the case manager has only agreed to an extended warranty (not on-site), and claims he can't do anything about pricing of a new laptop. SOMEBODY at HP is going to give me some satisfaction on the price, one way or the other...

 

Won't allow it since it does a product model check.
Example .....
SysId01=0x1659
SysName01=HP Pavilion dv7
SysId02=0x165A
SysName02=HP Pavilion dv7
SysId03=0x165B
SysName03=HP Pavilion dv7
SysId04=0x3389
SysName04=HP Pavilion dv7
SysId05=0x1656
SysName05=HP Pavilion dv6
SysId06=0x1657
SysName06=HP Pavilion dv6
SysId07=0x1658
SysName07=HP Pavilion dv6

Also using a extractor to extract when it already is an self contained extractor is redundant.


HP is very slow to update their site, they never get the drivers up on release. Just wait a few weeks, it eventually show up.

That's mostly reason why most people have problems doing clean installs. Missing drivers.

 

That points out why HP support had such a terrible time trying to help me. I'm just gonna wait for the dust to settle--I'll be downloading any and all driver files that accomplish what I need, BEFORE I take delivery of another DV6 and hopefully I'll be able to enjoy the Radeon graphics soon.

 

I think you will find, that this is a hardware based switching system. In other words the 6100 HP's 6770m will have a newer vBios than say mine that allows old school 'manual' switching or its actually a mobo bios change. This is how nvidia did it on my old Alienware m11x r2. The vid card(GT335m) was exactly the same between the r1 and r2, however r1 was manual(via bios) and the r2 was software auto switching.
Afterall if it was all software based, the guys like me with the original 6770m(1gb) would suddenly be on auto switching too.
Not saying you cant trick it into thinking it can do a manual switch, but I'm guessing it maybe more involved than you guys think as the guys over on the nvidia part of NBR never managed to trick there cards back into going 'manual'. Just my thoughts.

 

I have the current generation of Optimus, we can easily set every applications to default on the higher performance in a few clicks. and vice versa. Basically our dumb way and meaningless way of a manual switch.

Also, your 6770 1GB still part of the furture AMD update, all switchable models starting 6000M can be updated to the dynamic switching.

 

hmm... I still wish I knew how exactly this is being implemented. I hope the hardware will support more mature modes of this technology as I'm not terribly impressed with it as is. At least they should have a little widget to tell you which GPU is being used even if it does auto-switch. Throw the enthusiasts a bone AMD!

 

I thought you have something like that already in your switching graphic tab. It list all the apps using high performance and power saving mode.

Sure they could of moved that in a better place. But this is AMD, they keep changing the darn UI around in major CCC update. Make it hard to find them in the first place.

 

Got any sources to back that up? Because if thats true, I will be annoyed, but also on the positive side that also means that these guys with the current dynamic switching can go back to manual, as your essentially saying that all this is done via software correct? and requires no BIOS updates to either the vid or the mobo. Just curious

 

AMD's Nvidia Optimus Killer Technology Gets Detailed - Softpedia

You need the updated driver and CCC to get this to work.

 

yet another interesting read
AMD PowerXPress 4.0 aka BACON vs. Nvidia Optimus - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

PowerExpress 4.0 (aka BACON) is a hardware & software combination. The hardware aspect of it is that it uses the PCIe bus to transfer graphical data from the dGPU to the IGP, and have the IGP display the video output, instead of the previous MUX design allowing either the dGPU or IGP to directly drive the video output. The software aspect is what tells the dGPU to shoot the graphical data over the PCIe bus instead of the normal video out.

Long story short, BACON is architecturally *exactly* the same as OPTIMUS. The only difference is in the implementation of their drivers.

FYI, this means that manual switching is possible, but probably not implemented reliably in software yet.

This also means that now the best switchable graphics platform belongs to Apple on the Arrandale and Sandy Bridge MBPs. They utilize a MUX'd solution that is more battery efficient (IGP off when using dGPU), are able to have multiple displays over thunderbolt (no more eyefinity with BACON), are able to support 3D displays and have lower display latency (b/c MUXing incurs less delay than transferring over the PCIe bus).

Im pretty sure that i will probably be selling this laptop as soon as the Ivy Bridge MBPs come out...

 

I was thinking, would it be possible to create a program that acts like a switch for the GPU's? Why not make a very small and simple program that hardly uses any system resources at all. This program can be configured in the CCC as high performance, so when it is opened, the discrete graphics are enabled. When opened, this program can just run in the background... Then the GPU can be used for real tasks such as game playing or benchmarking. When you want to go back on the integrated graphics, just close the program.

 

I have the latest 11.5b hotfix installed (inc cc)etc....I still am able to manually switch. what gives there?(not that I particuarly want Dynamic switching)

 

FYI

My dv6tqe dynamic switching (bacon?) works pretty well. I installed the crysis demo and configured it to be high performance before ever playing. The opening credits were TORTUROUS...it was awful and took forever. Then, it started to come up to speed. I quickly quit out and started GPU-z logging the Radeon dGPU. Back in again and the credits played normally. I could set it to 1920x1280 on high settings with excellent frame rates and zero stuttering. Very high isn't so much playable with 1366x768 (across the board very high, that is).

Exiting the game looking at GPU-z and this time the dGPU shot right up to 100% utilization. The core and memory speeds shot up and the temperature did as well (I didn't need GPU-z to tell me that. The fans kicked into high gear and the laptop became warm to the touch.) The highest temp i recored was 73 I think.

Anyway, fears dispelled and suspicions confirmed. The dynamic switching works...it just doesn't work as well as I'd hope. It seems it needs to "learn" that a program will be high performance even when I tell it that beforehand.

All-in-all not a bad solution. The switch was seamless (no black screens) and once it DID switch, the game was quite playable.

 

because apparently this switches on the dGPU by apps. so for example, you can run a windowed starcraft 2 with the dGPU, but still use the intel for chrome and youtube video in the back ground.

 

Ill be getting the dv7t 6100, does it also have the switching graphic thing?

 

That seems to summarize my experience as well. I played Crysis 2 at 1920 x 1080 with high settings, and it was beautiful and smooth like butter! No tearing, no stuttering, a real visual treat! This was with the 11.5b drivers, since they were already installed prior to my installation of the game. No overclocking, as it doesn't appear to work with either Sapphire Trixx or MSI Afterburner. The 6770m is a great card, and I hope for more refinement of the switching, but it's very usable as is. I wouldn't let the fully automated switching disuade you from purchasing, if you're on the fence. I have yet to have problems with a single game.

 

That might also explain why this thing is such a multi-tasking behemoth! I was trying to bog it down with multiple concurrent tasks. I had Photoshop batch processing, 3 separate videos running, SC2 windowed, Outlook, and several IE windows open, and for the life of me I couldn't get it to noticeably slow down! I have been very impressed with the switchable gpu solution combined with the power and energy efficiency of the new Sandy Bridge i7's.

Yes, both the new DV6T and DV7T have the new autoswitching graphics, if you upgrade to the 6770m.

 

The driver only contains parts of it to get it to work. HP is using a forked version CCC which contains the preview of BACON, which may have yet pushed on the trunk.
It won't be for quite some time.

 

Can someone explain how to update (and what) for the Radeon and HD 3000?

For the IGP:

The HP driver for the Intel HD 3000 won't install. I'm using the MSI stock drivers.

For the Radeon:

I tried installing everything from the first driver update, then the CCC (11.5 - 5/11) upgrade, then the Hydravision package, then AMD Media Codec package. I, of course, uninstalled the older CCC before installing the newer one. Then I downloaded the 11.5b hotfix and installed that completely. After restart, the CCC wouldn't load. I couldn't access the CCC panel despite all the drivers being there as well as software solutions. I uninstalled EVERYTHING out of frustration (anything ATI). Then I reinstalled just the CCC and display driver from the 11.5b hotfix package. After restart, the CCC and the display driver show the latest version and the CCC control panel loads. Switchable graphics works...

Did I do the right thing? I'm TIRED of this driver dance. Do I uninstall first and then install? Is every component necessary...etc. etc. I just want the dang thing to work!

So, suggestions are MORE than welcome.

EDIT: New Idea. Let me know if its a good one! Uninstall everything Radeon. Let windows update install the Radeon driver or install it from swsetup. Then install 11.5a on top of this. Restart. Install 11.5b on top of this. Good? What is the advantage of installing over the old drivers? on AMD's website they always instruct you to remove the old driver or software first before installing the new driver/software...even the hotfix.

 

what exactly are you trying to do right now? are you trying to update the ATI driver to 11.5b? or are you trying to get manual switching instead of automatic switching? hydravision and codec (and those kind of stuff) are not necessary at all for the things you are looking for. hydravision is like spaces for mac or compiz for ubuntu.

let me put it this way. you cannot install any driver from AMD's website on a clean slate -> you have to overwrite the existing HP driver.
e.g. you can do things like wipe -> HP drivers -> 11.5b, or you can do things like HP drivers -> 11.5b. but you can't do wipe -> 11.5b. HP drivers has to be there already any time you try to install a driver directly from AMD.

again, the reason is that the HP driver contains the information about how the two gfx cards should communicate with each other and the display, the AMD drivers only pertains to the 6770m card, and not the HD3000 (and the driver from intel vice versa). so generally, you need the HP driver to tell the computer what parts are there and how they should interact, then put the AMD driver on top of it to tell the 6770m how to do its own thing once stuff gets loaded onto that GPU. If you have only the AMD part, and nothing from HP, the computer wouldn't know what to do with any of it.

 

Hey, can somebody confirm if they can get the dGPU to kick in with firefox? I'm gonna want to stress test my comp when I get it by running like 10 1080p streams. I want to compare IGP with dGPU. Would be a shame if I can't do that in my browser of choice, or any browser for that matter.

Also, can someone confirm that you can infact stop the 6770 from kicking in on firefox (if you can get it to kick in the in first place), perhaps by taking it off the high performance list, so the IGP can be tested like I want to test it? I'm wondering, even if a certain application is not on the high performance list, maybe the dynamic will pick up on the need for it and turn on the dGPU on its own.

Thanks!

 

1) why would you need the radeon for firefox... the intel is more than capable of playing 1080p lag free. this is like saying I need to test using a knife and surgical scapel to cut vegetables for dinner... they are going to produce exactly the same result >_>

2) logically it's impossible for the GPU to be switched on or off for a given running application. that would be like switching from one to the other on the manual switch - whatever you had opened (like games for example) would be flickering a few times and turn white or black and freeze.

 

I just really want the dang thing to work so I can stop worrying about drivers and just use the laptop. I could care less about dynamic vs manual switching. Yes, I'd prefer the latter but its not worth the time and hassle to figure it out.

Strangely enough. I actually did go directly from wipe->11.5b hotfix. It worked swimmingly. Is that ok? Also, why is it that Radeon recommends uninstalling all old version drivers before updating?

 

because radeon drivers deals mostly with desktop drivers, where switchable graphics isn't an issue because there is no battery life involved. also back in the days installing driver over existing drivers caused a lot of issues because of the reminants from the previous driver (hence the invention of things like driver sweep). for these drivers, those issues are nonexistent. the reason why you went from "wipe" from 11.5b hotfix is because you haven't actually wiped the drivers, you just uninstalled the CCC (aka, the GUI for the driver). if you looked in device manager after your "wipe" and looked at the display adapters, you would most likely find the drivers there are still intact.

1) if you just wanted it to work, you can just run the setup.exe from your c:/swsetup/drivers/video. it should reset whatever you have done as far as the graphics part goes.

2) if you wanted for it to work AND update the ATI driver to 11.5b, then do step 1 and then run the 11.5b installer.

you shouldn't need to uninstall anything at all during the process.

 

No. I definitely removed the driver. I know enough to check for that. I always go custom to make sure I know what I'm removing. It worked, but don't ask me how. Windows was looking for a driver for the Radeon hardware, so I'm quite certain it was removed (a quick check of the hardware manager confirmed this).

So. You'd recommend that I remove everything. Then install the swsetup drivers (factory drivers). Then install 11.5b?

Edit: So. According to the AMD website, you're supposed to remove the old drivers first...even for the hotfix. Weird. Also, what do I do about the AMD media codec pack (formerly known as Avivo)?

 

1) because there will certainly be a difference as to how many streams can be going at once with IGP vs dGPU

2) I am not talking abotu switching mid stream. I am talking about taking firefox off the high performance list and seeing that if you really really the machine by running many 1080p or even 4k streams, if it will kick in on its own even if firefox.exe is off the list.

can someone confirm this for me please?

 

The autoswitching definitely has monitoring built-in that impacts which GPU is used regardless of the setting (or lack thereof) and appears to change the clock speed of the GPU used as well. In fact, for some of my games, it enabled the 6770m, and I didn't select it until afterwards, because the popup warning only popped up after the game started. I also have no doubt, based on what I've seen that it has the capability to switch GPUs mid-stream.

 

You need to remove plugin-container.exe of the list.

I already ran and confirmed the Intel 3000 HD runs 4k streaming with my xps without a sweat.
-----

The reason for the AMD Driver clean install was to resolve odd video behavior that commonly happens during update like screen tearing, weird artifacts in game, locked graphic settings...etc..etc.

It helps to troubleshoot games, most of the solutions was to do a pure clean install.
-----
@dark rider
It can't switch midstream of an app, Intel Op codes are different from AMD Op codes for the graphic section.

What it can do is set an application to use a certain card over the other from start to closing of the app.
Even changing the mode while it active, won't come into effect until that app restarts.

 

Ok. So, just install the 11.5b over the factory drivers, or do a clean install? I'm trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do.

Also, what's plugin-container.exe? Were you saying that in reference to me?

 

How about ONE person with the most knowledge contact the admin about placing a STICKY with the correct instructions? All this back and forth is giving me a headache!

 

My actual experience with it has been different then you describe. I've seen it on more than one occasion, where I started a game up and would alt+tab out and run GPU-Z, and the Intel HD was active. After I get past the startup, you can audibly here the 6770m fan kick in (sounds different), and sure enough, when you alt tab out, it shows in GPU-Z that the clocks reported have changed for the 6770m and that it is active. I think there is more going on then meets the eye.

 

I agree. My own personal experience isn't that you can dedicate an app to a specific GPU (IGP or dGPU), but rather that you can designate it for a more 'high performance' mode where it almost allows it to hit the dGPU once the load peaks. I've noticed what seems to be switching in-app, that is to say.

That'd be nice.

 

interesting... i'll be sure to check that once i get mine tomorrow...

however using GPU-z is not very reliable in this case, neither is the clockspeed that it reports. it is analogous to the whole cpu-z and chipset B2 or B3 revision thing - you can't trust what it says because it is not made to report accurately for this new setup. for example, you lived in eurasia in the 1400s, you classify people into asians, caucasians and blacks. now fast forward to today, and i put a latino in front of you. what would you say he/she is? none of the 3 existing races that you know would be an accurate description of the latino.

as for the fan, i have disassembled the dv6-6000 and it only has 1 fan that is common to both the cpu and the GPU. there is no dedicated fan for the 6770m chip. the only reason it would sound different is because the internal temperature has increased and the fanspeed was kicked up to the next level.

a more plausible explanation of what you see (startup is quiet, shows intel, then in game has higher temp, fan speed, etc) is that the dGPU was active then entire time since you opened the game, but there wasn't much 3d rendering during the startup (aka, prerendered cinematics), and the GPU was not stressed until you actually start the gaming process itself.

however, this is just a theory and can be easily tested and refuted. if you ever see for example, that the game was at around 10fps, then all of a sudden, without restarting the game, it shot up to 60fps in the same identical situation, then it suggests a switch of GPU in the middle of the game. i don't really see how that is possible with the current technology though.

 

Ok. For all you following this. This is what I've decided to do.

Take the Radeon drivers from the MSI (from swsetup folder) and then install the 11.5b hotfix over them (11.5a is unnecessary).

I think that's the easiest way to handle this.

I'm still not sure what to make of the AMD codec pack (Avivo)

 

The Radeon drivers in swsetup are 11.4 correct?

So your going from full 11.4 to a 11.5b hotfix? And it works without doing a full install of 11.5?

That sounds a bit off..

 

sigh. As confused as many of us are, the truth of the matter is that HP support knows even less than we collectively do. Isn't that a bummer!

 

all of the ATI "hotfixes" are standalone drivers. they are not a "patch" for an existing driver. think of it like 11.5.0(11.5), 11.5.1(11.5a), 11.5.2(11.5b), etc...

 

Ah thank you much for the heads up.

 

This is why I didn't even bother calling them.

^ That being said, is my plan a good plan even though 11.5b are standalone drivers? That is, I don't need to bother uninstalling swsetup drivers (11.4?) before I plop the hotfix on?

 

not only you dont need to, if you actually succeeded then nothing will work. what you did is the best way to go about updating the ATI drivers to the current version.

 

o.0 Weird. Like I said. I actually did just use 11.5b as my only drivers. Either I didn't uninstall everything like I thought, or the new 6100 can operate fine on drivers straight from AMD and doesn't need HP versions.

Whatever, I'll do the kosher (11.4 from HP -> 11.5b hotfix on top of it) thing, cross my fingers, and hope for the best.