Video Card Drivers AMD Radeon HD 6770M

[pbug56]

Yes, if you have both on-chip Intel and discrete AMD/ATI graphics that is what is referred to as hybrid  or switchable graphics.  Note that people have forced such systems to take newer ATI drivers BUT that is usually at the expense of locking out use of the Intel graphics (used to save power when on battery).  I won't do that because I've had too many problems with ATI graphics and want to preserve the Intel option - plus, when we get blackouts, it's nice to be able to operate my laptop on reduced power.  It does upset me that HP does not keep its drivers for Intel / ATI systems up to date; my system has drivers pushing 2 years old, even though ATI does fairly frequent updates.

[The_Sn0wman]

Hey guys,
i think my question is easy to answer. 

It is about searching for the right drivers.
I have an dv7 notebook with an hd 6770m switchable graphic card. My operating system is windows 8 (64 bits).
The problem is that i don´t know wich driver i have to install to run my grapchic card perfectly.

I tried it with many different drivers by amd and a few of hp but nothing worked...

It would be very nice if somebody could hel me to runget my graphics working again.

Thanks!

[pbug56]

While I feel sorry for anyone who has a PC or laptop neutered by Windows 8, you ought to be able to get on the HP page for your laptop and download and install the newest (which could pretty old) graphics drivers - which should be a set with both the Intel and ATI and the switching software.  For my Win 7 DV7 with the same graphics, they were last updated in 2011 (and no update for the IE10 problems), and there is a problem in the installer which I found a way to get around.  Or, you can run the HP Software Assistant which will do this for you though some people don't like using it.  You should also make sure you have a recent bios (maybe not the newest posted).

Once done, you also need to learn how to configure (if the utility works, and it often doesn't for me) the utility that controls which software uses Intel, and which uses ATI graphics.

[nematsvehclav]

So the latest drivers for 6770m, as provided from HP, are AMD High-Definition Graphics Driver v03.00.0838 sp55092, display driver being 8.882.2.3000 (8.882.2.3-110930a-126477C-HP). And all of a sudden Alex_G and 6137tx come up with drivers (9.002.0.0000 (9.002-120928m-148226C-ATI)), which are newer but not exactly for 6770m, but for 6700m, still working tho. So that's all fine. I just don't quite understand how Alex_G and 6137tx, respectively in their posts, find out about the 12-3 and 12-10 versions of 6700m???

Obviously the 12-10 is the newer from the two, but how can I check if there is even a newer one? I can make my peace with the fact that my device manager and windows update prompt me to 'update' to the actually older drivers specifically for 6770m and not for 6700m, but as for now I will carry on being with the 6700m ones

I would like to know how to find out if there are any updates the 12-10...? Where to check? Any links please?

[pbug56]

The problem is that you don't just need drivers for this specific chip; you need a combined driver set that allows the laptop to switch back and forth between Intel and ATI drivers.  If you force feed a newer ATI driver, as some have done, you lose that switching, which was setup to improve battery life on your laptop.  HP has designed the installer package to block attempts to later install a standalone ATI driver.  As to why HP refuses to keep up with ATI driver updates, only they know for sure, but I'm guessing that this is an 'economy' that saves them lots of money even as it greatly frustrates their customers.

[nematsvehclav]

I fully agree that HP are not doing the right thing by keeping these old drivers, but my question is still not answered... I mean how did these other 2 users find out about 12-3 and 12-10 version of those drivers for 6700m. How can I stay posted about updates? And please don't tell me to check at AMD where they currently have 13-4 and the beta of 13-6...

[pbug56]

Unless you want to 1. disable the Intel chip, and take a chance on bricking your laptop, you are stuck with what HP provides.  It's not an issue of finding out that there are newer ATI drivers; most users out there need to take what HP chooses to provide given the nature of the switchable graphics.  I'd sure appreciate it if HP did something here to fix the situation.

[nematsvehclav]

Can't fully agree with you, cos for my 6770m, the drivers for 6700m are doing a perfect job.

And as I said, what HP provides for 6770m on their website is older than what the aforementioned users had posted, namely the drivers 12-3 and 12-10, which are for 6700m.

A small confirmation that the 'update' really took place is AutoCAD x64 2014. When I was running with the HP drivers 8.882.2.3000 AutoCAD complained that I do not yet have the latest GPU drivers, and when I got the 12-10 (9.002.0.0000) drivers, provided from some of the aforementioned users, AutoCAD said I got the latest drivers. So at least in my case I don't think I am running any risk of messing up my system. As I said, just don't know where the hell these guys found out about 12-3 and 12-10 for the 6700m??? That's what I wanna find out about.

[pbug56]

You are making an assumption that every single video chip / card from ATI has different driver packages.  That's not usually the case.  Last time I checked, there were 2 main desktop driver sets - the 'main' ones that worked for most of their cards, and a second group modified for old AGP cards.  Inside a typical driver package there is a list of cards (or chips) that the package is good for, and I'm guessing that based on which you have what actually gets installed on your PC may differ a bit from chip to chip.  Keep in mind that chips from the same family (like the 2 you mention) are very likely to have identical or near identical drivers with installer packages that might be quite interchangable.

I've known HP to have software or driver packages that would work fine on older HP products that they never release for the older products.  I'd guess that they do that both to cut support costs for 'retired' products and to encourage people to buy newer PCs from them, yet from time to time people notice that the newer products have software that they hope will work on their older models - and sometimes they do.  And sometimes, even if they could work, they are whitelisted internally to prevent cross use.  I'd argue with them that this is bad policy, that it turns off users to future HP purchases.

As to your question, I'm still guessing that they force fed ATI only drivers onto their laptops and gave up the ability to run the Intel graphics.  There are postings online that explain how to do this - and they tend to remind you that you risk making your laptop unusable (at least short of a Windows reinstall).  There's nothing mysterious here - they have tech ability and are willing to take a risk.  There's no secret about the existance of newer ATI drivers - you can find them on the AMD web site. 

[Aussie_John]

Alex

Many thanks. It looks like this has fixed an issue I was having on a HP DV6-6137TX.

(Microsoft Excel 2013 Power Map preview was having a driver issue. If I applied an Intel driver update (to the "Mobile Intel HD Graphics" display adapter) this fixed Power Map but broke the other display adapter (Radeon HD 6770M).)

Regards

John