# Switchable Graphics on Laptops???



## Debu_013 (Aug 3, 2010)

Hi there, I am planning to buy a new laptop, with Switchable Graphics, that is one that can switch from the discreet to the on board IGP to save battery.

I have seen this feature in my friends Laptop HP dv6-3043tx.(core i5, Ati 5650, 4gB)

Is this feature in all laptops with ATi Mobility HD5650 or only on specific models?

i could not find the option to switch graphics option on other laptops like on Dell Studio 15, with Ati 4570 graphics.

Please Help.

Thanks.


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## coderunknown (Aug 3, 2010)

^^ i doubt. that technology is known as Nvidia Optimus & needs a card from Nvidia. not AMD/ATI. but ATI's new 5series cards have very low idle power so if you work at Word or simple documents, the card should work in Idle mode & will eat up basically the same power as IGP.

if you need switchable graphics, opt for Alienware MX 11 (&its successor known as MX11 R2).


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## Debu_013 (Aug 4, 2010)

No, even ATi has switchable graphics, i have seen it first hand on my friends laptop
HP dv6 3043tx.

I am asking whether all laptops with discrete graphics nowadays have switchable graphics?
Or is it a specific feature added by individual companies like HP in this case.


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## Tech&ME (Aug 7, 2010)

@Debu_013

Actually, the laptop should have both the capabilities. i.e. it should be able to support discreet as well as on board graphics.

Some motherboards does not come with onboard graphics built into it by default.

Hence, you will need to check if the motherboard of your laptop  supports both the onboard and discreet graphics or not. If the answer is YES.

You will be able to switch between the graphics modes.


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## Debu_013 (Aug 9, 2010)

Yes, theoretically it must be possible , but after looking into few of my friends laptops i found that most manufacturers have disabled switchable graphics.

Even on ATI Catalysts Page it says not supported on notebooks with Inter Chipsets, unless supported by OEM.

On Dell Studio there is no option to switch graphics, but on hp dv6 3043 there is an option cuz, HP enabled it.

Is it possible to somehow bypass the block by OEMs and enable Switchable graphics on all laptops??


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## Tech&ME (Aug 10, 2010)

Debu_013 said:


> Yes, theoretically it must be possible , but after looking into few of my friends laptops i found that most manufacturers have disabled switchable graphics.
> 
> Even on ATI Catalysts Page it says not supported on notebooks with Inter Chipsets, unless supported by OEM.
> 
> ...


 
In case of OEMs the motherboards are specially made for the Brands (or OEMs) .

Every Brands like DELL , HP, etc ask the manufacturer of the motherboard to add or remove features from it. This is somewhat related to performance and sales features which the companies like DELL and HP , etc wants to have in their specific motherboards.

Hence, if it has been locked by the manufacturer on request of the OEMs then it is not possible to enable such features by the end user.

For Example the OS which comes with an HP Laptop cannot be installed on a DELL laptop because the OS has been LOCKED to only accept the OEM HP motherboard settings and other hardware environment in this case.


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## techno_savvy81 (Oct 29, 2010)

I have an Acer 5745 laptop. It has the following configuration:
Intel® Core™ i5-450M Mobile Processor 
(3MB Intel® Smart Cache, 2.40GHz) 
Intel HM55 Chipset
3GB DDR3 SDRAM 
Integrated Intel® HD Graphics (Microsoft® DirectX® 10.0 support )
640GB* SATA hard drive, 5400RPM 

When I look into the Acer Specifications, I see that the same model (Acer 5745) also comes with Discrete NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M graphics/Discrete NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420M graphics/Discrete NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M graphics 

Also the drivers for the above mentioned graphics cards are available in the support section for, both Acer 5745 and ACER 5745g models. Incidentally the BIOS versions and corresponding updates, seem to be the same for both.

Since, Intel HM55 chipset supports switchable graphics and all specs for ACER 5745g (the one advertised with switchable graphics) and ACER 5745 are the same, does my laptop support the same too i.e. Is the only difference between the 2 models is that one comes with and the other without a discrete graphics card? Can I go ahead and buy one of the discrete graphics cards from NVIDIA and install it without any significant changes?

Please let me know, if you would need any more information from me.

Regards,
Arijit


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## coderunknown (Oct 29, 2010)

^^ already answered in different thread.


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