Running Nvidia/Intel Dual Graphics

[patrickjp93]

Since I'm getting a Macbook Pro Retina which does automatic dual graphics management, I became curious as to how that worked and if it could be done on desktops. I haven't uncovered anything substantive, but I was wondering if it was possible to hook up my monitor's HDMI to my GTX 660 and hook the VGA up to the mainboard and have a scheme where intel HD 4600 manages desktop, word processing, internet videos, and the 660 is only turned on for gaming and rendering.

 

Anyone done this/know a guy?

[Coombzy]

Not sure if it's possible on a desktop but I know usually how it works on a laptop is that when the laptop is unplugged it switches to integrated graphics due to it not being able to power the dedicated GPU.

[GloriousPain]

Since I'm getting a Macbook Pro Retina which does automatic dual graphics management, I became curious as to how that worked and if it could be done on desktops. I haven't uncovered anything substantive, but I was wondering if it was possible to hook up my monitor's HDMI to my GTX 660 and hook the VGA up to the mainboard and have a scheme where intel HD 4600 manages desktop, word processing, internet videos, and the 660 is only turned on for gaming and rendering.

 

Anyone done this/know a guy?

Dual graphics is AMD's term for combining the graphics of an APU and GPU to work together on something. Soo bad word choice,  best thing i can think of is some hardware tricks like having two monitors to force both graphics to work simultaneously and manually choose... or using say an HDMI switch...  Having some sort of software trick would probably  be possible  but have to be homemade.

[legopc]

i think its called lucid virtu mvp 

[patrickjp93]

Dual graphics is AMD's term for combining the graphics of an APU and GPU to work together on something. Soo bad word choice,  best thing i can think of is some hardware tricks like having two monitors to force both graphics to work simultaneously and manually choose... or using say an HDMI switch...  Having some sort of software trick would probably  be possible  but have to be homemade.

It's also Apple's term for switching between Iris Pro Graphics and the GTX 750M.

[Scionyde]

You mean Nvidia Optimus? It's mainly done to save battery life on the laptop, there really isn't a huge point on the desktop. The amount of money you'd save on an electricity bill would be pretty small, I'd imagine.

[patrickjp93]

You mean Nvidia Optimus? It's mainly done to save battery life on the laptop, there really isn't a huge point on the desktop. The amount of money you'd save on an electricity bill would be pretty small, I'd imagine.

Over the course of 4 years averaging 4 hours of use a day of general work (programming, homework, movies, etc.), 220 watts of GPU power turns into  ($0.1829/KW*H) * .22KW * 4H/Day * 365days/yr * 4 yr = $235 in power bills.

[Scionyde]

Over the course of 4 years averaging 4 hours of use a day of general work (programming, homework, movies, etc.), 220 watts of GPU power turns into  ($0.1829/KW*H) * .22KW * 4H/Day * 365days/yr * 4 yr = $235 in power bills.

 

Yeah, but if you're just doing light work, the GPU isn't going to consume 220 watts, it'll probably be more like 20-30.

[patrickjp93]

Yeah, but if you're just doing light work, the GPU isn't going to consume 220 watts, it'll probably be more like 20-30.

It's a 2-gpu setup both rated for 260ish watts. I figure even the low-power state is consuming way too much even to drive a 1080p monitor at 60 Hz.