Thinkpads Forum

Hi Folks,

I have a T410, and I believe I got it late enough that it should have Optimus. However, I have no idea how to look into this, and even less how to control the graphics on my machine.

Any idea how to verify that I have Optimus? And, when setting power states, the only setting I see is the Intel Graphics settings. That doesn't mean that NVIDIA isn't operating, does it? I can open the NVIDIA Control Panel, but the settings there seem very limited.

Sorry for the vague questions, but I just really don't know how the graphics are operating on this machine.

thanks!

t410 2516-CTO
Win 7 Pro x64

hi there

...RIGHT CLICK on the POWER MANAGER (green battery icon) on bottom bar or Windows , and you should see options to choose from. Thats of-course , you have the ;switch-able graphics: option when you purchased that t410!! NOT ALL t410 came with that option !

I know t420 = defiantly has Optimus version when you buy switchable graphics ,, not so sure T410

Cheers

Thanks for the reply, Mike. I don't have the switchable option. It was my understanding that those with the switchable option were actually not truly switchable, and that it was just a holdover from the previous software revs.

How can I check to see if Optimus is actually running, etc? I do have an NVIDIA NVS 3100M chip in my machine, alongside the integrated graphics.

thanks!

Here you go.

Another way to check (and to enable or disable a program that Optimus doesn't detect needs 3D acceleration), is just to go into the nVidia Control Panel > 3D Settings > Manage 3D Settings. You can then turn on the NVS3100M for that specific program.


I do know, however, that earlier versions of Optimus (I had a T510 that did this) thought that Windows Aero and the Windows Sidebar were 3D applications and thus needed the NVS3100M's power. So if 'dwm.exe' and 'sidebar.exe' show up as the Optimus-using programs, add them to the CP's list as exceptions.


By the way- the only way the graphics were switchable on the non-Optimus T410's was (if you were running Windows 7, that is- I think you could activate the switcher with Vista or XP but don't quote me on that) through the BIOS.

thanks Q-ball. Seems that firefox is keeping my NVIDIA chip active - not sure why that would be. It doesn't show up in the list of programs in the NVIDIA CP, but it shows up as the application rendered by the DGPU in the GPU State Viewer. Strange. Any ideas?

Also, any way to customize the behavior of the graphics based on whether the comp is plugged in or not? It'd be nice to set my preferred graphics as NVIDIA when plugged in, and integrated when not.

thanks again!

Well, I know that Firefox has hardware acceleration, and Adobe Flash uses that also- if you disable those 2 options it might change.

Or, it might not, and so you'll have to manage it manually.