Question regarding Dell pro vs consumer

#21

As in the auto switch between gpu and cpu isn’t working? I’ll prob disable it so I don’t use the cpu most of the time but will need it some on trips- thanks- I do check thru this stuff. I work pretty closely with the Dell Techs that come thru my work so I’m sure I could get a hook up if need be although I’d prefer to have everything working fine.

QC is checking the quality of a few items in a lot. Things get thru-

Well have a large Dell contract- Last Lot we had (120 workstations and many laptops) prob 1/4 were defective in some way (bad CD/DVD drive, Bad GPU, Bad RAM or HDD etc).

We also get Macs just not as many but we have gotten defective mac gear too- less often but also much less equipment.

At any rate- looking forward to it- glad i went with the 17incher!

FYI- Took half the ram out of my PC now have 12GB and haven’t BSODed me since (Mem Dump) Hopefully it was just one of those basterds that was choking.

#22

Just got it and I gotta say DAM- It’s big LOL!

#23

FYI:
Since the laptop tech has 2 GPU (Quad and CPU) it causes the GPU sniffer for Photoshop to crash thus neutering the GPU performance features such as 3D Mode

This is on Adobe’s site:

Are you using more than one video card?
Multiple video adapters can cause problems with GPU-accelerated or enabled features in Photoshop. It’s best to connect two (or more) monitors into one video adapter. If you have to use more than one video adapter, make sure that they are the same make and model.
Otherwise, crashes and other problems can occur in Photoshop.

Note: Using more than one video adapter does not enhance Photoshop’s performance.

#24

OK, so testing Nvidia’s driver vs Dell’s.

Also- Optimus was in my bios and enabled- does say can only be enabled in WIN 7 32 and 64 since it’s the only OS it works with.

Just an FYI . Are you using WIN 7?

Having a hell of a time getting photoshop to use my Quadro and not recognize the INTEL HD graphics. what happens is it checks your GPU performance then disables features for Intel.

#25

what the… how in the heck did that get past QC!

tech replaced my motherboard this morning and still no optimus setting in the bios. it still shows the lcd brightness only. the tech said i should probably call dell and let them know. i told him my co worker has a similar laptop so i dont see why the optimus feature is missing from mine. he said dell would be able to run the tag for each laptop to see what could be different between his and mine.

Also- Optimus was in my bios and enabled- does say can only be enabled in WIN 7 32 and 64 since it’s the only OS it works with.

glad to hear that you see the optimus option. I am running windows 7 64bit on mine. I found a link to a site where someone was having issues using optimus and they went with a display link adapter. i think i will try that and see if i can get it to work.

http://www.displaylink.com/shop/adapters

#26

That is really strange that it’s missing.

#27

ck, i heard not so great things about optimus for 3d work.

Take the time and read

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/485306/geforce-mobile-gpus/maya-2011-opengl-viewport-issues-nvidia-or-optimus-bugs-/

#28

Bout to test Performance with Optimus disabled.
Tested and made no difference- still no 3d Menu tab although the update is installed and yes under the menus I have all the 3d tabs to set to visible. Interesting.
Also- uninstalled and installed vid drivers- question, do you use Nvidia or Dell vid drivers?

Added and removed the GPU-Sniffer for Photoshop- strange I like using the 3d features too.

#29

That is really strange that it’s missing.

The dell rep i worked with emailed me about the optimus issue and i told him that the motherboard swap changed nothing. he emailed me later and here is his response

After digging further we found the root of the cause. The optimus option will not be available on systems shipped with an rgb type lcd panel which this system was ordered with

to get a third monitor to work i purchased a sabrent display link adapter, i guess i dont have to worry about the optimus issue anymore.

#30

so… what other type of LCD panel could you possible get? a monochrome? :argh:

#31

Hmm, that is strange LOL. I guess I got the Technocolor CTV Monitor- perhaps that’s why my laptop weighs 40 pounds?

#32

So watched a movie on mine for the heck of it and gotta say that the quality of the screen and playback was excellent.
Playing with Mudbox, Maya and Photoshop everything (Minus the fact that the 3d Menu won’t load in Photoshop even after updates) runs great. Scenes with large poly counts seem more fluid than on my desktop albeit it has an older ATI 5850 card.

Looking forward to adding more memory (currently has the stock 2GB) that I ordered (32GB).

Weight is not an issue, yes it is heavy compared to my 15inch HP but it is performance wise a beast thus far. No issues with heat either even with it in my lap using mudbox- also surprised at how silent it runs even at large files.

Dam, the power brick is large, the size of a netbook LOL but a NONISSUE for me- I am still primarily using my desktop because I am in the middle of finishing a few scenes but will be transitioning to the laptop to see about using it more regularly and possibly batch rendering across both the laptop and the desktop because rendering was a bit slower but that my be more of a network issue since I pulled the Maya files across the network. More updates to come.

Haven’t tried dongling the Intuos to it yet.

#33

BTW I got it working, PS 3d that is- had to redownload it from Adobe and reinstall it. Works like a charm- better than on my desktop.

#34

i’m a bit stunned that its’ out performing the 5850 :applause:

wow, that’s very cool.

#35

For the most part YES.
I have to get my RAM installed to make sure that some things aren’t RAM issues then I’ll post a more complete feeling about performance- the desktop launches and runs smoother in general until 3D gets involved in PS. then it sucks and has strange glitchy behavior with the paint.

The laptop runs the 3d Fine but with such low supply of RAM will prob run slower on large files, haven’t tested yet because I am waiting for the RAM to be installed before I even bother- just did some painting and what not. Will give it a real go after the RAM

Intuos works great except the cable is annoying so am after all considering getting the wireless one (5) if anyone has any input on that.

the screen OMG- I am so glad that I got the 17 incher! found out that I had to go into bios and enable lit keyboard, awesome and also maxed screen brightness and surprisingly still lasting a good amount of time. Let kids watch Brave after fooling around with MUD and it still had about 10% afterwards. Keep in mind- that was a scene in Mud with large poly and color maps- Thought RAM come into to play more with MUD but didn’t seem to have an issue with it.

#36

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