Laptop and External Screen

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Post Subject: Laptop and External Screen
Posted: 6 February, 2012 - 20:08
panchomcr
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Nvidia GeForce GT 555m
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Hey guys!

First post new here etc!

I have recently purchased a Dell XPS 17" working fine!
I have a Nvidia GeForce GT 555M which uses optimus with an intel HD card.

I have an external screen which is connected via HD output because that is all that's available on this laptop.

I use my laptop display as primary for gaming and browsing and the external one for tv movies and other random stuff.

From what I can see when my hd cable is plugged in the 555m goes to my external display and the Intel hd to my laptop display.

Is there a way of switching this round as when playing my games such as couunter strike intel hd runs terribly.

I hope this is clear enough and i look forward to your replies!

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Post Subject: A little more info on the
Posted: 7 February, 2012 - 04:25
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Delphium
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A little more info on the laptop could help... http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-XPS-17-Notebook-i7-2630QM-GT-55... ...is this the correct one?

If this is the correct one, then I beleive it should switch automaticly with the use of optimus technology...

Quote:
Technically, only the integrated graphic card is attached to the display connections (internal and external) and always outputs the displayed images. As soon as an application needs the performance of the discrete Nvidia graphic card, the driver enables it and computes the images with it. The result isn't (as it would usually be) directly outputted but is simply copied into the output memory (frame buffer) of the integrated graphic card via PCI-E bus. In other words, the integrated graphic card simply renders a window with a content that originates from the dedicated graphic card. The PCI-E bus' return channel normally isn't used much and should, therefore, easily cope with this task. According to Nvidia's engineers, the copying creates a latency of 0.2 of a frames. Thus, the delay shouldn't be a major problem. As soon as the stronger graphic card isn't needed any more, the driver simply disables it again completely and leaves all the work to the Intel graphic card. Nvidia showed us in a demonstration that the dedicated graphic card theoretically can even be unplugged when it's not in use.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidia-Optimus-Review.25467.0.html Could be that it is not performing as well as you expected when the external display is connected.

With the way optimus technology works I dont think you can set which display uses which card, as looking at the diagrams, both displays connect to the Intel HD outputs, and when extra power is required, the nvidia gt555m kicks in to render some frames and dump them into the intel HD gpu's own memory buffer.

As such, I dont think you can "switch" the displays around as you say, as both should be connected to the same device.

Last edited by Delphium at 7 February, 2012 - 04:44.

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