Heat generation/Optimus support for driver 325+ || Or, Multi-monitor cool down

Hi, thanks for bringing preliminary Optimus support to Linux!

Like many others I’ve been plagued by heat generation (and fan noise) with the pre-319-driver in a multi-monitor setup.

What is on offer with 325.15 in terms of Optimus support? Ideally I would connect one monitor to my laptop (Dell Precision M4700, K2000M) via VGA which the built-in Intel chip should drive, and then connect another monitor via HDMI or Display Port which the K2000M should drive.

If the above is possible then the requirement for max performance in multi-monitor setups would be avoided and the K2000M would only be driving 1 monitor, presumably always in adaptive (read: cool and quiet) mode.

Need to account for the laptop screen as well, AFAIK, no easy way to turn off laptop screen itself in Dell Precision laptops.

Pretty noisy with 2 external monitors and built-in laptop display, 15 degree celcius diff between CPU and GPU, ouch.

Not yet ready to upgrade to Fedora 19, so opted for the VBIOS mod approach.

Basically matched P0 settings with those of P8, which effectively tricks the K2000M into thinking that it’s running at max power [paraphrasing Nvidia] to “efficiently drive multiple monitors”, when in fact it’s running in adaptive mode always.

As a non-gamer it is frustrating to work in a noisy environment where all I need are a couple of displays to expand my workspace. No need for max frames per second or god knows what else brings about Nvidia’s forced max power state mandate in multi-monitor setups.

3 monitors running (2 external + internal laptop) and the GPU fan has not kicked on at all. Yesterday, when hooking up the 3rd monitor for the first time, GPU fan kicked on every single minute.

Hopefully Optimus support of the power saving variety is coming soon (or already here) to Linux. Assume if the Intel chip can drive the laptop display, then Nvidia chip won’t have to go too crazy on power consumption displaying an IDE in one external monitor and a web browser in another.

As it stands, in the pre-319 driver it’s a total noise nightmare with multiple monitors connected; in my case a VBIOS mod is required to maintain sanity.

Cheers, and thanks for bringing Optimus support forward.