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

HP said they are fixing this issue, hopefully it will be faster than "SOON" and in that fix will allow us dv6qe users to OC a bit.

 

And trust me, I will HEED THE WARNING! LOL!

 

This anticipation for the fix from HP is worse than Christmas......we may not know what we are getting but at least we know when haha

 

Excellent news from HP! If nothing else, I think the public outcry demonstrated how powerful a tool the internet can be! Our voices have been heard, and hopefully the fix will be available soon. Really, if HP can deliver on both the switchable dynamic/manual Juliet approach, the DV6/DV7 lineup truly will offer the best of both worlds. Set it to manual for AC power and leave it on the 6770m, and you should be able to run OpenGL and overclock. Set it to dynamic for battery power, and you will have awesome battery life, and still maintain the ability to run most apps/games.

 

Will these games not work on our laptop or we would have to switch to the power saving intel card to play them?
Also will we need this driver to do that or not?
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp53001-53500/sp53025.exe

Some notable games that include an OpenGL renderer

* 18 Wheels of Steel
* Alien Arena 2008
* America's Army (Mac OS X and Linux versions)
* American McGee's Alice
* Amnesia: The Dark Descent
* Aquaria
* Arkanoid: Space Ball
* Baldur's Gate 2 – Defaults to D3D
* Brink
* BZFlag
* Bus Driver
* Celestia
* City of Heroes
* City of Villains
* Call of Duty (series)
* Commandos
* Cortex Command
* Counter-Strike
* Darwinia - Defaults to D3D
* Deus Ex - Defaults to D3D
* Doom 3
* Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
* Droid Assault
* Dwarf Fortress
* Earth 2150
* Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
* Far Cry – Defaults to D3D
* Frets On Fire
* FlightGear
* FooBilliard
* Half-Life series
* Half-Life 2 series (Mac OS X versions)
* Heretic II
* Heroes of Newerth
* Hexen II
* Hitman
* Homeworld 2
* Hotei's Jewels: Relax
* IL-2 Sturmovik
* Keepsake
* Left 4 Dead (Mac OS X version)
* Left 4 Dead 2 (Mac OS X version)
* Max Payne
* Minecraft
* Neverball and Neverputt
* Neverwinter Nights
* Nexuiz
* OpenArena
* osu!
* Pacific Fighters [1]
* Penumbra: Overture
* Penumbra: Black Plague
* Penumbra: Requiem
* Performous
* Portal (Mac OS X version)
* Portal 2 (Mac OS X version)
* Prey
* Quake series
* Rage (upcoming)
* Red Faction
* Regnum Online
* Return to Castle Wolfenstein
* RuneScape (High Detail Mode) - Uses the Java OpenGL library
* Savage: The Battle for Newerth
* Savage 2: A Tortured Soul
* Scorched 3D
* Second Life
* Serious Sam
* Serious Sam 2
* Soldier of Fortune series
* Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (in the Linux, AmigaOS, and Mac OS X versions)
* Ski-Doo X Team Racing
* Spore
* Spring
* StarCraft II (Mac OS X version)
* Starsiege: Tribes
* Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
* Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
* Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
* Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords
* StepMania
* Stronghold
* The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
* Team Fortress
* Titan Attacks
* TORCS
* Trainz
* Tribes 2
* Tux Racer
* Ultratron
* Unreal Gold – Defaults to 3dfx Glide
* Unreal Tournament
* Unreal Tournament 2004
* Urban Terror
* Warzone 2100
* Warcraft 3 - Defaults to D3D in Windows
* Wolfenstein
* Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
* World of Goo
* World of Warcraft - Defaults to D3D in Windows
* Worms: Reloaded
* Wurm Online
* X-Plane

 

No, because that's an old driver that does nothing to help.

 

Most of those games also include a DirectX renderer.

 

This suckz...they should've brought the fix sooner...many customers complaining. I'm one customer still wanting to buy the DV6Z quad or the DV6TQE but the switchable graphic thing is making me go above my budget. I'm planning on buying on august.

 

I own several different SSD's and have owned others. They make your laptop more durable because of no moving parts, they usually improve battery life, and improve system responsiveness greatly. That being said, there are some reliability concerns. Even though theoretically you should still be able to read from an SSD even when all writes have been exhausted, most failures are due to controllers breaking and in that case, there is no retrieving any data. But the golden rule as always has been: backup backup backup!

I own two Intel X25-M 120GB, one 80GB X25-M, one Kingston 96GB, and one OCZ Vertex 2 60GB. I had a Vertex 2 fail on me and a Kingston (not the 96GB but one I sold), but since they've been RMA'd so far so they still work great. I find it hard to go back to HDD. I have a Western Digital SiliconEdge Blue 256GB SSD I plan on putting in my NP8130 or DV6z whichever I decide to keep!

 

One of the staff openly said "the word is one to two weeks, hopefully not much more than that" but I got a pm saying "in the coming months" so I don't know

 

So I just got my DV6 and instantly noticed this issue. So, just so I have it correct, as it stands now, my Radeon card is basically a waste of space? It's not being used at all?

 

Depending on your usage.

If you play games, you're using it 95% of the time.
If you do Adobe/CAD, you're out of luck for now until the fix.

 

Ah ok, so the card is still functioning, it's just controlling when the card functions that is the issue? So if I load up left 4 dead 2, the radeon will kick in? Like another user said, any time I use systemrequirementlabs.com it detects my integrated Intel graphics and says I basically can't run anything.

 

Have you tried disabling the intell driver?

 

To reiterate the FAQ page 1:

1. The 61xx series has a muxless design for switchable graphics. This means the integrated card aka Intel is always on and directly connected to the display. The Radeon card is turned on or off depending on the software needs. It processes the data and sends it THROUGH the integrated card to the display. The old method was a multiplexer in between the display and either card. This switch would change from one card to another based on user settings. Thus, the screen flicker when you change over or reboot requirement.

2. The 61xx series dynamic switching is currently an epic failure because it does not recognize certain programs' needs, particularly software requiring or favoring OpenGL. OpenGL is just a library much like DirectX. OpenGL is not detected by the Radeon and thus the card never kicks in. Thus, slower performance with the Intel GPU.

3. Most users will not be affected by this issue. Most games nowadays use DirectX and thus the card kicks in and games run pretty much flawlessly. The issue comes with niche software such as Adobe Premiere and MatLab. These programs have OpenGL rendering and thus would work 100-1000x better with the discrete card versus the Intel IGP. This is what everybody is complaining about since it is categorized as a "high performance" category laptop with a GDDR5 video card being neutered due to poor driver implementation leading to Intel IGP being favored

4. There is supposedly a BIOS update in the works which would allow user control over the discrete GPU being on all the time aka fixed mode. This would mean all the processing should go through the Radeon versus the computer deciding when or when not to use it. This should theoretically solve the OpenGL problem and also allow users to overclock the card. We will see once HP actually releases the update. Cross your fingers or just get another manufacturers laptop if OpenGL may be an issue for you in the future.

 

Call of Duty is OpenGL. Nuff said.

 

I have an Intel X25-M 80GB first gen on one of my laptops. Ive had it for 3 years and it's still rocking now like the day I bought it. My other 3 Vertex are ok, with one RMAd. But Id suggest if you want reliability to go for Intel. The latest drives from intel - the 510s - use a Marvell controller so I dont trust them as much. But am looking to get myself a Intel 310 or a Crucial C300 sometime soon.

And yes! I agree with you. Once you go to an SSD you can almost never go back. I have a normal 7200rpm drive in my clevo at the moment and everytime I install something I think something has failed or my system has a virus because it just feels sooooooo slow.

 

Here is an official statement from HP:

Official HP statement on Switchable Graphics and Open GL Fun... - HP Support Forum

Official HP statement on Switchable Graphics and Open GL Functionality
[ Edited ]
Options

07-15-2011 02:47 PM - last edited on 07-19-2011 10:31 AM by HP Administrator Katie_H

We understand that there is a concern about switchable graphics and OpenGL functionality.



Switchable Graphics:

HP has a document about how to configure the ATI® Mobility Radeon® Switchable graphics feature. This

document also describes the differences between fixed and dynamic switchable graphic modes and how

to use each effectively.

See: How to Configure ATI Mobility Radeon Switchable Graphics - HP Customer Care (United States - English)



Open GL Functionality:

To operate certain OpenGL applications, you will need to install the latest graphics driver (SP 53025)

which can be found here: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp53001-53500/sp53025.exe . This download

provides Intel Graphics Driver version 8.15.10.2219 to support the Intel GPU in HP notebooks with

switchable graphics. The AMD graphics card in newer HP Pavilion dv6 and dv7 Series models may not

run certain Open GL software.



Update: There is a BIOS update in the works that will allow you to switch from the default Dynamic mode to Fixed mode. Switching to Fixed Mode will allow you to run Open GL programs on the AMD Radeon graphics processor. We will let you know as soon as this is available.



Thanks!
DaniW
HP Forum Admin

 

So why is it that most OpenGL programs just run with slower performance, but I can't play Call of Duty 1 at all?

Will I be able to play it when the BIOS update comes out? When will that be?

 

Some older games required a discrete GPU, before there was such a thing as a semicapable integrated GPU. They would check for a dGPU, and if there wasn't one, they would fail to launch.

 

Can someone with dv6-6100 confirm whether after the update is OpenGL working?
Is there manual switching?

 

Oh, so since CoD uses OpenGL it can't detect the dGPU and fails to launch. I get it now. Thanks

The BIOS update will make it work then. Just a few more weeks and I can play CoD!

 

There is no update. Not yet released.

 

Both COD4 and COD Modern Warfare 2 don't work?

 

COD Modern Warfare 2 does work on the 6770m. I have been playing that game on this computer.

 

WTH? No, he's talking about the original CoD.

 

Yes, CoD 1 and CoD United Offensive don't run on this computer as of right now (but the update should fix that). But I tested demos of CoD 2 and CoD 4, and they ran fine. I'm assuming all CoDs except the first one and its expansion work.

 

To sort of pull this thread back from the realms of off-topic... When are we all expecting this BIOS update to be released? My guess would be early-mid August... Thoughts?

 

I'm going to college for Comp Science Engineering and I don't care if I can't run Photoshop/Minecraft/Old games. But am I going to have problems running MATLAB on this?

 

Work's just fine. I have been using MATLAB 2011 for the past month with no problems whatsoever.

 

Would like to know this as well. This is very frusturating.

 

I've been looking to buy a DV7TQE, but have been put off by the opengl issue as well. I contacted HP Sales support about it and let them know that unless they fixed this issue soon I wouldn't be buying this product. They responded to me within a few hours and acknowledged the issue. Here was their response

If that response is to be believed and I interpret it correctly, they are targeting next week for the BIOS fix. Let's all cross our fingers that that is true.

 

They will fix it. We had an issue with the Envy 17 model throttling when the GPU and CPU were at full load, and it was fixed within a week.

As far as graphics is concerned...you will get a fix...but keep one thing in the back of your mind. When running the AMD GPU on battery...you are NOT going to see good battery time. In my Envy 17 3D, using switchable graphics and setting Intel on 6 brightness with no other power saving changes...I can get 3 hours 30 minutes out of my six cell battery. When using the AMD GPU on battery, I get 2 hours and 15 minutes. Just know this and you won't be disappointed. If you have nine cell battery...probably good to go...either way.

 

As I said over here, the "fixed" mode seems to be manual switchable graphics (according to this), so you can just set the graphics card to Intel when on battery. Hopefully, this will allow for the superb battery life that people are currently getting on the 60XX series, while still allowing for the powerful graphics option (ie OCing) and OpenGL support.

 

By default, my Envy 17 3D is set up to run off 6850M on Power and Intel on battery. The older version Pavillions 60XX series do this. The new ones have dynamic switching, where Intel is active until 3D mode...then AMD takes over. So battery should not be an issue either way...Unless. like I said...you choose it that way (only on Envy and first SB version of Pavillion). There are many, who choose to disable Intel altogether...and that costs them battery time. Let the switching do what it is supposed to and you get excellent battery time...

 

A guy on the hp forum said he talked to a customer rep and told him the driver will be released on the 25th of July. Don't know if this is true but here's hoping...

 

Phew. Relief.

 

that's probably one day after the guy's 21 days are up.

 

lol... so true.

 

Man im really hoping for this fix to come this week. I really dont want to lug around my other laptop just for CAD work....haha

 

I really wanted to get this laptop, it had great specs for a great price.

So let me get this straight, its just opengl that the ati card wont work on?

So i basically want to play the sims 3 and left for dead on it, so they should work as long as they use direct x, or at least not opengl?

 

Yes, you are correct.

 

My Dv7 does this
Although I'm not too worried about it, because it doesn't seem to happen outside of synthetic benchmarks. Its only throttled on me once while gaming, and that was the fault of the game AI's 8 threads maxing out the CPU.

I'm glad that they're going to fix the switchable issue, but I'd love to know is if the 60xx users are going to be left behind, or if we're going to end up on the same drivers as everyone else. There can't be much difference between the two, after all. If they plan on leaving the 60xx's behind, I might have to sell mine and buy a 61xx - Great excuse to upgrade to the full HD screen, heh.

 

Likely.

I responded to someone who was felt frustrated 22+ days later on the HP forum. I told them to go to BBB and your credit card company.

They banned me for 1 week after I made an indirect comment about the moderator in response to the private msg sent to me. SunshineF cited forum guidelines. Apparently moderating allows you to silence corporate dishonesty.

 

Damn, this laptop is pretty insane. I have the i5 and the 6770m. At first I fired up BC2 and got choppy gameplay at medium settings 1xaa and 4x af at 1080p. I forced the 6770 on the control panel and bam. Smooth gameplay at all high settings, 1920x1080, 1x aa and 4x af. Seriously impressed. Temps were great as well. All under 70C.

 

Seriously? Under 70c?

Mine hits 95c... What. The. Heck.

 

dv6 or dv7? My dv7 also only tends to hit high 70's to low 80's when gaming. the dv6 appears to run hotter due to the smaller form factor. either way, i don't think heat is an issue for either model, unless you get one of the dv6s that heats the palm rest.

 

My max temperature during gaming is like 81 degrees.

If yours is hitting 90s something is screwed up.

 

It doesn't hit that high when I play Just Cause 2 and seems to hover around high 70s and low 80s but when I play GTA4 or BC2 it heats up over 90c.

I thought it might be a heat paste problem but the idle temps are really low... Dunno why I'm getting such high temps.

 

Well I was playing Crysis not sure if you can tax the GPU any more than that