Force Asus laptop to use the discrete graphics for windows/desktop display

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moobidoobi

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Jun 11, 2014
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Hi, I've been looking for a solution to this issue and found a few things that come close but don't quite nail it.

I have an Asus laptop with on-board Intel graphics processor as well as a discrete Nvidia Geforce card.

This is all working fine and switches to the discrete card when running games, etc.

The problem is this:

I just connected an external 30" monitor (via HDMI) and the highest resolution the onboard card will allow it to display is 1920x1200. The monitor's native resolution is 2560x1600.

So, I need to switch the adapter powering this monitor (and hence I guess the entire desktop/GUI) to the discrete card.

I have tried going into the nvidia control panel and making the default card the high performance card, and have rebooted etc, but the Windows GUI is still being powered by the onboard card. I don't see any way to change this from within Windows itself.

Any ideas?
 
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moobidoobi

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Jun 11, 2014
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Just to update my own post: I've done some digging around and come up with a few things I'll share, just in case someone else is having the same problem.

First, this could definitely be simply because I'm using an HDMI cable, which has limited bandwidth. See this post for more info: http://www.notebookcheck.net/2560x1440-or-2560x1600-via-HDMI.92840.0.html

Second, the desktop displays are handled by a windows component called "Desktop Windows Manager". This is a file called DWM.EXE which can be found in your windows directory somewhere. You can add this manually to the nvidia control panel application manager, however it won't do much good as this is locked to onboard graphics.

I have ordered a DisplayPort to MiniDisplayPort cable to run from the monitor's DisplayPort to the MiniDisplayPort on the laptop. From what I read on Wikipedia, these display ports are highly compatible and support a very high bandwidth, more than enough to display 2560x1600 at a decent refresh rate. Here's the cable I bought on ebay: http://r.ebay.com/VyDxnQ

I'll update this thread with a result when I get the cable!
 
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moobidoobi

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Jun 11, 2014
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4,510
Final update on this issue:

I purchased a "DisplayPort to MiniDisplayPort" cable on ebay for around $13.

This runs from the standard display port on the monitor to the mini display port on the laptop.

It can now display the monitor's full native resolution of 2560x1600 without any hassles!

I guess the issue isn't the video card, it's the limited bandwidth of HDMI cables.
 
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saysthankyou

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Sep 1, 2016
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Hi moobidoobi, I actually created an account to just say thank you, for documenting the updates as you research the problem. i know too well the frustration when you encounter a thread that describes a problem that you're interested in, but no solution or any updates. Worse, sometimes the poster says "fixed" but does not specify how it was fixed

 
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