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List of laptops not routing video through intel HD

sergiobd
Honored Guest
Hi folks,

I have been on the quest for a laptop for VR dev. I am a homeless VR developer, so portability is a MUST (I have read many posts saying that people should not use a laptop for VR, but some devs and users like me really need something that fits in a backpack).
As I understand, this is the problem about laptops and VR:

- VR needs a high-end graphics card
- However, most laptops that have high-end graphics cards use some sort of energy optimizing technology that switches between the integrated graphics and the actual GPU. This is NVIDIA's Optimus technology (I think there is an equivalent in AMD, but I have not done any research on this).
- The problem about this technology is that the data from the GPU is hardware-routed through the integrated graphics card and this will limit FPS. So even if you choose your graphics card as default, there will be a limit on FPS.
- However, there are some models that do not implement this technology (even if it will be supported by the graphics card), or at least, the routing is not done on all video output ports. So, one may overcome the problem by plugging the rift to a different video output.
- The problem is that there is no clear information out there about laptop models where graphics are NOT routed through the intel HD (if any), or laptops where the problem can be overcome by plugging the rift in a different video port.

I have chatted with an xotic pc sales rep for 1.5 hours and he stated that manufacturers do not provide them this information. So guys, please post your laptop specs if you managed to overcome the problem. It would be really helpful.
12 REPLIES 12

SDM
Explorer
Check out the Sager NP9752-S / Clevo P750ZM.

Desktop CPU (4790K option), 980M and other modular GPU options. Not exactly cheap, not the smallest, but gives higher end desktop performance with no Optimus. Has future upgrade potential for both CPU and GPU as well.

Xotic sells them, also a '17 inch variant out there too.

sergiobd
Honored Guest
Thank you very much, SDM. The specs here http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9752s-clevo-p750zm-p-7854.html, say that is HAS Optimus. Do you own this laptop? How can one tell if a laptop that HAS Optimus may achieve higher than 60 fps? In other words, is there other way than trial and error to tell if a laptop does not route its GPU though the intel HD?

EDIT:

Actually the specs on xotic say that the graphics card has optimus (indeed all high end graphics cards support optimus, but that does not mean that it is actually implemented), but on sager http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP9752.html it does not appear.

SDM
Explorer
Yes, I have one with 4790K and 980M. It's a mobile backup for me right now, thus haven't used it much. Soon though, will need to use it primarily.

I did a lot of research before buying, and at the time I decided to pull the trigger on this, there was no mention of Optimus at Xotic or elsewhere. Others had verified it was absent from this model.

The limited testing/benchmarks and such I have done are impressive/expected for the hardware, there is no Optimus involvement that I could see. No mention of it anywhere, not even during driver updates or such.

Again though, I haven't really dug in too awful deep just yet, perhaps I'll run some more tests tonight.

SDM
Explorer
Just tried a more recent build of a project I'm working on. It's a fairly demanding flight sim (mainly). Ran it Direct to Rift (using 4.4), used the HDMI port for the DK2.

Solid 75FPS, low persistence, etc... not a hitch. Tried a few other DK2 things quickly on the Sager, all ran properly/smoothly/as expected.

There is no Optimus, laptop does great with the DK2 for my needs. How well it may fare with the consumer release or Vive or such is another story of course. Hopefully there will be a (not too horribly expensive) next gen GPU upgrade available by then if needed.

cybereality
Grand Champion
There are a couple of high-end laptops I heard may work, but you probably have a good 80-90% chance of getting burned (it happened to me!). I don't remember the exact models off hand. Just stay as far away from Optimus as possible.
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Ganjatobi
Honored Guest
Although very pricey, I have not had any problems running the DK2 on my Alienware 18. Dual AMD 290x ,i7, 16gb Ram. You can turn off the onboard Intel, so everything is using the GPUs .

kojack
MVP
MVP
"sergiobd" wrote:
Thank you very much, SDM. The specs here http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9752s-clevo-p750zm-p-7854.html, say that is HAS Optimus. Do you own this laptop? How can one tell if a laptop that HAS Optimus may achieve higher than 60 fps? In other words, is there other way than trial and error to tell if a laptop does not route its GPU though the intel HD?

EDIT:

Actually the specs on xotic say that the graphics card has optimus (indeed all high end graphics cards support optimus, but that does not mean that it is actually implemented), but on sager http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP9752.html it does not appear.


There's been mention of that on laptop forums. It seems some rebranding companies like xotic are incorrectly listing optimus. The official P7x0zm Clevo manuals say nothing about optimus or being able to use the intel gpu.

I'll know for sure soon, I've had a P770zm on order for 5 weeks. Should be here soon (I hope).
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Constellation
Expert Protege
My Asus G750JX does not have Optimus but its 770M isn't really powerful enough for high-end VR experiences. Most of the other Asus models I looked at have Optimus though I've heard there may be a newer one that doesn't (not sure of the model number). Check very carefully before you purchase!

danknugz
Superstar
Mine is a dell e6540 (from work), it has an and Radeon 8970n or something and also has the on die intel chip, I can tell when it switches cause the screen goes blank for a second. However back on sdk 0.4.2 I had it getting into low persistence at a 75fps cap in half life 2 and also live for speed, so I that I case I believe it was the amd outputting directly to the rift. Those were the only two games I could get running decently though.
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