Windows 7: Switching between Nvidia GPU and onboard intel HD graphics in desktop PC

07
2014-07
  • axel_c

    I have a desktop computer with an Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 motherboard (Z68 chipset) and an EVGA GTX 770 GPU.

    The GTX 770 is great for gaming, but it runs quite hot, the dual fans are noisy, draws a lot of power and is essentially sitting idle and wasting electricity when doing desktop work.

    Is it possible to make Windows turn it off and switch to the onboard video, and turn the GTX on manually if I'm going to run games? I know the GPU is automatically throttled when not rendering 3D and etc, but the noise is still annoying.

    Note that is NOT a laptop, it's a desktop PC, so I don't have Nvidia Optimus or similar hot-switching technology.

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    Related Question

    Does Windows 7 support multiple simultaneous nVidia graphics cards with different drivers?
  • McKenzieG1

    On one of my dev machines at work (currently running XP), I have two nVidia graphics cards:

    • Quadro NVS 440 (my original card, for my three primary monitors)
    • GeForce GTX 275 (just added, for CUDA development)

    I can get both cards to work OK by installing the latest GeForce drivers, but I get some annoying-but-not-crippling display artifacts on the Quadro's screens (mostly scattered black rectanges where repainting fails for a few bits of UI in certain applications).

    Under XP, this seems to be the best I can do. I can use Device Manager to supposedly install different nVidia drivers for the two cards (the latest Quadro drivers for the NVS, the latest GeForce drivers for the GTX), but I actually end up with the same driver for both, because the driver dlls all have the same names and get installed on top of one another in the system directory.

    I have read that Win7 has a new video driver architecture that better supports multiple heterogeneous cards. Does anyone know if that will handle my scenario? If so, it will give me a compelling reason to get that machine on Win7 ASAP.


    • Related Answers
  • caliban

    AFAIK, the new video driver architecture will not aid your situation. The official stance from Nvidia is no you can't mix cards, and experiences from other users is that your mileage may vary when you try to mix the pro and consumer cards.

  • Акула

    Well i don't know if you are using QUADRO for a real issue however as you probably know, Quadro/GeForce family are closely related, price apart but Quadro drivers don't work on a GeForce BUT... there is a work around to enable 3d professional acceleration on GeForces (enabling Quadro drivers and detections) that theorically, could transform them into Quadros :

    http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=539&pgno=1

    You can try if you like, personally i've never tried i'm from the AMD/ATI side of river.

  • Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

    Windows 7 makes it harder to support multiple heterogeneous cards. In XP you can load two different drivers but in Vista and 7 you can only load one driver (well, the exception is if you are using the older-style drivers which will have fewer features and more DRM restrictions). Your best bet is to always use two cards that are officially supported by the same driver. I'd recommend getting two identical cards if possible.