T420 + nvidia 4200M questions

Question

My laptop just arrived today and I love it! I got the dedicated graphics card because I thought it would help in Photoshop and other photo/video editing programs. Other than that, I know very little about GPU's. Confusion is added because not only am I dealing with NVIDIA, but also the Intel HD graphics. Here's what I understand (or I think I understand): the NVIDIA is only "activated" during extensive graphics applications while the Intel does most of the work during basic programs. But where do I go for the settings? Intel or NVIDIA? I am assuming NVIDIA....but there, I am at a complete loss as to how to configure it. What are "global settings?" And I've read so much about Optimus technology, yet I don't see it anywhere. And how do I know the GPU is doing work?
Thanks in advance,
Kevin

Answer 1

You have Optimus. It works by default. What it does is essentially that it runs everything off of the iGPU. When a window needs more graphics performance, it will generally figure that out and then almost instantly turn on the nVidia chip run that window (and only the contents of that window) with the nVidia chip. As soon as you close the window, the system goes back to running everything off of the iGPU. Optimus is better than switchable graphics because it switches almost instantly and only runs what you need off of the nVidia card. The very minor downside to Optimus is that is uses a small amount of RAM at all times (about 128MB) if you need the extra RAM you can configure the BIOS to disable Optimus autodetect and then choose the integrated graphics only (slower, better thermals, and battery life) or the nVidia graphics only (faster, more heat, about 50-60% of normal battery life). I think ~128MB less of usable RAM is worth all that you gain from Optimus -- RAM is inexpensive compared to batteries.
Some programs, such as independent games, might not auto detect. For those, I will use the right click --> run with Graphics Processor solution to make them perform better. You can add these programs to the list so that they always run with a specific processor. nVidia's latest drivers include a task bar utility that tells you when the nVidia chip is on, and which window or program is using it. If you were running low on battery, you could right click and run a program only on the integrated to attempt to extend battery life.
The other nice thing about having the nVidia card is that you can drive 3 displays at once. For me, this means the ability to use 2 external monitors and the laptop display at the same time.
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My TPs: Twist 2HU: i5-3317U Win 8 Pro, 4GB RAM 250GB Samsung 840 | T420 4177CTO: i5-2520M, HD+, Win 7 Pro x64, 8GB RAM, Optimus, 160GB Intel 320 SSD, Intel 6300 WiFi, BT 3.0 | T400 2764CTO: P8700, WXGA, Win 7 Ult x64, AMD 3470, 8GB RAM, 64GB Samsung SSD, BT, Intel 5300 WiFi | A20m 14.1" PIII 500 (retired). Monitors: 2x Dell U2211h IPS 100% sRGB calibrated w/ Spyder3.