There are two ways to build a hybrid video notebook:
1. Hardware control - with a hardware multiplexer
2. Software control, where only the Intel GPU is hard wired to the display and the secondary GPU is used as a co-processor.
Your system is of type 2. It is not a true standalone GPU - it is a coprocessor for the Intel GPU, controlled entirely by software/drivers. To use the AMD GPU, choose it using the Catalyst Control Center under Windows.
The AMD GPU can never be made primary on this system - it is a secondary GPU by design.
Having been in your shoes myself when i first got the E6540, i can confirm (after much back and forth with Dell) this is how i got things working. When i say working, i mean being able to right-click on the desktop and select 'configure switchable graphics' and the menu comes up. Also, i was able to play games at a decent framerate (such as BF3):
I firstly uninstalled and deleted ALL AMD drivers that i had downloaded/installed myself from the AMD website.
Then, called dell and did a fresh install of the OFFICIAL Dell drivers (Intel/Dell AMD) from the Dell support centre.
Rebooted. And this then worked.
The drivers from the AMD website do not work, they mess things up entirely. believe me. ONLY use the official Dell ones.
The next issue you will get when you finally get the switchable graphics functioning correctly will be the heat throttling when playing games. You'll notice that you'll be able to play games at a decent visual detail with an OK framerate for a while, before your FPS becomes unplayable.
Here's how i managed to maintain an entirely playable framerate during long sessions on BF3:
- ThrottleStop 600 tech power up (select game mode before playing). This software essentially stops the BIOS from slowing down your graphics card due to temperatures. HOWEVER! Install this at your own risk. Its your choice.
- Laptop cooling pad. Any of these are fine.
Hope this helps :) I'm able to play BF3 at 1920x1080 on medium settings at 40-60FPS online.
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
1
July 14th, 2015 06:00
There are two ways to build a hybrid video notebook:
1. Hardware control - with a hardware multiplexer
2. Software control, where only the Intel GPU is hard wired to the display and the secondary GPU is used as a co-processor.
Your system is of type 2. It is not a true standalone GPU - it is a coprocessor for the Intel GPU, controlled entirely by software/drivers. To use the AMD GPU, choose it using the Catalyst Control Center under Windows.
The AMD GPU can never be made primary on this system - it is a secondary GPU by design.
teodor_chirica
2 Posts
0
July 14th, 2015 06:00
Hi,
Thanks for the response.
Funny thing is, that even if i have the driver for the HD Radeon graphic card, there is no such thing as Catalyst Control Center in my Windows 8.1.
Is there something specific apart from the Dell Driver to install to have access to this section?
Thanks again for the help.
Teo
Moz87
1 Message
0
September 24th, 2015 05:00
Hi Teo,
Having been in your shoes myself when i first got the E6540, i can confirm (after much back and forth with Dell) this is how i got things working. When i say working, i mean being able to right-click on the desktop and select 'configure switchable graphics' and the menu comes up. Also, i was able to play games at a decent framerate (such as BF3):
The drivers from the AMD website do not work, they mess things up entirely. believe me. ONLY use the official Dell ones.
The next issue you will get when you finally get the switchable graphics functioning correctly will be the heat throttling when playing games. You'll notice that you'll be able to play games at a decent visual detail with an OK framerate for a while, before your FPS becomes unplayable.
Here's how i managed to maintain an entirely playable framerate during long sessions on BF3:
- ThrottleStop 600 tech power up (select game mode before playing). This software essentially stops the BIOS from slowing down your graphics card due to temperatures. HOWEVER! Install this at your own risk. Its your choice.
- Laptop cooling pad. Any of these are fine.
Hope this helps :) I'm able to play BF3 at 1920x1080 on medium settings at 40-60FPS online.