Laptop using integrated graphics?

[xxsaberstarxx]

I just got a laptop for my birthday (hooray) and for some reason when I check Nvidia control panel, it shows that the Intel UHD Graphics 630 is being used for the display instead of the GTX 1050. I talked to some Indian dude named Michael from Acer and Michael says that this is because it is at idle, and once I stress the graphics with a load (like a game) then it will automatically switch. I was not familiar with this happening, is Michael right?

[Guest]

Your Indian buddy Michael is correct, it does automatically switch over.

 

You can disable the onboard graphics via device manager, and it should automatically switch to the NV graphics and stay there.

[xxsaberstarxx]

Just now, ShrimpBrime said:

Your Indian buddy Michael is correct, it does automatically switch over.

 

You can disable the onboard graphics via device manager, and it should automatically switch to the NV graphics and stay there.

Wouldn't that pose a problem with vram? When it switches, wouldn't it have to transfer everything in vram, causing a bit of a stutter? (yes I know RAM is fast, but it's not instant)

Sorry, I'm new to laptops. On my desktop I just plug the DP cord into the GPU.

[Guest]

Just now, xxsaberstarxx said:

Wouldn't that pose a problem with vram? When it switches, wouldn't it have to transfer everything in vram, causing a bit of a stutter? (yes I know RAM is fast, but it's not instant)

Sorry, I'm new to laptops. On my desktop I just plug the DP cord into the GPU.

At best you might see a quick flash when it switches over. You would have a lot of issues if it stayed on the HD graphics, so it's likely to be working properly.

 

The HD graphics uses system memory, but it's divided between cpu and Gpu and you would not see system performance issues aside from trying to render anything heavy on the HD 630 graphics chip as the chip is weak. So the stutter may not be directly related to just the system memory usage, while the Gpu would be horrible for gaming.

[OSBK]

3 minutes ago, xxsaberstarxx said:

Wouldn't that pose a problem with vram? When it switches, wouldn't it have to transfer everything in vram, causing a bit of a stutter? (yes I know RAM is fast, but it's not instant)

Sorry, I'm new to laptops. On my desktop I just plug the DP cord into the GPU.

Idk what's that vram switch thingy, the integrated graphics uses system memory (RAM), and the dedicated nvidia one has it own vram chips soldered to the motherboard, which the integrated gpu doesn't have access to, they're independent.

They both work independently, usually the igpu will be the main until you hit the system with a heavy workload then the dedicated one will kick in for the heavy lifting. They operate this way to save power when idle or running light tasks that don't require much of gpu power.

You can force your apps and games to use either of them, but its not needed as the system will switch when needed, the only issue you might face is with some specific 3D intensive software like AfterEffects or Photoshop for example, which sometimes fail to use the dedicated one and goes for the igpu.

[xxsaberstarxx]

Just now, Salazar said:

Idk what's that vram switch thingy, the integrated graphics uses system memory (RAM), and the dedicated nvidia one has it own vram chips soldered to the motherboard, which the integrated gpu doesn't have access to, they're independent.

They both work independently, usually the igpu will be the main until you hit the system with a heavy workload then the dedicated one will kick in for the heavy lifting. They operate this way to save power when idle or running light tasks that don't require much of gpu power.

You can force your apps and games to use either of them, but its not needed as the system will switch when needed, the only issue you might face is with some specific 3D intensive software like AfterEffects or Photoshop for example, which sometimes fail to use the dedicated one and goes for the igpu.

Yeah well I will be using adobe creative cloud and various other programs which are GPU intensive (3d modeling, etc) and I'm concerned about this. I brought up vram because the things loaded into system ram when using the integrated graphics would have to be transferred to the gpu's vram when they switch.

[xxsaberstarxx]

9 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

At best you might see a quick flash when it switches over. You would have a lot of issues if it stayed on the HD graphics, so it's likely to be working properly.

 

The HD graphics uses system memory, but it's divided between cpu and Gpu and you would not see system performance issues aside from trying to render anything heavy on the HD 630 graphics chip as the chip is weak. So the stutter may not be directly related to just the system memory usage, while the Gpu would be horrible for gaming.

What if I am going to be rendering heavy things? Should I disable the integrated graphics?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, xxsaberstarxx said:

What if I am going to be rendering heavy things? Should I disable the integrated graphics?

You could, but don't have to if the system switches over as it's supposed to.

 

But in order for you to have the NV control panel show the monitor on the NV 1050 graphics card, disabling the HD 630 in device manager is one way to do it.

[OSBK]

9 minutes ago, xxsaberstarxx said:

Yeah well I will be using adobe creative cloud and various other programs which are GPU intensive (3d modeling, etc) and I'm concerned about this. I brought up vram because the things loaded into system ram when using the integrated graphics would have to be transferred to the gpu's vram when they switch.

As Shrimp mentioned, the effect isn't noticeable, if anything at all, there will be a little blink when you launch a game for example as windows switching the display from the igpu to the dgpu, but usually the screen goes black when you fire up a game anyways so you won't even know it happened.

For the software tho, kinda same thing but unlike games you can use the gpu acceleration without having to switch displays so there won't be any blinks. WDDM is the one in charge rather than the nvidia/intel driver taking full control, so windows will do all the necessary changes in the background, and its quite fast as well you don't have to worry about it.
As for the issue I mentioned where some software fail to make use of the more powerful gpu, you can force a specific app to use a specific gpu, both from the nvidia control panel and the new graphics options in the immersive W10 control panel.

Been a while since I used a laptop with 2 graphics cards so not sure which one will be yield more success. Also just to mention, updating to latest software, whether its Adobe or other might fix the issue outright as well.

[xxsaberstarxx]

3 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

You could, but don't have to if the system switches over as it's supposed to.

 

But in order for you to have the NV control panel show the monitor on the NV 1050 graphics card, disabling the HD 630 in device manager is one way to do it.

Would there be any downside to disabling the integrated graphics?

[Guest]

1 minute ago, xxsaberstarxx said:

Would there be any downside to disabling the integrated graphics?

The laptop would simply use a little bit more power = shorten battery life.

[OSBK]

1 minute ago, xxsaberstarxx said:

Would there be any downside to disabling the integrated graphics?

Besides using a little extra power, nothing really.
Back with windows 7 It would disable windows aero if you disable the igpu even if the dgpu is active, but that's about it.

[genexis_x]

50 minutes ago, xxsaberstarxx said:

it shows that the Intel UHD Graphics 630 is being used for the display instead of the GTX 1050

this is normal in an Optimus enabled laptop, Intel iGPU does control the display, nothing to worry about