Question Geforce card on ASUS ROG GR6

[stigwest]

I recently scratched my son's old ROG GR6 to use as a pc in the living room. Reinstalled Windows 10 with a brand new licence. But I cannot seem to get the pc to use the Geforce graphics card, it only defaults to the Intel HD Graphics 5500 onboard display adapter. I have looked through the UEFI BIOS numerous times, and even downgraded the BIOS through all previous versions, but have not been able to find any option to enable the Geforce card, or disable the onboard card. The BIOS that was installed originally was the GR6 0701, ver. 2.10.1208, released 07/17/2015.

Can anyone advice me on what to do to make the Geforce card the default GPU? Both cards are present in Device Manager, but de-activating the Intel card does not do the trick...

 

[rgd1101]

install the nvidia driver and use the nvidia app to change the default

 

[stigwest]

install the nvidia driver and use the nvidia app to change the default

I guess by app, that you are referring to the Nvidia Control Panel. I have selected the Geforce GPU here under Global settings for 3D, but I see in the activity monitor that the display is still not using the Geforce GPU. And I do not want to have to specify GPU for every application I install.

There must be some way to make the Geforce GPU be the only display adapter in use? I'm pretty sure that when my son used the pc, it was the Geforce that was active, otherwise he would have had problems playing games like Fortnite etc. I tried switching the cable and using the display port instead of the HDMI, but the result was exactly the same. I find it strange that I can not find anything related to GPU's in the BIOS, would it not be the place to look, to select the correct GPU?

 

[JPor]

How to configure NVIDIA Optimus and AMD Switchable Graphics for high performance ? | Official Support | ASUS Global

 

[stigwest]

How to configure NVIDIA Optimus and AMD Switchable Graphics for high performance ? | Official Support | ASUS Global

This is not a laptop, it is actually a desktop, but I believe since it is very compact, it has a typical laptop motherboard (GR6 08001-0510XX00). Possibly that is why windows gets confused, and takes over control, for power saving reasons, but I do not want this, since the pc is running on AC power. It now runs very poorly, and I'm assuming this is because it's using the internal graphics. I want the Geforce card to be used always by the system, not depended on which app is running. I tried the above suggestion, in the Geforce Control Panel, but it still reports that Windows OS now manages the graphics processor selection. How can I force Windows to always use the Geforce card?

 

[JPor]

The family have a number of laptops with nvidia chips - and all are controlled via the sequence above. Additionally, some have a button to press to select which is used - which tends not to work despite drivers being installed, and some have an option in the bios for selecting intel on-chip or nvidia as default.

The link was simply because the contents seem clear and generic and I find a picture paints a thousand words - let alone a number of pictures

Does hwinfo or cpu-z detect the nvidia?
duhh forget that - of course they will given what you say

 

[JPor]

Win 10 will apparently commonly use the onboard Intel for basic purposes whatever is set

See here:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?56672-Use-Nvidia-for-Laptop-Display-instead-of-Intel

and then here:

How to Set Nvidia Graphics Card As Default in Windows 10

If you have multiple GPUs like Intel/AMD and Nvidia, you can set Nvidia graphics card as default in Windows. Here's how to set preferred GPU.

windowsloop.com

 

[rgd1101]

does this have the ssd or just the hdd. that would make a different

 

[stigwest]

The family have a number of laptops with nvidia chips - and all are controlled via the sequence above. Additionally, some have a button to press to select which is used - which tends not to work despite drivers being installed, and some have an option in the bios for selecting intel on-chip or nvidia as default.

The link was simply because the contents seem clear and generic and I find a picture paints a thousand words - let alone a number of pictures

Does hwinfo or cpu-z detect the nvidia?

CPU-Z does detect both of the GPU's. I'm starting to think that what you posted in your latest answer may just be right. Still I find it a bit strange, since I never did any changing of settings for my son when he used the ROG, in terms of which GPU the games he played should use. My experience now is that everything I do on the pc is slow (typical windows tasks etc.) which is pretty annoying since I replaced my old HDX laptop with this ROG in order to get a more smooth experience than the old laptop, used as a living room pc, connected to my tv. There might be other reasons maybe, why it is slow, but a clean install of Windows should have solved most issues was my belief. I don't really know what else to look for, except maybe upgrading from 8 to 16Gb's of RAM...

 

[stigwest]

does this have the ssd or just the hdd. that would make a different

It has both the SSD and the HDD, even though I do not really understand where the SSD is placed, guess it must be part of the motherboard? Or is it actually the 1Tb disk that is the SSD?

 

[rgd1101]

did you install the os on the ssd?

upload a screenshot of disk management to imgur.com and post the link here

 

[stigwest]

did you install the os on the ssd?

upload a screenshot of disk management to imgur.com and post the link here

OS is installed on the 1Tb disk, not sure whether that's the SSD or not. Never used imgur before, so let me know if this didn't work;

https://imgur.com/a/bcrD9XZ

View: https://imgur.com/a/bcrD9XZ

 

[JPor]

slowness in ordinary windows (rather than gaming) is more likely to be either HD or network issues.

Although a standard w10 install is a real memory pig, I dont think you should be seeing major slowdowns in ordinary tasks browsing, wp etc with 8GB and an i5

Are you running something cpu/graphics intensive?

I'm running win7 64 at the moment with two browsers, 20+ web pages, a word processor, thunderbird, and foxit reader
on the old workhorse t8300 with an archaic 256mb GS nvidia and 6GB ram - and the only slowdowns are cause I'm connected through an old phone with 1 bar here ... (note4)

 

[rgd1101]

do it again. you install os on the slow hdd. should be install on the fast SSD. the smaller one is the ssd

 

[stigwest]

slowness in ordinary windows (rather than gaming) is more likely to be either HD or network issues.

Although a standard w10 install is a real memory pig, I dont think you should be seeing major slowdowns in ordinary tasks browsing, wp etc with 8GB and an i5

Are you running something cpu/graphics intensive?

No, I just installed Windows, so haven't even tried out streaming or anything. I just observe that most things, like clicking on a menu option in Settings for instance, is slower than I would expect. The old laptop, which I bought in 2006, that had a broken memory module and was getting rather slow because of all the crap that was installed on it, was actually faster...

 

[stigwest]

do it again. you install os on the slow hdd. should be install on the fast SSD. the smaller one is the ssd

Ok, that is absolutely a good tip! I had some issues when installing after first trying to clone the old pc (lazy old man didn't want to have to install everything anew) - which worked, but was very slow. Now I guess the slowness might very well be because of the disk drive rather than the messy image that was cloned, I might try that operation again, and stick it on the other drive this time maybe. Thanx again for the tip, I'll let you know if this solves my slowness problems

 

[JPor]

hwinfo64 will give more detail on the drives and sytem than cpu-z although the info on the screen you posted is quite lacking for some reason

It does look as though windows is installed on the hdd rather than the ssd, which could be a lot more of an issue if the HDD is a SMR drive.
SMR drives really shouldnt be used for OS or heavy work - although many do as the manufacturers don't tell you.

The system I am using has 3 drives
1 TB ssd with system etc
and 2 toshiba 2TB which although SMR drives are just mainly storage, and I've found toshiba drives (as long as not reworked) are quiet cool and reliable even if smr

My clevo I7 playtime lappy has the same drive setup
Both are 2 drive machines plus dvd replaced with drive caddy for no3

 

[JPor]

Ok grabbed a family dell with win7 + nvidia gpu + intel i5 mobile, nephew has 'borrowed the clevo during school hols and my workhorse only has the old nvidia and a core 2 - so it always uses the nvidia gpu

On the dell:
Display constantly shows as hd graphics for on board display in the nvidia control panel whatever i select (which appears to be as you see) - although the nvidia physx shows the nvidia gpu enabled on external ports.
Wandering around the display and programs shows no nvidia GPU
activity
.. but as soon as I fire up a game - even zdoom - the nvidia kicks in as shown by the nvidia gpu activity utility

 

[JPor]

Not sure what happened here - appeared to have dup posted somehow, so selected delete the dup - and allsorts has gone so : unless so jobsworth has decided I'm necroing again after putting effort into a post

repost - luckily I copied before delete



Ok grabbed a family dell with win7 + nvidia gpu + intel i5 mobile, nephew has 'borrowed the clevo during school hols and my workhorse only has the old nvidia and a core 2 - so it always uses the nvidia gpu

On the dell:
Display constantly shows as hd graphics for on board display in the nvidia control panel whatever i select (which appears to be as you see) - although the nvidia physx shows the nvidia gpu enabled on external ports! (hdmi+display port)
Wandering around the display and programs shows no nvidia GPU
activity
.. but as soon as I fire up a game - even zdoom - the nvidia kicks in as shown by the nvidia gpu activity utility

summary:
I dont believe the nvidia gpu running or not is your issue.

 

[stigwest]

Ok, that is absolutely a good tip! I had some issues when installing after first trying to clone the old pc (lazy old man didn't want to have to install everything anew) - which worked, but was very slow. Now I guess the slowness might very well be because of the disk drive rather than the messy image that was cloned, I might try that operation again, and stick it on the other drive this time maybe. Thanx again for the tip, I'll let you know if this solves my slowness problems

Hi again! It seems much of the slowness was actually due to to the OS being installed on the HDD instead of the SSD, so thank you again for suggesting I reinstall. I wish though that Windows would run on the strongest GPU, since battery saving is not an issue here, but I guess the ROG is electronically wired like a laptop, so I will have to manually dedicate the Geforce card to applications where I want more boost...