Which GPU is enabled?

[watts300]

I was running some remote maintenance (malware scan, junk removal, etc) on my son's computer that's at his mom's house and noticed the different ways the computer lists the components.

 

It's an HP Pavilion P7-1549.  I put in a Corsair 380w power supply, and added a 512GB Samsung SSD.   (Not a bad computer, the motherboard is pretty nice.  But the case isn't all that great.) 

 

Observe these basic screenshots I took which are attached below.   One of them circles the AMD A10-5700, which has an integrated Radeon HD 7660D.    The other screenshot shows the header in Ccleaner.  It shows the 7570 installed in the PCIe slot.  This appears to be an OEM-only card. 

 

My inquiry is three parts.  

a) How do I know which GPU the computer is using?  If I remember correctly, the display is connected to the HDMI port on the discreet video card.  Does that automatically mean the computer is using that one?     If not, how else can I check?  Keep in mind this computer is not easily physically accessible to me.  But I can log in remote.  

2) Which GPU is better?  

D) Would the computer benefit from having either one replaced in favor of a GTX 650? 

[QueenDemetria]

a) If the monitor is plugged into the 7570 then its being used. If its plugged into the motherboard then the 7660 is being used. If you can run GPU-Z on it, then whichever one is showing temps/usage is the one being used.

2) Probably the 7570, but if it is then not by much(I'll double check on this).

D) The 7660 is non removable, but it will be a huge improvement to replace the 7570 with the GTX 650. Just make sure you have a big enough PSU(not sure if 380w is enough).

[watts300]

a) If the monitor is plugged into the 7570 then its being used. If its plugged into the motherboard then the 7660 is being used. If you can run GPU-Z on it, then whichever one is showing temps/usage is the one being used.

2) Probably the 7570, but if it is then not by much(I'll double check on this).

D) The 7660 is non removable, but it will be a huge improvement to replace the 7570 with the GTX 650. Just make sure you have a big enough PSU(not sure if 380w is enough).

Good.  I didn't know it would be that simple -- I thought bios/efi settings would be involved in one or the other being disabled.  

 

I'll check with CPU-z next time he's over there and turns on the computer.  It's already installed. 

 

 

380 watts should be fine.  AMD says the A10-5700 is 65 watts.  They also say the same for the GTX650.   

[QueenDemetria]

Good.  I didn't know it would be that simple -- I thought bios/efi settings would be involved in one or the other being disabled.  

 

I'll check with CPU-z next time he's over there and turns on the computer.  It's already installed. 

 

 

380 watts should be fine.  AMD says the A10-5700 is 65 watts.  They also say the same for the GTX650.   

Now that I think about it, the Radeon 7660 could be disabled, because most OEM motherboards do this when a dedicated card is present. You can use CPU-z to see what it says(it might only show the 7570 because of what I just typed), but GPU-z is what you will want to use. The 65w rating on the A10 is the thermal design power, not the power consumption. In Guru3d's review, they measured their 5700 using 108 watts under load. Bit-techs review of the GTX 650 shows that it uses 126 watts under load, but they tested it improperly so I would expect it to use 20-40w more power than what they measured(they ran unigene at too high of a resolution for the card, and when you do this you end up creation I/O waits within the card making the usage and power go down). Your 380 watt power supply might be fine, but you will be running it hard.

 

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_a10_5700k_review_apu,8.html

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2012/10/04/evga-geforce-gtx-650-1gb-review/8

[watts300]

The 65w rating on the A10 is the thermal design power, not the power consumption. 

 

 

How is that any different?  If it's consuming 65 watts of power, then wouldn't it have to dissipate the same amount of heat? 

 

 

Those articles are interesting reads.  Informative.  

[QueenDemetria]

How is that any different?  If it's consuming 65 watts of power, then wouldn't it have to dissipate the same amount of heat? 

 

 

Those articles are interesting reads.  Informative.  

[watts300]

<snip>

Hmm. Well...   okay then. 

[QueenDemetria]

Hmm. Well...   okay then. 

Lol, I still don't fully understand it, but I do know that TDP is a lie(well, used loosely).

[D2ultima]

Lol, I still don't fully understand it, but I do know that TDP is a lie(well, used loosely).

It's kind of a "both" thing. A 100W card will pretty much draw 100W maxed at stock, but it will also dispense 100W of heat. It's kind of iffy to explain and I don't really get it myself either. Everybody always says "TDP doesn't mean it's going to draw that" or something... but then it's used to determine PSU size. Blah. It's all dumb.