Help me solve AMD dual graphics laptop

[Irish_PXzyan]

Howdy lads it's been awhile since I've been on here!
I've been busy working with very little time off for myself :O
But I've a little holiday now so I can sit back and relax and dive right back into computer issues once more

Anyway.
I recently purchased this: HP Notebook - 17-y006ng
https://support.hp.com/lv-en/document/c05178868

Basic specs:
Windows 10
AMD A9600p APU processor
AMD Radeon R7 M440 " I believe it's the M340.... "
8GB DDR4 dual channel memory
17.3" 1600x900p

Basic laptop as you can see here. I only got it for 250 euro so I figured it was a good deal considering I don't have a laptop and I want one for some basic use along with some basic gaming with some potential at 3D gaming.

Now one thing I have noticed before buying this was the fact that it was capable of doing AMDs Dual Graphics or so I believe.

Firstly I just can't get dual graphics to work at all! I guess it's not supported but online sources suggests otherwise! It should work as dual graphics to push frame rates a bit further

When I download all sorts of old and newer drivers I keep getting constant issues with the GPU name! I'm currently using the latest Crimson driver and in the device manager it shows up as the AMD R7 m340 and older drivers sometimes shows R7 m440 or even R8 m445x or something like that?!
But regardless of this.. nothing works anyway!
The latest crimson driver allows me to select DUAL graphics mode but that seems to do nothing either.

It all seems to point that it's only switchable graphics? As in... it can only use the integrated R5 or either the R7.. Upon testing unigine valley benchmark using either the R5 or the R7 shows almost exactly the same FPS! The dedicated R7 only manages an extra average frame and the highest FPS only managed 2fps more.
As you can imagine... there's no point having this dedicated GPU in there if it only manages that?!
This further makes me think well it must be there to combine with the integrated for some extra horse power or else what in the world is it doing in here :L



Now I have been surfing the web and found quite a few posts regarding this issue already but no matter what I try it never changes anything and dual graphics just never ever works even though my drivers display DUAL graphics..

So does anyone know what's going on? Or is Dual Graphics a lie or is it just simply not supported anymore?

Please help lads! Cheers!

 

[cdawall]

Looks like the CPU is too weak to do anything useful with dual graphics

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Brist...0-9600P-Against-the-Competition.168477.0.html

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

AH it's a pity really. I had hoped for better! But I'm happy enough having only spent 250 euro on it! Can't complain too much I suppose.
Thanks for your time

 

[silentbogo]

AH it's a pity really. I had hoped for better! But I'm happy enough having only spent 250 euro on it! Can't complain too much I suppose.
Thanks for your time

It's still a decent productivity laptop.
The only thing that's wrong with the platform, is HP capping 8 and 9-series APUs at 15W instead of 35W.
Dual graphics on HP's Bristol Ridge laptops is a whole another story:
- First of all it does not work as intended (basically it switches between iGPU and dGPU depending on load, just like any other laptop)
- Second, because APU is capped at 15W, you are stuck between having a slight dual-graphics boost at the cost of throttling the CPU to bare minimum, or not using iGPU resources and keeping CPU at whatever it can do in 15W constraint. HP chose the later.

 

[95Viper]

You probably, already, have seen this... but, I'll post it any way.

Info from this page: AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics Cards

Q1: What is AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A1: AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics is an innovative technology exclusive to AMD platforms that allows AMD APUs and select AMD Radeon™ discrete GPUs to work together. When combined, the platform delivers stunning quality and performance capabilities that are better than either device alone.

Q2: How do I know my AMD Radeon™ Graphics card is capable of supporting AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A2: Go to http://www.amd.com/dualgraphics and review the Notebook and Desktop tabs to see the recommended discrete graphics card pairings for your APU.

Q3: I just bought an AMD Radeon™ graphics card. How do I configure my PC to take advantage of AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A3: To take advantage of AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics, you must use a compatible AMD A-Series APU to pair with your supported AMD Radeon™ graphics card. After installation of your graphics card, visit the AMD Graphics Drivers and Software Page, to download and install the latest AMD graphics drivers. After driver installation, the option to enable AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics should become available in the AMD Catalyst Control Center or the Radeon Settings page in Radeon Software Crimson Edition.

Once installed, go into the “Performance” section of the AMD Catalyst Control Center or go to the “Gaming, Global Options” tab in Radeon Settings and toggle the AMD Crossfire™ technology option to “On” or “Enable Crossfire™”. This will allow the AMD A-Series APU graphics to work in tandem with the select AMD Radeon™ GPU installed for increased graphics performance.

 

[Irish_PXzyan]

Yeah I've pretty much seen everything at this rate!
I've given up as the 15w limitation proves way to much for any kind of dual graphics performance so I won't bother wasting more time and effort into this subject.
If only they had used the A9630 instead as it has a 35w TDP so that probably would allow dual graphics to work to some degree and keep the CPU from throttling :/

I can play CIV 6 and Empire Total War very well at high settings at 900p much to my surprise so those games will keep me much entertained!! Total war Warhammer on the other hand only manages 25fps with everything on the lowest settings at 720p! It's simply not playable sadly