GPU problem

[Mark Fuller]

I have a brand new ASUS vivobook 15 in laptop computer. I am confused about the use of the GPU. In the bios it says there is an IGPU and a DGPU. In device manager I have and Intel UHD listed as well as an Nvidia geforce rtx. Some programs like prime video and Nero Media Home work only for one driver or another, for instance the prime video will work only with the Intel and Nero Media Home will work only with the Nvidia. I am doing research on the website to see what I can find out. Am I doing something wrong or do I have to keep changing drivers because if I don't all I get is choppy video?

 

[neeyik]

How to Set Nvidia Video as the Default with Computers that have Integrated and Discrete Video Cards | Dell UK

Works for all laptops with GeForce dGPUs, not just Dells.

 

[Mark Fuller]

I tried that but prime video still only works with the Intel driver enabled. The Nvidia driver gives the best graphics by far though. I will do some research with amazon customer service to see what I can find out .

 

[neeyik]

How are you watching Prime videos -- through a browser or something else?

 

[Mark Fuller]

The windows application you can download from microsoft store.

 

[Mark Fuller]

Guess what, I tried chrome browser, It works fine.

 

[neeyik]

That's the very thing I was going to suggest -- Amazon's Windows app isn't very nice (causes all kinds of refresh rates issues on my system) and you're definitely better off using a browser for video streaming.

One thing that you could check is in Nvidia's Control Panel, click on the Desktop menu option at the top. You should see an option for 'Add Desktop Context Menu' -- select this and now when you right-click on a launch icon, you should see something like 'Run with graphics processor', which will give the choice between the iGPU and Nvidia dGPU.

 

[Mark Fuller]

There seems to be a trend here, I have choppy videos with applications like windows media player and prime video, but not with dvd players or vlc or chrome browser.

 

[Mark Fuller]

The "Add Desktop Context Menu" was already enabled and I don't get a "Run with graphics processor window when I click on a launch icon, which I am assuming is something like VLC or Chrome Browser.

 

[Mark Fuller]

I also noticed that when I unplug the ac adaptor and restart the computer without it, the computer reverts to the iGPU. Is there some kind of power setting at work here? And it also has both adaptors enabled at the same time. Is it alright to have both of them enabled at the same time or do I need one or the other depending on what I am doing? I notice that that video quality is better with the dGPU.

 

[neeyik]

It may well be a power setting thing in Windows -- unfortunately, I don't have a laptop handy to check the exact settings but in Windows 11, it's Start > Settings > System > Power & battery. You should the option there to change the power mode. By default, it's probably set to a more conservative one, to protect battery life, but you might be able to configure so that it's in performance mode, when the AC adapter is plugged in.

Applications will use whatever display adapter (the iGPU or dGPU) depending on what Windows tells it to use, but that in turn also requires applications to be correctly configured/programmed to use the appropriate GPU, if multiple options are available. It doesn't help that many laptops have the screen hardwired to the iGPU, meaning that this ends up being the default video processor in applications.

That said, even the cheapest of Asus' Vivobooks will have an iGPU that's more than good enough for nearly all video playback functions. It might be worth using Intel's automatic driver service to ensure you have the latest ones installed for it:

Intel® Driver & Support Assistant

This application provides driver and software updates for your Intel hardware.

www.intel.com

 

[Mark Fuller]

It may well be a power setting thing in Windows -- unfortunately, I don't have a laptop handy to check the exact settings but in Windows 11, it's Start > Settings > System > Power & battery. You should the option there to change the power mode. By default, it's probably set to a more conservative one, to protect battery life, but you might be able to configure so that it's in performance mode, when the AC adapter is plugged in.

Applications will use whatever display adapter (the iGPU or dGPU) depending on what Windows tells it to use, but that in turn also requires applications to be correctly configured/programmed to use the appropriate GPU, if multiple options are available. It doesn't help that many laptops have the screen hardwired to the iGPU, meaning that this ends up being the default video processor in applications.

That said, even the cheapest of Asus' Vivobooks will have an iGPU that's more than good enough for nearly all video playback functions. It might be worth using Intel's automatic driver service to ensure you have the latest ones installed for it:

Intel® Driver & Support Assistant

This application provides driver and software updates for your Intel hardware.

www.intel.com

The laptop is only 2 months old, but I'll check for updates.

 

[Mark Fuller]

I was unable to change the resolution for the dGPU, as it is greyed out in display setting, but I was able to change the scale that was defaulted to 150%. Now I have what I want.