Discrete Graphics in Laptops

[Danish Beg]

Hi,

 

I've been using several HP laptops over the years. Starting from an HP Elitebook 8540W Mobile Workstation having a 1st gen Core i7 720QM with an NVidia FX1800M, all the way to an HP14 Series Laptop with 7th Gen Core i7 7500U with AMD Radeon graphics.

I still don't understand, how the laptop switches between the Intel Graphics on the CPU and the Discrete Graphics Processor like the NVidia or AMD Chips? And how effective is that?

Also, how can that be optimized for maximum performance? Really look forward to hearing that from you guys.

[Droidbot]

The drivers integrate into each other. 

 

The Intel card is used for display output, then the NVIDIA or AMD card is utilised during 3D applications - it is rendered on the GPU and then output by patching into the Intel IGPs framebuffer. 

 

[Danish Beg]

Thanks, I get that. But is there any way to improve the performance of this combination?

Also, are the drivers available from Windows Update better, or should one get the drivers from specific hardware manufacturers' support sites?