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I have a brand new Sony Vaio Flip 15, and it takes at least 1 second to switch between GPUs, during which time my screen goes off. Is this expected? Or should the switch be instant and happen between frames?

Suppose I don't know anything about computers (and likewise I might not even be asking a question here): I would think my laptop is broken/glitchy because every time I plug or unplug the power adapter the screen goes off for 1 whole second (I'm oblivious to the fact that GPUs are switching).

Is the switch supposed to be fast?

Hennes
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trusktr
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2 Answers2

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Yes, the switch is supposed to be instantaneous. You shouldn't even know it's happening.

rob
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  • I definitely do know though, and it's quite annoying. Maybe it's a driver issue (but why would Sony let that happen?). – trusktr Dec 13 '13 at 21:12
  • I think it might've happened when I upgraded to Win 8.1, shortly after turning it on for the first time (it also updated a bunch of Sony software). – trusktr Dec 13 '13 at 21:14
  • @trusktr You got the answer to your question: "Is the switch supposed to be fast?". If you'd rather get some answers about your actual problem, then perhaps post a question about that instead of asking about how fast it's _supposed_ to be. :) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Dec 13 '13 at 21:40
  • @techie007 Yeah, i got the answer. But a non-tech-savvy person will get a refund/exchange and not bother "fixing" things and wasting time if he can just get something that "works". – trusktr Dec 13 '13 at 21:41
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    @trusktr it's not just a matter of technical competence, but also a matter of how you value your time. I've taken a supposedly "brand new" laptop out of the box, turned it on, and let it install Windows updates. After that it wouldn't boot, and I took it right back to the store for a refund. I suspected a defective hard disk but diagnosing the problem would have been a waste of my time and wasn't my responsibility in the first place. If you take it upon yourself to fix the problem, that's your prerogative, but there's no reason why you *shouldn't* expect to get something that just works. – rob Dec 13 '13 at 22:46
  • @rob Yeah, exactly! Well, I factory reset this Sony Vaio Flip 15 back to factory condition, and the problem still exists right out of the box. If I unplug my charger, I still experience a 1+ second screen flicker. I guess I'll have to return it unfortunately. I wanted to like this laptop. – trusktr Dec 14 '13 at 00:11
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Optimus works by feeding the discrete GPU's output through the integrated GPU. Hence, all that is needed is to turn the dGPU on when needed and turn it off when it's not. Since the iGPU isn't being turned off to display the dGPU output, there should be absolutely no interruption whatsoever.

For more information, see the Optimus whitepaper.

bwDraco
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  • I guess that means the Vaio Flip was defective? I ended up returning it, because I couldn't get the screen stutter to go away whenever it switched cards (if that is even what the problem was). – trusktr Mar 27 '16 at 02:14
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    I'd want to say so, though bad hardware or drivers could also be the cause. It is 100% seamless on my laptop, so I'm pretty sure there's a problem of some sort. Returning it was probably the right call to make. – bwDraco Mar 29 '16 at 21:14