need help, got no idea whats wrong

[geronimo101]

i have the new dell xps l702x with the following specs

 

intel i5 2.3 GHz

4 gb ram

nvidia 550m w/ 1 gb vram

windows 7 64 bit

 

im trying to install gta 4 on my laptop and the installation goes all fine even without the compatibility adjustment. when i run the game, the menu screen shows fine as well. but in the options->graphics tab, all the settings are set to minimum, ie, resolution is 800x600 and all other options are set to low. all the bars are reduced to 1. im not able to change any of these settings. ive uninstalled and reinstalled the game a couple of times with no result. ive got no idea what is wrong here. ive never before come across such an anomaly. i am able to run the game but the video quality is beyond unbearable. im not able to see a few feet beyond the current position.

 

i have a strong suspicion that the game is running on the integrated card and not on the dedicated card. but nvidia optimus is supposed to take care of this and make it run on the dedicated card. ive no idea whats wrong here. my specs should be more than enough for this game. could any1 help me out here please?

 

thanks in advance!

[radioman]

From what I have read on here in the past, it seems like Dell and Alienware PC's have trouble switching from the Integrated Intel card to the Higher one(either Nvidia/ATI) and as such IV thinks the PC has a Intergrated Intel card(like the Nvidia/Ati one is not even there). As such, you can try this method of switching/enabling your Nvidia card instead of the Integrated one(if you have Switchable Graphics): HTH.

 

Also, make sure your laptop is plugged in, as most laptops today are set up to where they use the Nvidia/ATI card while the laptop is plugged in(High Performance GPU) and use the Intel card while running on battery power(Power saving GPU). This is the way mine is set up, is how I know.-as you can see from the video above. Also, Is that I5 the Dual core OR the Quad core model?

Edited May 17, 2011 by radioman