Anyone else tried AMD switchable graphics? Halo's refusing to recognise my dedicated GPU on my new laptop and keeps insisting I have an unsupported unknown Intel gpu.(which I do but I have it set to use the dedicated instead)

I have a Dell Inspiron with an i5 3337u and an AMD Radeon 7670M. In theory, the game should be using the 7670M because I have it set to 'High performance' in Catalyst. However, when I launch the game, I get a popup saying that my hardware is below minimum specs. It claims that my GPU is a 64M Intel.
When I click 'Continue Anyway', the game only runs in 1280x800 at max and lags a fair bit.

I've heard quite a few games have issues with AMD switchable graphics but I didn't expect Halo to. I've tried both the official drivers from Dell and Unifl. With either, the game thinks it should be using the integrated.

Strange that even integrated lags so much but even so, it should be using dedicated instead.

E: Incase anyone wants a screenshot of the popup for reference:

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Edited by Jaz on Nov 8, 2014 at 03:54 PM

idk about AMD, but with my nvidia card in my laptop, I can right click any EXE, run with graphic processor, and choose which card I use for that program. NVIDIA control panel also allowed me to configure defaults, etc. By default, it used intel for general applications, and NVIDIA just did all of its physics X stuff alongside the intel.

Can't disable the integrated. I don't think you can on any laptop with Optimus or Switchable because the integrated's feeding the screen by default. I've heard some laptops allow you to disable the integrated if you use an external screen but unfortunately the BIOS for this particularly laptop is disgustingly limited and offers no such option.(there are barely any options in the BIOS)

I'm just wondering if anyone else with either Nvidia Optimus or AMD Switchable have had a similar issue and/or found a workaround/solution.

AMD Switchable has a section in Catalyst; 'Switchable Graphics Application Settings'. There, I can set applications to either 'Power saving' or 'High performance'. As I understand it, 'Power saving' is integrated and 'High performance' is the dedicated. I have Halo set to 'High performance' so it should be using the dedicated.

But still getting the issue.

Open Catalyst and go to "Gaming" tab. Add an application (haloce.exe) and put in the necessary settings... maybe that will work? I have nvidia in my laptop and have to do a similar thing for certain programs.

Got it working. Turns out clicking "Don't show this warning again", then 'Continue anyway' allowed the game to launch. I was then still limited to 1280x800 but vidmode appears to be working.(I used vidmode in Target to get to 1600x900)

I'm just hoping it's actually using the dedicated. If it's using integrated, a few maps might lag /:

Edit: Oh wait; oddly, chat's broken. Even without vidmode at 1280x720, I can't see chat at all. Text just doesn't show at all.(not just when I'm typing; I see no chat at all from anyone)

Not sure how that issue could even exist. I'm on 1.10, and even without 1.10, 1280x720 was already supported. So very strange.
Edited by Jaz on Nov 9, 2014 at 12:55 PM

Edit: Oh wait; oddly, chat's broken. Even without vidmode at 1280x720, I can't see chat at all. Text just doesn't show at all.(not just when I'm typing; I see no chat at all from anyone)



c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Halo Custom Edition\redist

Launch > msxmlemu.wininstaller
Edited by SS Flanker on Nov 12, 2014 at 07:34 AM

As far as the original quandary, that's just how AMD's switchable graphics work; at least on the lower end. The discrete GPU is accessed through the integrated chipset.

I used to have a 6650m machine and it did the same thing; confused me too until I realized there was probably a reason you had to get a specific driver for the machine to work.

Happily on a 970m lappie now with none of that though :>

Thank you very much. That worked perfectly.

Do the redists normally run during Halo's installation, as I've never had to run them manually before?

They should.

I would like a hug.