Dual monitors using wrong graphic cards

So recently got my hands on a small monitor that I use as a second monitor for my laptop. I use the small monitor to display my web browser/skype/etc while the laptop monitor is the one on which i play game.

The problem is that my laptop has two graphic cards :
- a Geforce GT 550M
- a crappy onboard Intel HD Graphics

When I plug in the second monitor, the Nvidia card displays the small monitor and the crappy intel thing displays the laptop monitor, so i'm stuck on having the bad graphic card being used for games while the Nvidia one displays my web browser and foobar2k...

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I just cant find how to switch them up so that I get the Nvidia card on the laptop monitor and the intel graphic thing on the small monitor.

I tried to force the games to use the Nvidia card through the Nvidia control panel but it doesn't seem to work.

Also weirdly in the Skyrim launch options I can select the correct graphic card, It seems to work, but it forces me to use a resolution compatible with the small monitor (1280x720 -_-)

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Is it even possible to get this working correctly or is it impossible to switch the monitors?
Tried to search on google but it's pretty hard to describe the problem correctly in the search so i get only unrelated stuff back :<

Thanks in advance

Last edit: 2012-05-06 23:14:26

"When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk." - Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez

Myrmidon United States. May 07 2012 01:24. Posts 8478

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Does your laptop have Optimus? I'm not familiar with these Nvidia GPU laptops, but if you don't need the lower power consumption, try disabling the integrated graphics completely, maybe in the BIOS. It's not the best solution, but it's not like displaying a web browser on a second screen would be so stressful for the GT 550M.

BobMcJohnson France. May 07 2012 06:55. Posts 1277

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I dont think I have optimus.

Also yeah, i forgot to mention it in the OP but I already tried to disable the integrated graphics, seems it's not possible, there is no such option in the BIOS, and disabling it in windows device managers just leaves me with a black laptop screen :<

I found some kind of workaround though, for some games I can start them by right clicking the .exe and selecting "launch using nvidia gpu", this seems to actually lauch them using the right card, unlike setting it in the Nvidia control panel. It's not usable for games that run via a laucher like LoL or Dota2 though :/

Last edit: 2012-05-07 06:58:05

"When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk." - Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez

TSBspartacus England. May 07 2012 07:03. Posts 850

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Try looking up some of the information about the new Virtu - Lucidlogix that comes with some motherboards. A lot of people had problems with getting the right drivers installed at the same time. My suggestion would be to see if you can uninstall the integrated graphics drivers, then try running on just the GPU.

Filter Canada. May 07 2012 07:13. Posts 589

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I could be wrong, but I believe the GPU is what handles the HDMI port on most laptops these days. That essentially means that it's designed so that whenever an external screen is plugged in (most commonly a tv) the user gets the best possible experience the easiest, plus it's not all that common for the external screen to be worse than the laptop screen. I don't know if it's really possible to switch which gpu handles what, but if you tinker you might be able to get the nvidia gpu to handle both screens to achieve what you want.

Live hard, live free.

BobMcJohnson France. May 07 2012 10:28. Posts 1277

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On May 07 2012 07:13 Filter wrote:
I could be wrong, but I believe the GPU is what handles the HDMI port on most laptops these days. That essentially means that it's designed so that whenever an external screen is plugged in (most commonly a tv) the user gets the best possible experience the easiest, plus it's not all that common for the external screen to be worse than the laptop screen. I don't know if it's really possible to switch which gpu handles what, but if you tinker you might be able to get the nvidia gpu to handle both screens to achieve what you want.

Yep that's what I'm starting to realise, I'm not going to get the Integrated chip to handle the external monitor. Last hope is to get the Nvidia card to handle both :/

"When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk." - Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez

TSBspartacus England. May 08 2012 02:39. Posts 850

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Yeah integrated is hard wired to the laptop screen probably. Uninstalling the integrated graphics drivers or disabling it should sort it out, but you'll have work out how to do this yourself: different BIOS and chipsets are different to work with. Have a look in device manager and see what drivers are there.

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