Optimus II GPU Button

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mleach

New member
I recently purchased a Optimus II laptop with the Nvidia GT 555M graphics card, the manual says to switch bewteen Optimus Mode and UMA mode use the GPU button, but this does not seem to work, I have downloaded and installed the latest graphics drivers to no avail, PC Specialist support says there is an option in Windows 7 power settings, but i cannot find it, does anyone have any suggestions?

Mark
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
If the button lit up green or orange? I think may need to install some software from the driver disc supplied with the laptop to enable the Optimus button. It will be called something like hotkey drivers/software.
 
M

mleach

New member
Thanks for the quick reply.

Currently the GPU button is lit up orange, and I will check on the CD for any additional software to see if that works.
 
S

Skylinefx

Bronze Level Poster
Yeah same thing happened to me. Make sure you install ALL of the drivers provided with the CD to avoid further problems.
 
M

mleach

New member
Thanks for all of your replies, the missing application was called HotKey, in case anybody was wondering, the GPU button now works as it should, but now expading on it I have another question, when in UMA mode, occasionaly I have seen the nVidia GPU being used when only the Intel GPU should be used is this normal?
 
S

Skylinefx

Bronze Level Poster
When the light is amber colour, the Nvidia GPU will automatically be used for graphically intensive programs. When you're not doing something graphically intensive, the Intel GPU will be used. If you press the button, the light turns green and only the Intel GPU will be used no matter what program.
 
G

Gra

Member
I hope to buy an 'Optimus' soon and would need this to be usable from unpacking it.
I can't handle 'install driver'.

Doesn't this cover all setup's needed?

Service Our laptops come fully assembled & thoroughly tested.
We are so confident in the quality of our laptops
that we offer a free collection and re-delivery service* should you ever have a problem with your laptop.
 
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totomas

Active member
well that was a little disapointment too when I received my Optimus a few days ago.
Everything works out of the box, but you soon realise that you still have to install lots of drivers (like the touchpad is working, but you need to instal the Synaptic driver to be able to use it as full potential). The same with the Optimus VGA switch.
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Feedback received. :) We will ensure our OS images are updated to include the drivers for the Optimus and touchpad.
 
Lum

Lum

Bronze Level Poster
Problem is the drivers for all these things are constantly updated so it's impossible for any manufacturer to ship a completely up to date system. The likes of Dell and HP are usually more out of date in my experience!

On my Optimus II everything worked well enough out of the box, GPU switching happened automatically for most software and those that didn't (more obscure indie games) you could just right click -> graphics processor -> Run with nVidia graphics.
 
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grishenko45

Active member
mleach said:
Thanks for all of your replies, the missing application was called HotKey, in case anybody was wondering, the GPU button now works as it should, but now expading on it I have another question, when in UMA mode, occasionaly I have seen the nVidia GPU being used when only the Intel GPU should be used is this normal?
Click to expand...

i've a thread on this (in laptop tech help section) my optimus II will use the nvidia gpu even when the optimus hotkey is green and win7 power profile on uma mode - which is force integrated gpu all the time. did you solve yours?
 
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jao144

Active member
So in the end does the optimus work properly?

I ordered an optimus a week ago but if this problem isnt like solved im not even opening it... - Does the video card switch button work after installing correct drivers / program?

I was totally unaware that it had integrated graphics aswell. :/

Ether way, what is the dis-advantage of running the nvidia card all the time ? just a noisey fan - because i can deal with that. - and is it supose to use the integrated graphics for word, excell, powerpoint.... then switch to nvidia for dvd's games video editing?...
 
D

Dealmaster13

Gold Level Poster
The main problem is battery life. Of course a graphics card would generate significant amounts of heat even when idle.
 
P

PokerFace

Banned
jao144 said:
I ordered an optimus a week ago but if this problem isnt like solved im not even opening it... - Does the video card switch button work after installing correct drivers / program?

I was totally unaware that it had integrated graphics aswell. :/

Ether way, what is the dis-advantage of running the nvidia card all the time ? just a noisey fan - because i can deal with that. - and is it supose to use the integrated graphics for word, excell, powerpoint.... then switch to nvidia for dvd's games video editing?...
Click to expand...

1) Yes the optimus graphics switching does work correctly.
2) You are correct that it will switch from integrated to nvidea depending on graphics requirements and of course whether or not you have that setting selected via the graphics button on laptop.
3) You can see in grishenko's post HERE that his problem is now fixed (it was caused by a program he was running).
 
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