Hello Dell support, I'd like to resurrect this thread... I've installed a recent Catalyst driver that has real-time GPU watch capability and while I did set games for big performance use, I still get the Intel GPU shown on GPU watch, and - needless to say, poor performance with the games.

Win 8 64bit, AMD Catalyst 14.4 + driver version 14.100, Inspiron 15r with Radeon 8850/9r 265M (newer driver shows the latter).

If you don't have an answer, then please give it to us straight: should I buy a new machine? Install Win 8.1 because it does not use this *** driver? What should we do? I've searched the internet for answers but found none and no solution seems to be working so far.

What you  need to realize is that you do not have a system with two separate GPUs.  There are some systems out there where you can hardware-switch between GPUs -- this is not one of them. ONLY the Intel GPU has a physical connection to the display screen - ALL video data, even if it's processed through the AMD GPU, passes through the Intel GPU on its way to the screen.  So -- the Intel GPU will ALWAYS show active to the OS and any utility you use.

Yes, there are still some hardware-switchable systems out there - but that's now the province of the Alienware and Precision models - very high end gaming and workstation systems.  Just about everything else is a hybrid system and for  just about everything under the $1K mark, it's software controlled, as your system is.

Nothing is wrong with your system - it's operating the way it was designed to operate.

If what you're looking for IS a true discrete-video system, they're out there - starting north of the $1,500-2,000 price point.

With all due respect, I think you're not following what I'm saying.

I'm having severe performance problems. I'd accept the "it's working as designed" explanation if it really would deliver the expected performance, but it doesn't.

AMD Catalyst Control Center (CCC) shows 2 types of GPU under switchable graphics system settings: energy-saving (Intel) and high performance (AMD), and I have no clue how this is operating from a hardware perspective, but there is monitoring feature in CCC that tells me in which mode a certain application is running in, and there is an option to change that mode. So, unless this option is ***, then I don't think we're talking about the same thing.

Until yesterday I was using a driver provided by Dell, and some games were playable, some weren't. Medal of Honor Pacific Assault was laggy, Skyrim was running fine with occasion fps drop, Battlefield 1942 was highly dependent on what map I was loading, and Jedi Knight 3 also had drops in fps in crowded areas. All of them was on default settings in CCC. Driver version was 12.100.14. Yesterday I installed a newer version, namely 14.100.0.0, and the name of the card in device manager has changed from Radeon 8850 to Radeon R9 M265X (probably similar chip or something). I went to test a few games, got different results:

In high-performance mode:

- MoHPA: vibrating screen, unplayable

- Jedi Knight 3: vibrating screen, unplayable

- Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: vibrating screen, sometimes screen goes full black - unplayable

- Battlefield 1942: CCC says it's on power saving mode but the game performance is degraded

Setting everything to its counterpart - power saving mode:

- MoHPA: no vibration, but unplayable (low fps)

- Jedi Knight 3: runs smooth

- Battlefield 1942: play extremely well

- Skyrim: no vibration but low fps in large areas and fights - unplayable

I did not change any of the in-game settings when switching over. FYI 3 out of these 4 games are really old (10+ years!) and should be running fine on any still working hardware.

So, any ideas on why this is happening?

Some games don't support -- or don't fully support -  hybrid video.  As I wrote earlier, the fact that the system IS running means it's not the GPU subsystem or driver that's the problem.  On the games that don't run -- particularly older games - check with the publisher about support for MUX-less hybrid video -- or on the settings they recommend.

Also bear in mind you'll never get full performance out of the hybrid system on battery power - you MUST use AC power (or disable the power saving features) to run well.

Even with the AMD GPU active, also temper your expectations - though it WILL run better than the Intel GPU, it's still a decidedly low-end GPU for many games and it's not going to run highly demanding graphics at full FPS -- the system is just not capable of that.

I never start a game on battery power. The global settings in CCC is that on AC power it should always use the high-performance mode. Also, 3 out of 4 games were running better on Intel GPU than on AMD. Maybe it's indeed what you're saying, about games not able to use the setup - but then again comes my question, what can I do about it? Buy a new laptop? Installing a newer OS? I saw Win 8.1 is using something other than Catalyst.

If the games need a dedicated GPU, you'd need another system - these days, though that means an Alienware class system -- or a desktop system.  Just about everything below the high end gaming systems are hybrid video setups.

The OS doesn't have anything to do with it -- it's a fundamental issue with older games that can't recognize the hybrid video setup.

You're talking about high-end gaming - what I'm referring to is quite low-end gaming here. These games should be eating a lot less resources than hardwares you're referring to. Aren't you an Alienware reseller? :D

So, if the OS does not have to do anything with it, I'm going to update to Win 8.1 in a few weeks and we'll put this statement to the test.

It's true that the games SHOULD run - IF they are aware of the hybrid GPU setup.  Many older games won't run that way, because they pre-date the concept of hybrid video.  You're likely to find "more" demanding newer games run better than "less demanding" old ones on hybrid video setup.