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AntDX316

202 Posts

63114

November 14th, 2015 15:00

An option to disable dedicated GPU in bios and limit core count.

An option to disable dedicated GPU and limit core count of the Alien 17 R3 in a future bios update for it to act as an Ultrabook? (massive battery life) 2 core + 4 thread with Intel 530 instead of 4 core + 8 thread on 970M/980M for mobility.

Can this be done?

I'm not sure if disabling it in device manager would render it 100% inactive.  I think the only reason why this hasn't been made is due to the fact people would be going higher end models instead but I doubt because they prefer light and mobility over the option to go premium high-end mobile computing at will.

Be like, the Alienware is the first gaming notebook to offer the ability to disable dedicated graphics (a heavy duty quality switch underneath the laptop under a removable cover w/o a screw that acts as a jumper) and the ability to turn off cores within the bios for extra long battery life when needed.

judal7837

327 Posts

November 14th, 2015 22:00

sorry for my bad english ... someone ask me the same before 

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWcBrqp37P4:550:0]

JW0914

105 Posts

November 20th, 2015 22:00

You should have integrated graphics via the CPU you can switch to.  Unless you're gaming or watching a movie, you should always be utilizing integrated graphics.  

In regards to turning 2 cores off, unless the 17 R3 has received an unlocked BIOS (search TechInferno to see if your BIOS is unlockable, and if it is, if someone [like svl7] has.

  • If your BIOS is not unlockable, then no, that specific feature will never be added.  Additional options would also have to be made available due to where the core controls are, and many of these other settings can seriously screw up, if not all together fry, the motherboard and CPU, or could open up security vulnerabilities that would allow malicious code to run prior to handing off to the Windows bootloader, compromising the entire system due to the permissions that would be required to obtain access to CPU core controls.

AntDX316

202 Posts

November 20th, 2015 22:00

All I ask is the ability to disable 75% of the core and turn off the 980M completely before windows even loads.

I'm not sure if 6th gen and Windows 10 makes the cores really park as it says 1 core is active in Intel Extreme Tuning Utility but the Task Manager CPU Logical Processors graph says otherwise.

JW0914

105 Posts

November 21st, 2015 10:00

As I stated previously, no it is not possible unless an unlocked bios is available for your model and version.  If you have UEFI firmware, then it's a solid no, as it's impossible to flash unlocked UEFI firmware due to how the the firmware is digitally signed [i.e. encrypted]. There are multiple certificate checks prior to even getting to the flash phase, and if the signed certificate is missing or it's hash doesn't match, the firmware install exits.

Furthermore, Dell is contractually bound by law through their contract with Microsoft to provide digitally signed BIOS/UEFI Firmware.  This isn't meant to discourage modding, but to protect users.  If the BIOS/UEFI Firmware is not digitally signed, it could allow malicious code to execute prior to the BIOS/UEFI firmware handing off to the Windows bootloader, allowing for the compromise of the entire system and all information stored within.

  • I forgot about that last night and have edited my reply above to remove erroneous information.

As I also previously stated, you have integrated graphics... use them.

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