Source: FAQ: Consolidated thread w/FAQ on 61xx switchable graphics + advice to potential 61xx buyers
UPDATED 6/30/2011
I thought I might centralise the discussion for those who ask as whether they should buy the DV6/7 61xx or refund their order as I think the switchable graphics thread has become a little confusing for newcomers.
Status of switching on 6770m: As it stands (as of AMD catalyst driver release 11.6) graphical switching for programs that use OpenGL as their SOLE graphic engine will not run on the 6770m discrete graphics card (dGPU). Instead, those programs will only run on the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics card (IGP) and therefore will not run optimally.
As you have probably gathered MANUAL SWITCHING DOES NOT WORK ON DV6/7 61xx AT ALL so we can't override the dynamic switching in place.
OpenGL programs that will use Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics
- Minecraft
- Adobe CS Suite
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- Quake Live
- Most Windows games run on DirectX which works fine with the 6770m.
- Most modern Windows games that can run on OpenGL will also have the option for you to run through DirectX.
Currently, the 6770m will not register clock and memory speeds properly on monitoring software such as GPU-Z. Benchmarking/stress testing software such as Furmark will not run well at all (OpenGL) and if you bench with any 3DMark software the results screen will show that it's just tested your Intel HD 3000 (which it hasn't, it'll have benched your 6770m, but because under the muxless design, your Intel IGP is always on, it recognises the IGP first, and not your 6770m - more on mux and muxless designs below).
Also, you cannot overclock the 6770m in the 61xx whereas you can in the 6xxx range.
Does the switching problem only affect 1080 resolution models?
No, 768 models are affected too.
Should you buy/return?
If you:
- Surf the net and play modern Windows games (with exception of Minecraft) -You're fine as the 6770m will cater for most of your needs but you have to understand your dGPU is crippled to an extent should you ever need OpenGL acceleration.
- Play games and use graphical content creation software such as Adobe's suite of products - Problematic - would definitely not buy or would return.
- Do a mixture of everything above - if you have programs that run on OpenGL my advice would be not to buy. Why buy a laptop that's not working at its full potential?
This is the hard part and it's anybody's guess at the moment as HP and AMD have not made public they are aware of this issue. Through the complaints that all of us have fed back to HP and AMD I'm sure they're aware of it. Some hope that by the release of the 11.7 catalyst drivers due out in July this may be fixed but it's all speculation at this point.
But this disclaimer on AMD's switchable graphics web page does not give hope to a resolution anytime soon:
"With AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics technology, full enablement of all discrete graphics video and display features may not be supported on all systems (e.g. OpenGL applications will run on the integrated GPU or the APU as the case may be). Always check with your system manufacturer for specific mode capabilities and supported technologies."
AMD Dynamic Switchable Graphics Technology
Are other laptops from other manufacturers affected in the same way?
Yes. Any new laptop with the AMD muxless graphics switching design will have this problem, regardless of brand.
Here are a few examples:
ATI GPU doesn't work on E520 - Lenovo Community
IdeaStorm | Update Vostro 3550 AMD 6630/Intel HD 3000 Switchable Drivers
What is mux (manual) and muxless (dynamic) graphics switching? Is it a matter of it being a driver or hardware based issue?
bsoft explains it better than I can here - edited for brevity and accuracy:
QUOTE(Originally Posted by bsoft )
No, this is a driver issue plain and simple.
The 6000 series uses the old mux-based switchable graphics. That means that both GPUs (the Radeon and the Intel) are connected to a mux, and the mux connects to the display. When you switch graphics you are changing which GPU connects to the display.
The 6100 series uses a muxless design. This is the same basic design as NVIDIA Optimus. What that means is that the Radeon GPU renders into memory, but the Intel GPU is used for outputting the final image. This is the key here - the Intel GPU is always active, it's just that the Radeon does the rendering work when it's selected.
Clearly the problem is that AMD hasn't gotten working OpenGL support with the muxless design. That's probably because they didn't have the software engineering resources it with Optimus, so it's not even an issue with Windows. It's just a matter of AMD getting the driver support right to get it done right away. Since most games on Windows are Direct3D (not OpenGL), it makes sense to focus on that first. But rest assured that there is nothing intrinsic to the muxless design that makes OpenGL impossible. NVIDIA doe
You are never going to be able to switch purely to the Radeon graphics like you can on the 6000 series. The muxless technology doesn't work that way. You may at some point be able to force-select the Radeon GPU, but the Intel GPU will still be active.
The downsides of the muxless design are driver issues (Optimus users went through this), slightly lower performance (a couple of percent - not really noticeable), and basically no support for the dedicated GPU under non-Windows operating systems (there are significant issues in Linux that make doing muxless designs harder, and the engineering resources are not there).
The upsides of the muxless design are much quicker and more transparent switching, better driver support in the long term (the mux-based design is laptop specific and rely on hacks that Microsoft doesn't really support), and lower cost.
If you use OpenGL programs or games (other than those which run fine on the Intel GPU), don't buy a dv6-6100 or any muxless Radeon graphics laptop.
The 6000 series uses the old mux-based switchable graphics. That means that both GPUs (the Radeon and the Intel) are connected to a mux, and the mux connects to the display. When you switch graphics you are changing which GPU connects to the display.
The 6100 series uses a muxless design. This is the same basic design as NVIDIA Optimus. What that means is that the Radeon GPU renders into memory, but the Intel GPU is used for outputting the final image. This is the key here - the Intel GPU is always active, it's just that the Radeon does the rendering work when it's selected.
Clearly the problem is that AMD hasn't gotten working OpenGL support with the muxless design. That's probably because they didn't have the software engineering resources it with Optimus, so it's not even an issue with Windows. It's just a matter of AMD getting the driver support right to get it done right away. Since most games on Windows are Direct3D (not OpenGL), it makes sense to focus on that first. But rest assured that there is nothing intrinsic to the muxless design that makes OpenGL impossible. NVIDIA doe
You are never going to be able to switch purely to the Radeon graphics like you can on the 6000 series. The muxless technology doesn't work that way. You may at some point be able to force-select the Radeon GPU, but the Intel GPU will still be active.
The downsides of the muxless design are driver issues (Optimus users went through this), slightly lower performance (a couple of percent - not really noticeable), and basically no support for the dedicated GPU under non-Windows operating systems (there are significant issues in Linux that make doing muxless designs harder, and the engineering resources are not there).
The upsides of the muxless design are much quicker and more transparent switching, better driver support in the long term (the mux-based design is laptop specific and rely on hacks that Microsoft doesn't really support), and lower cost.
If you use OpenGL programs or games (other than those which run fine on the Intel GPU), don't buy a dv6-6100 or any muxless Radeon graphics laptop.
I need a laptop that can run OpenGL now...what are my other options?
Most laptops with discrete graphics (integrated graphics can run too but performance will take a hit) can run OpenGL with the exception of the new AMD muxless 6xxx series cards, which should be fixed shortly.
Some comparably spec-ed laptops (prices will vary)
- XPS 15 or 17 (15 uses the nvidia 540m I think which is weaker than the 6770m and the 17 can be upgradable to the 555m which is on par with the 6770m)
- Asus G53SW-A1/G73 - bigger, bulkier 15 and 17 inch laptops but with a superior nvidia 460m card
- Look up Sager for their range of high performance laptops
- HP's own DV6z, which uses AMD's new Llano. Graphics power seems to be comparable to DV6t but the CPU is weaker in general
- Lenovo Ideapad y570 (uses the nvidia 555m)
- Lenovo Ideapad y560p (uses a less powerful AMD 6 series card but CPU specs otherwise the same as DV6/7T - cheaper alternative)
I want to upgrade my 6770m to the latest Catalyst Mobility Drivers
Official released: 11.6 (5/24/11) AMD Catalyst 11.6 WHQL (8.861 May 24) - Download & Discussion - Guru3D.com Forums
Beta leaked drivers: Either a 11.6 hotfix RC or a 11.7 RC (6/8/2011) Catalyst 8.862 RC (08 June) - Guru3D.com Forums
Note: DO NOT install these drivers without having installed the HP supplied drivers first. The HP supplied drivers include the Intel IGP drivers, which the official driver packs from AMD don't include
If anyone else would like to add to this FAQ of sorts please let me know and I can add.
Added on July 1, 2011, 4:29 am
QUOTE(T0mmytky @ Jul 1 2011, 03:44 AM)
no image for opera because it's normal
those pictures are from Firefox and Chrome, both same thing
Just tested with IE, it is also normal...
not sure why only Firefox and chrome have this problem, quite irritating
Any link to the video? i want to try with my Chrome.those pictures are from Firefox and Chrome, both same thing
Just tested with IE, it is also normal...
not sure why only Firefox and chrome have this problem, quite irritating
This post has been edited by Acid_RuleZz: Jul 1 2011, 04:29 AM