Help with Dell Inspiron graphics :(

[NRGuitarist]

Hey

I am having trouble with my Dell Inspiron 15R N5110. My OS is Windows 7 64-bit.

The issue is to do with the video card. From what I am aware, the laptop comes with a discrete 1gb nVidia GEforce GT525m graphics card, alongside the basic Intel (R) HD Graphics Family that comes standard.

The problem I face is that I cannot seem to find evidence of the GEforce card anywhere: system checks, device manager....nowhere does it say that I have such a card onboard.

However, as a discrete card should, when I attempt to play quite taxing graphical games (The Darkness 2 etc.) my laptop runs them, indicating that the 64mb Intel card has been replaced by the discrete 1gb GEforce card, as for example The Darkness 2 requires a minimum graphic capability of 512mb.

I'm really running out of options now. Everyone online claims it should appear under device manager, and if it doesnt then all I have is the Intel card. Yet I can run quite powerful applications far beyond the Intel chip's capacity. I've also read much about the so called nVidia control panel or 'Optimus', and yet I do not have either of these on the computer either. I cannot install the latest GEforce drivers as the installs never recognise that the GT525m exists.

I sincerely hope that you guys can help me out on this one, as nobody else can.

Thanks,
Nick

[stroyal]

Welcome to TechIMO!

I'm only familiar with that setup as we get questions from time to time on why they are not changing over when needed.
I don't know if we settled any of those.
This laptop?
Dell Inspiron 15R (N5110) Review
With this CPU.
Intel® Coreâ„¢ i5-2410M Processor (3M Cache, up to 2.90 GHz)

If it is not in "device manager", it is doubtful, it exists.

You can try "Control Panel", "Display", "Change Display Settings", "Advanced Settings"
If it is not there, I don't know what to say.

It looks to me if you have an i5, that you don't have on board, per say, as that I5 has on chip graphics, that is better than the standard Intel on board graphics.

You have dedicated memory, and shared system memory, as well as access to the CPU Cache, so memory isn't a problem.
Graphics — Graphics memory frequently asked questions
The built in graphics will be the weak point.

If you pick a graphics card by memory, you could end up with not enough GPU power.
If you pick a graphics card by GPU power, you will never get a card without enough memory.

The one exception, to worry about memory is with very large screen areas
If that's not it, provide a link.


Edit
A service tag number, will tell us everything we need to know.

[stroyal]

This will tell you what you had, and have, if they upgraded it.

http://www.dell.com/support/troubles...us/en/19/Index

edit
I see they do offer a AMD Radeon HD 6470M discrete graphics, as an option
Dell Inspiron 15R (N5110) Performance and Benchmarks

[osprey4]

Hi Nick,

The GeForce card was probably an option, but it sounds like you did not get that option. The best approach is to check the original order. You should have either printed this at the time of the order or you have an email confirmation. It is possible Dell did not send the correct options. If you can't find a copy of the order, call customer support and they can check.

Even if you did not order it, for systems that have discrete graphics cards as an option, you should be able to add the video card.