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    Nvidia Hybrid vs. Nvidia Optimus?

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by DeathDealer, Oct 24, 2011.

  1. DeathDealer

    DeathDealer Notebook Consultant

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    I can't for the life of me, figure out which one is better! I've spent the last two hours to trying understand the differences between Hybrid drivers and Optimus drivers, but unable to find anything concrete.

    I want to get the best possible graphics out of my Vaio-Z12, but don't know which one to choose.

    Can anyone help in understanding all this Nvidia madness? :confused:
     
    DeathDealer, Oct 24, 2011
    #1
  2. Qwaarjet

    Qwaarjet Notebook Deity

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    Hybrid. I like to tell my computer when to use it's dGPU and when not to use it. I don't need it deciding for itself ;)
     
    Qwaarjet, Oct 24, 2011
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  3. DeathDealer

    DeathDealer Notebook Consultant

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    What exactly is dGPU?

    Which Hybrid are you using?
     
    DeathDealer, Oct 24, 2011
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  4. ComputerCowboy

    ComputerCowboy Sony Fanboy

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    Well there are more things going on than just that
    1) Hybrid - default Sony way, you can switch on the fly with the tri selector
    2) Optimus - not so great, nVidia never shuts off HDMI won't work
    3) Static - Boot into one mode of the other (Intel or nVidia) switching modes requires a reboot. This is the most stable and allows you to run the best latest drivers, everything works and it is good on battery.

    if you want to go static look at my post here

    dGPU means dedicated GPU in this case nVidia
     
    ComputerCowboy, Oct 24, 2011
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  5. anytimer

    anytimer Notebook Virtuoso

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    DeathDealer: Optimus is better than Hybrid as far as the technology goes. Your problem is that your laptop has hardware designed for hybrid graphics, which is why you have problems if you try to force it to run in Optimus mode.

    If you have an SSD, your boot times will be less than 30 seconds, so ComputerCowboy's suggestion #3 of flashing the BIOS, enabling static mode, and rebooting every time you want to change graphics modes will work for you. If you have the HDD option, then boot times are over 1 minute, and IMO that gets a bit irritating. I'm not counting the time taken to save your data before rebooting, and to reopen your files afterwards because many of the apps that need the dedicated/discrete GPU will need to be restarted anyway, as they won't support GPU switching on the fly.

    I hope this gives you a bit more insight into the matter. :)
     
    anytimer, Oct 25, 2011
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  6. DeathDealer

    DeathDealer Notebook Consultant

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    Thank you guys for the informative response. I actually understand the differences between the two now!
     
    DeathDealer, Oct 25, 2011
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