P370EM and switchable graphics

As far as I understand the P370EM doesn't have switchable graphics. Will it still be possible to use only the integrated intel hd 4000 graphics card without a discrete video card? Is there a setting in the BIOS to enable or disable it?

 

Don't think so...

 

Internal screen connection is connected directly to the dGPU so not really possible.

 

That's definitely a drawback for me since I don't need a discrete video card. The P170EM will allow me use only the integrated card, correct?

 

Interesting, so you dont need a GPU, only some basic graphics solution?
You will be using the laptop for a mobile server then?

You need to explain what you will be using it for, we can point you toward something more fitting for the job. P370EM might not be for you if you only need the extra HDD & Ram slots.
Tell us what you will be using it for.

 

The answer is NO!

You shall buy Clevo P170EM, not P370EM.

 

If you want swithcable go with P150EM or P170EM as stated. The P370EM is strictly a gaming desktop replacement not intended as a portable machine or for extended battery life.

 

I'm a little confused here. Why are you looking at the P370EM when you only want to use the integrated graphic card? It's like buying a Dodge Viper and asking if it has a 2 liter engine option.

 

What's so hard to get? Do you need 680m SLI to read NBR's forum? Personally I'd like the option to game, but only do so not even half the time. So you could save a lot of energy and money. 300 (days) * 4 (h/day) * 150 (W approx.) = 180kwh *0,25€ (average price per kwh in Germany) = 45€/a.

Agreed that's only about 2,25% of what the new machine costs (about €2k at the moment), but over the lifecycle of appr. 3 years that would be a cash rebate of 6,75%.
It is not that much, but not having the option to "save" this energy/money diminishes my perception of a "perfect" product. It's not the best choice I would like to have had.

 

You don't save 150W turning off a dGPU, it idles in the 3W range I believe and the 2nd AMD card can turn off with zero core, so a pair of 7970M cards will cost you (lets be generous) 5 W extra.

300 (days) * 4 (h/day) * 5 (W approx.) = 1.5 euros.......

Get an alienware M18X, I believe it can go into switable mode, the machine will cost a bit more than the extra 1.5 euros though (as would the circuitry required to implement that feature).

 

So that's why Alienware costs 700€ more than a Clevo. Thanx for the hint and overall for the enlightenment.

Seems like you shot my 150 Watts down quite impressively. Still 5 Watts ain't enough for 2 cards 680m nor 7970m. In idle/standby conditions you may be right, but not at low performance grounds. Hopefully you might help me out with some serious reference other than "I believe", cause I only found these 2 comments.

"Intel's HD Graphics 3000 makes the notebook consume 19.2 to 28.2 W when idle and 67.1 to 132.1 watts under load. AMD's Radeon HD 6970M CrossFire system lead to a higher power usage of 39.9 to 53.0 W (Idle) and 182.7 to 315.9 watts (load)." source: Review Alienware M18x Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

and

"During the LAPTOP Battery Test, the Alienware M18x R2 lasted a short 2 hours and 57 minutes with the discrete GPUs enabled. However, this rig clocked 5:03 when we ran the test on integrated graphics mode." source: Alienware M18x R2 Reviews | Gaming Laptop Reviews

In both cases at least roughly 40% more power consumption. I bet that adds up to (lets be generous) at least 1,51 € on your laptop power bill?

I took your point.

Still looking for some reliable data though. I guess much of it boils down to how much the intel HD graphics consume. Is their consumption included in the max TDP of 35/45/47 Watts? If so does it mean the CPU/IGP performance will be limited under certain conditions?

 

AMD worked very hard on their 7 series idle power and introduced zero core that lets a second card in crossfire turn off completely so comparing 6 series power figures does not really help all that much.

Total TDP includes the IGP and yes if the IGP starts eating power it takes it away from the rest of the chip.

From anandtech:



Look at the idle difference between one 7970 and two in crossfire. That's for a much bigger and power hungry card over the 7870 and 7970M.

 

Color me confused. Does the p150em and p170em allow you to switch from integrated to dedicated graphics on the fly like an m17x?

 

No, they are hard wired into enduro/optimus mode, the 370 is hardwired into dedicated only mode.

 

Optimus (nVIdia) and Enduro (AMD) are software switching drivers. Works pretty well actually.

 

The reason I did not include 7970m vs. HD 4000 power consumption is simple: I was not able to find any clear statement about it.

The 2nd quote: "During the LAPTOP Battery Test, the Alienware M18x R2 lasted a short 2 hours and 57 minutes with the discrete GPUs enabled. However, this rig clocked 5:03 when we ran the test on integrated graphics mode." source: Alienware M18x R2 Reviews | Gaming Laptop Reviews

is actually on the 680m SLI paired with a 3820qm. It fails to differentiate between idle/office/wlan/dvdmovie/load and doesn't name any actual numbers, but it indicates the min. of 40% more power needed.

Zero Core is a nice feature, but it can only be put to good use if nothing happens on the screen.

I found this on the M18x R2 (3920xm and 7970m CF).
"As is common with new GPUs, the energy saving options for the Radeon HD 7970M are not yet optimized. Reason 1: The relatively high power draw in idle mode. While the first revision of the HD 6970 CF drew a moderate 19-28 Watt from the outlet, our measurements indicated 32-42 Watt for the HD 7970M CF. Reason 2: The "CrossFire bug". When we deactivated CrossFire, power draw actually rose to a beefy 60-72 Watt."
source: Review Alienware M18x R2 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

60 to 72 Watt, guess that is what you get if Zero Core (a CF feature) is not active, and it is only active in idle mode (at least that's what I found out about it). It indicates what will happen to your power consumption if you get out of standby/idle mode. Maybe my 1 + 1 math is flawed here, but that's what I see reading it. Can't find the chart again where you could see, that idle consumption significantly went down with the 7970m, but on average and full load only minor absolute savings.

"A bit of a surprise was the Classic Test of the Battery Eater: 108 minutes are rare for a desktop replacement. Why is the score above average? Quite simple: The graphics cards are massively down clocked when using the battery." That's XMG 722 (P370EM by Schenker). source: Review Clevo P370EM Barebones Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

Imho such isn't the worst workaround for the missing HD 4000 feature.

I'm not really clear on who actually pre-assembles the Clevo barebones and who is a pure reseller. I would not expect this "down clocking" to be a feature on all p370em out there?

Some old basics I stumbled upon. Graphics — Switchable Graphics feature FAQ

Not much more than guessing, unfortunately. Would like to get some real detailed numbers on what cfx and sli consume in different scenarios.

 

No, although the P370EM model does not utilize switchable graphics whatsoever.