New machines: Check your BIOS and tell me who can disable integrated graphics

[Cairn]

I'm looking to buy a new laptop with some decent hardware, but apparently many, it seems, refuses to allow us to disable the integrated graphics so that we can rely entirely upon our graphics card.

I am sick and tired of this run-around game laptop manufacturer's like to play where they tell me something that isn't true about their machine. I can no longer trust laptop vendors to be honest about their machines, nor can I trust that they even know what they're talking about half of the time.



So, if you wouldn't mind, if you have the option to disable integrated graphics FROM THE BIOS, please let me know. I'm tired of using that sometimes working sometimes not Nvidia control panel to handle the use of which graphics processor.

If you have over-clocking options on your laptop's BIOS, that would make for a significant bonus in my consideration of which laptop to buy.

Thank you.

 

[EarthDog]

Wouldn't it be easier to tell us what laptops you want to buy and see if we have them and THEN tell you what the options are? You can also search for reviews on the laptops that show pictures of the bios.

You really shouldn't overclock a laptop my man... they just aren't made to move more heat then they come with...

 

[Cairn]

Wouldn't it be easier to tell us what laptops you want to buy and see if we have them and THEN tell you what the options are? You can also search for reviews on the laptops that show pictures of the bios.

You really shouldn't overclock a laptop my man... they just aren't made to move more heat then they come with...

I don't even know where to start looking.

So I was hoping for some sort of idea which manufacturer's currently still allow disabling of the integrated graphics processor.

I assume most will not be able to answer that question directly, or they'll give me what they GUESS is true without really knowing. So I figure if people check their BIOS and tell me, hey my machine allows it, it's such and such. Then I'll have a solid avenue to start looking into.

And so what about overclocking. It's not something I'm going to go overboard with, it's just a significant indicator of NOT having an overly limited BIOS, and it also gives me other options for another day IF I decided I need them for whatever reason.

 

[t1nm4n]

I've only owned HP laptops (I'm cheap like that) and never once have I seen where you could do more than adjust the time in the Bios, I would personally love to turn turbo off on this laptop, it's such a battery drainer and heat source. Best bet would be XoticPC, but I doubt you want to spend that much on a laptop. I'd go with this ASUS Laptop, no clue what the bios would look like, but I would think there is more adjustment than most would have. Happy hunting.

 

[Cairn]

I've only owned HP laptops (I'm cheap like that) and never once have I seen where you could do more than adjust the time in the Bios, I would personally love to turn turbo off on this laptop, it's such a battery drainer and heat source. Best bet would be XoticPC, but I doubt you want to spend that much on a laptop. I'd go with this ASUS Laptop, no clue what the bios would look like, but I would think there is more adjustment than most would have. Happy hunting.

The thing us, I have already purchased laptop, and am looking to return it and buy another. However, I don't want to run into the same problem, and it seems like this disabling integrated graphics thing, this sharing of graphics between onboard and dedicated is simply something vendors are not allowed to talk about, and when I talk to vendors directly, they only know what they're talking about half of the time, and the other half is them just telling me what they think is true. I've lost all confidence in a vendor's ability to tell me anything at this point. I want some solid leads to pursue.

 

[t1nm4n]

Is this laptop not utilizing the Discrete GPU like it should while gaming? plugged in or on battery? It took some time to figure out which power settings I needed to adjust so that it would use the NVidia GPU when I gamed, and I figured the iGPU was plenty for browsing and "Spider Solitaire". If it's an Intel, there should an "Intel Control Panel" that lets you set some of the parameters there, some settings in the GPU settings so that you can force certain games to use the GPU, and the power settings in control panel.

I don't think you will find a laptop that will allow you to change settings in the BIOS. I wish you luck though.

 

[Cairn]

Is this laptop not utilizing the Discrete GPU like it should while gaming? plugged in or on battery? It took some time to figure out which power settings I needed to adjust so that it would use the NVidia GPU when I gamed, and I figured the iGPU was plenty for browsing and "Spider Solitaire". If it's an Intel, there should an "Intel Control Panel" that lets you set some of the parameters there, some settings in the GPU settings so that you can force certain games to use the GPU, and the power settings in control panel.

I don't think you will find a laptop that will allow you to change settings in the BIOS. I wish you luck though.

Yeah, it's a headache I just don't want to deal with. I'm thinking ahead here. One is I tried to force it to allow VMWare Player to use the high speed graphic, or whatever it's called that signifies the dedicated GPU, and it simply won't do it.

After reading sooooo many issues with people online trying to "force" use of the dedicated graphics, I realized, it's not worth it! I need a machine that I can make it do what I want it to do. I don't need convenience or automatic. I want a solve-all issue-buster in the event that I cannot get it to work the way I want the normal way. That solve-all issue buster would be a simple little option in the BIOS that allows me to deactivate the integrated graphics.

But certain laptop manufacturer's seem to prefer to limit the user in every conceivable way they can think of. It makes no sense to me and seems rather counter intuitive.

I mean, it's ridiculous that people should be forced to resort to a third-party "unlocking" BIOS utility just to fully utilize their machine.

Anyhow, my main goal here now is to find some newer laptops that people can actually say for sure that yes, there is the ability to disable HD graphics on this particular machine. And this being an overclocking forum, perhaps the laptop specifications will already be somewhat high-end.

 

[bob4933]

Considering battery life is a crucial component of a laptop, I can't imagine any laptop allowing you to disable onboard. I'm sure some fo, but they are designed to share graphics to ensure optimal battery life.

This is a crux of a laptop, no reason to go up arms about it.

 

[Automata]

My Lenovo W530 has an option in the BIOS to disable integrated graphics, but the Intel card handles important stuff like backlighting, so turning it off breaks a lot of very useful features. I'm guessing most are like that and simply don't give the option for that reason.

The easiest solution is finding a laptop without integrated graphics.

 

[mimart7]

My Lenovo W530 has an option in the BIOS to disable integrated graphics, but the Intel card handles important stuff like backlighting, so turning it off breaks a lot of very useful features. I'm guessing most are like that and simply don't give the option for that reason.

The easiest solution is finding a laptop without integrated graphics.

That would be a gaming laptop. There is almost no consideration for battery life in those things. Since the op is adverse to trusting the specs listed by the manufacturers, perhaps they might want to consider building a gaming rig.