GPU switching in desktop PCs

[Nobody99]

I haven't owned a desktop PC in a few years so I don't exactly know how goes the GPU switching but on a laptop (given you are using Windows) you could set which GPU is used for certain executable. This has a lot of advantages especially when you are multitasking.

Now I am considering buying a desktop PC which will have Intel iGPU and AMD dGPU and I wonder if I can use the PC in the same way as I am using laptop now. I would prefer to use dGPU only for graphic intensive tasks and iGPU for everything else but I don't know how goes the GPU switching and its connection to the output display ports.

Do desktop motherboards support GPU switching the same way as laptops do or is the use of active GPU relative to the port you are using, i.e. motherboard or graphic card port?

 

[P4-630]

I don't think it's possible on a desktop, I think it was only meant for laptops.
I would be interested in using it as well otherwise.

Once you installed a graphics card, you connect your monitors to it, this way you would not be able to use the iGPU.

 

[Toothless]

I don't think it's possible on a desktop, I think it was only meant for laptops.
I would be interested in using it as well otherwise.

Once you installed a graphics card, you connect your monitors to it, this way you would not be able to use the iGPU.

Haaaaa, haaa, ha... I can prove you otherwise.

Banished for example;

Some games depending on what monitor you use and what that monitor is running off of lets you change which GPU/iGPU to use.

EDIT: I guess this isn't a case of "Switching" but more of "which piece of rectangular plastic projection panel will utilize which graphics processing pile of moldy potato."

 

[AsRock]

Been there tried it, maybe it's improved as i have not checked for some time but i noticed higher idle clocks and failing to switch cards and not not being able to use a full screen window ( which i use for Elite Dangerous ) was just to many fails for my liking.

My testing was though Lucid Virtu Universal MVP and was not impressed in the slightest.

BUt yes it's possible when you have compatible hardware and all.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

My testing was though Lucid Virtu Universal MVP and was not impressed in the slightest.

Noticed that as well, Lucid was a good idea but implemented poorly

 

[newtekie1]

Not possible on a desktop, and really not that useful.

You can connect different monitors to the different cards, and do different things on each, but you can't just switch between cards on one display.

The reason for this is that it isn't really necessary on desktops. Power isn't as big of a concern. The few watts difference that using the iGPU over the dGPU in low power mode won't matter on a desktop, but on laptops every watt of power matters because they want the longest battery life possible.

 

[Mussels]

my current mobo supports lucid and i wanted it to work really badly, but alas it seems dead on desktops.


i'd love to run my intel IGP as the primary GPU and let the big cards power down until i fire up a game, but nope.

Seems weird laptops can do it so easily, but desktops cant.

 

[Nobody99]

Well, thank you for the answers. In the future this will probably be possible among other features like unified memory and if GPU pairing can be achieved with Vulkan, DX12 then this can also be implemented.

 

[Mussels]

Well, thank you for the answers. In the future this will probably be possible among other features like unified memory and if GPU pairing can be achieved with Vulkan, DX12 then this can also be implemented.

with DX12 it should certainly work, but if you fired up any older games it would only give you the power of the IGP.

Makes me want a HDMI switch that i can tap a button and it switches which GPU is connected to the TV...

 

[Nobody99]

with DX12 it should certainly work, but if you fired up any older games it would only give you the power of the IGP.

Makes me want a HDMI switch that i can tap a button and it switches which GPU is connected to the TV...

Good thing about iGPUs is they are more powerful with each new generation and the bad thing about this is that you see a lot of [budget] laptops which have iGPU and dGPU with roughly the same performance.

 

[Dethroy]

Don't think the iGPU would do much better

 

[Mussels]

View attachment 76450 View attachment 76451
Don't think the iGPU would do much better

as someone who just moved off a 290, those charts show IGP can indeed do a lot better

10x0 cards have definitely raised that bar for idle/video power usage.