Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

[thesloc]

Can't exactly figure it out and Bios won't list the chipset type (other than "nVidia Optimus") but I want an exact answer.

Model: ThinkPad T420s (#4174-FT9), i7-2640m @ 2.8 Ghz

Is there an Ubuntu Utility that posts this type of system information????

I know this is a retarded question, but its driving me nuts even with Google

[ratdude747]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Nvidia nvs 4200m.

[thesloc]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Yeah but it says only some higher-end models carry that one. How are u sure???

[ratdude747]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

the only other GPU option was intel based (or so I saw online). If you want to be double-sure, boot a live linux drive and at the terminal type:

lspci |grep VGA

[thesloc]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Odd, Lenovo lists my model as a 2.7Ghz 2620-m processor...

Yet it has a 2.8Ghz 2640-m...

[Uranium-235]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Nvidia Optimius is a modern GPU system that lets you hot-switch games to your nvidia card. I know, I just got a new laptop with the same thing

you have two graphics adapters

Your have an Intel HD 3000 APU on you i7 and a nvs 4200m (like a quadro card, for professional graphics-like autocad and 3dsmax)

[thesloc]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

What the fuck, two GPUs??

[shadow]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Yep...I basically got the same laptop (Thinkpad 420s with i7 2620M CPU) and I can confirm that it has two GPU's.
Intel HD 3000
NVIDIA NVS 4200M

[Time2Retire]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

What the fuck, two GPUs??

This would be considered "hybrid" graphics. The Intel graphics are of lower quality and consume less power. The nVidia is higher quality, but consumes more power. They have developed power management that uses the Intel GPU as the default. Whenever better quality graphics rendering is required, the nVidia GPU kicks in. There may be a way to change the GPU usage in the BIOS. Otherwise you can usually configure it though Windows.

Linux support for hybrid graphics is called the Bumblebee Project.

http://bumblebee-project.org/

[Uranium-235]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

actually its done through then nvidia panel. You can literally accelerate an open window to nvidia while having the intel gpu run explorer.

you can choose which programs to to use nvidia or intel. There are plenty of profiles that will switch the nvidia gpu on. I ran skyrim two nights ago on high settings it and it ran beautifully on this GT730 (about equal to a GTX 285 desktop)

a little icon also lights up on the system tray if a program is running on the GPU. Here are some pics of the control panel with Optimus.


sorry about my desktop, I just moved in, haven't gotten everything unpacked and its just a mess

[Time2Retire]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

actually its done through then nvidia panel

But it may be possible to choose to disable one of the GPUs in the BIOS. Alas, my Samsung notebook has Optimus, but no BIOS options.

[shadow]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Hmm...interesting. Didn't know that separate applications could potentially run on different GPU's. I think it is time for me to update the NVIDIA driver installed.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Hmm...interesting. Didn't know that separate applications could potentially run on different GPU's. I think it is time for me to update the NVIDIA driver installed.

its only available on latter mobile Nvidia cards

But it may be possible to choose to disable one of the GPUs in the BIOS. Alas, my Samsung notebook has Optimus, but no BIOS options.

just disable your nvidia video card in the device manager and uninstall the nvidia drivers

[Time2Retire]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

just disable your nvidia video card in the device manager and uninstall the nvidia drivers

It's the nVidia card I want to use!! Intel video sucks!!

And I use Linux, it doesn't have a "Device Mangler". The hybrid graphics is all software, and in Linux they haven't figured out how to use the video acceleration from the nVidia chip (VDPAU). It kind of defeats the whole reason for having nVidia in it.

I originally got this laptop (Samsung QX410) because it had a nVidia GPU. I didn't know about this hybrid graphics crap until later.

[ratdude747]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

It's the nVidia card I want to use!! Intel video sucks!!

And I use Linux, it doesn't have a "Device Mangler". The hybrid graphics is all software, and in Linux they haven't figured out how to use the video acceleration from the nVidia chip (VDPAU). It kind of defeats the whole reason for having nVidia in it.

I originally got this laptop (Samsung QX410) because it had a nVidia GPU. I didn't know about this hybrid graphics crap until later.

Is there a BIOS (or whatever it's called in UEFI) to set a default GPU?

[Time2Retire]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Is there a BIOS (or whatever it's called in UEFI) to set a default GPU?

Not in my Samsung QX410, but I understand that some laptops do offer it. And mine doesn't have UEFI, or not that I know of. That is something Microsoft cooked up to keep people from installing Linux on any computer. I hate MS even more now!

[ratdude747]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Not in my Samsung QX410, but I understand that some laptops do offer it. And mine doesn't have UEFI, or not that I know of. That is something Microsoft cooked up to keep people from installing Linux on any computer. I hate MS even more now!

UEFI existed before that, MS made it mandatory and added MS only crap to it.

[Time2Retire]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

I saw that the latest nVidia Linux driver had added some support for Optimus. I uninstalled the Mint (Ubuntu) supplied driver (310) and installed the latest downloaded from nVidia (325). It didn't work, and now I can only get low graphics mode. Can't seem to get back to the (almost) decent setup I had.

OOPS!!

I guess it was time for an upgrade.

[cheapie]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

Your have an Intel HD 3000 APU

I thought only AMD made APUs?

[Uranium-235]

Re: Can someobody tell me WHICH graphics I have on my laptop????

I thought only AMD made APUs?

no sandy/ivy bridge have integrated graphics too. From HD 2000-4000 (mine has 4000)

I had a client with a PDC ivy bridge and Intel HD 3000 and was able to run HL2 at full settings with a good framerate.

I was able to run skyrim lowest settings on the 4000 with shitty framerate (like 15fps) but..it ran with no visual issues. Somewhat surprising intel is making decent display drivers that are compatible with games. Of course with the GT730 (4GB Vram), it ran beautifully on full settings (minus AA/Af)