Is there a way to do more things in the BIOS? And some general performance tips would be nice

So I got a NP9170 back in August 2012:

• 2.4ghz i7-3610QM
• 16 gb RAM DDR3 @ 1600MHz
• Geforce 680M
• Two 128gb SSDs

Needless to say NVidia's Optimus system has been the bane of my gaming existence since I bought this computer. I've seen some people on other forums say that, via the BIOS, you can actually force your computer to ONLY run the dedicated card at all times. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But I found no such option in my BIOS. So is there any way to do it? Because I am so incredibly exhausted with fighting Optimus on so many games I want to play. Seriously I hope the people on the team that invented Optimus step on a Lego piece when they get out of bed in the morning.

And one last thing. My laptop's specs are a year and a half old, but I think the specs are still pretty good. So is there a reason why I'm only pulling about 28-30 fps in Empire Total War (a 2008 game) when I max the settings out? This is a common problem. I just feel like my computer is underperforming. And we're not talking about Optimus issues. I've already checked that and the integrated card would pull nowhere near 30 fps in ETW when the settings are maxed. But performance seems poor across the board. I know it's not a GPU throttling thing from heat since I've dusted the computer out 2 days ago and temps are perfectly fine in-game. So what gives? Should I keep everything application controlled or override settings via NVidia Control Panel?

 

Hi. I have several applications that i should run with nvidia instead of intel since they need powerful openGL and i just set them in Nvidia Control panel.

If you have more issues just reinstall the OS.

 

There is no option in Clevo BIOS. The only BIOS utility I know of that offers the option to toggle switchable graphics is Alienware BIOS.

Your hardware can definitely handle Total War. Have you monitored the GPU utilization?

 

Yeah while I was running the EmpireTW tutorial NVidia Inspector said my GPU usage was at 99%

 

Actually my laptop temps might not be good. When I'm playing Skyrim my GPU temps are hovering around 80C.

 

And what the hell is with my fans whirring loud as hell ALL the time. Even when my computer is idling at my desktop. I've been sitting here at 0% GPU usage for like 30 minutes, just browsing the internet. My fans are still going. It's always been like this and I'm really tired of never finding an answer. Why do these things NEVER go off??? My computer is sitting at steady 57C right now.

http://imgur.com/xnHPu5o.jpg That's what NVidia Inspector is showing me. So why will my fans continue to whirr for literally hours on end, even if I never do anything intensive at all. If they slow down for a second, opening up something as innocuous as Spotify will cause them to rev up all over again. It's ceaseless.

 

If you're idling and the GPU temp is 57C, then you should really check your fan, vents, heatsink, and paste. Either there's so much dust buildup that the fans can't vent the hot air properly, or the paste has dried out and you need to reapply fresh paste. A normal GPU idle temp should not exceed 40C.

 

I dusted it out again and yeah there was a bit in there and it helped a bit. I'm idling at 50-52C no.

Paste? I just got this computer in August 2012. You mean end users are expected to crack open their laptop and perform maintenance of that sort on them?

 

http://i.imgur.com/MwzRtE6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RnmdkJP.jpg

That's what I've got. Although the temps are a bit cooler now, like I said. Why is my clock speed being kept at 719MHz when I'm idling?

 

When properly idle it will be off, monitoring programs will force it to be active.

 

Temps are still too high. I have a non-Optimus P370SM with 780M and it only peaks at about 40C on idle, and that's on a warm day with an ambient temp of 24C (76F). I think a repasting is in order.

 

Yes because his cards are at full clocks and voltages, you could try updating to a later vbios version.

 

Around 80 C is quite safe. It's when you approach low 90s and up that should be a cause for concern.

 

Lol. Yes. Desktops too. You'd be surprised how much maintenance helps.

Sent from my SM-N9005