Question i5-8400 iGPU for everyday use and GTX 1050 for gaming and other stuff ?

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thegreatespero

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Apr 16, 2012
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So I have a pc with a i5-8400 CPU, which has an iGPU, and a GTX 1050 Ti which has 4GB of RAM. I want to set the iGPU as the main adapter and only use the GTX for games and apps that require it, like DAZ studio. The problem is that while I have installed the I5-8400 driver and it is now recognized in the Task Manager, the system still uses the GTX for its rendering of Windows Explorer and all and using about 2 GB of its RAM. I have not found how to set the iGPU as the default renderer. Is Windows using the GTX still because that is what the display is plugged into? Do I need to go into the BIOS and change something?
 
JohnBonhamsGhost said:
how do you expect the Intel iGPU to output anything if there is no display attached to it?
Click to expand...
Maybe he expects windows to do its job.
thegreatespero said:
Do I need to go into the BIOS and change something?
Click to expand...
No if the iGPU is visible under windows then that's the only thing you need, follow the guide I linked, you have to change the default for every single app you want to run on a different GPU.
Keep in mind that if it uses 2Gb of your nvidia GPU it will probably also use 2gb of your system ram if you use the iGPU.
 
Kind of a toss up to say which is more efficient for desktop use. Both CPU and GPU are on a 14nm class process node.

Generally a GPU running at very low frequencies is quite efficient though, not something I would worry too much about on the average system.

1050Ti is basically going to be powered up regardless, so not much sense to have it doing nothing and wasting that power.
 
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TerryLaze said:
Maybe he expects windows to do its job.
Click to expand...
if the iGPU is doing all of the graphics processing then it cannot output the rendered data through another dedicated GPU.
only through it's own output port.

yes, you will find some laptops and other systems that can share VRAM between the two but it does not allow a dedicated GPU to output what the iGPU has processed.
especially in a desktop environment you cannot output from the iGPU without having a display connected to it.
 
Ok, some clarifications. It is a desktop, not a laptop.

I have 32 GB of RAM so I don't care if the I5-8400 uses some of it.

The GTX 1050 is to be used for DAZ Studio. It is a 3D graphics app which uses the Nvidia Iray rendering engine.

The thing with Iray is that it uses exclusively Nvidia cards exclusively (for obvious reasons, it's a vehicle to sell cards, but also it is a lot faster than CPU rendering). Like a render that will take an hour on my card will take who knows how many hours on the CPU (I haven't even tried, since on top of taking far longer it also uses 100% of the CPU, so it becomes very hard to do anything else while rendering).

The problem with Iray though is that 3D scenes need to fit into the memory of the NVidia card.

So if you have an 8GB card all the geometry and textures need to fit inside that, or else it will either fail to render the scene completely or fall back to CPU and system RAM, which I don't want to do because like I said it is slow and ineffective.

Now in my case I have only 4 GB on my 1050Ti, and since Windows 10 uses about 2 GB of that, I am no longer able to load scenes I used to render in Windows 8, much to my disappointment. So the reasoning was that I would use the i5 for rendering the windows interface and have it be used by most apps (even VLC uses the videocard and loading Firefox also uses VRAM), whereas I could use the GTX in DAZ Studio, and have it have more of its VRAM available.

Now it did cross my mind that I would probably need to connect the monitor to the i5-8400 but I have no idea how to do that, if it even is needed.

My monitor has a VGA connector (the small blue type) but it is connected to the PC via an adapter, so I don't know which type of connection it uses), but I am certain it is connected to the GTX, since the I5 is shown in task manager as using 0 RAM.

There are several types of video connectors on the back of the tower, but I am not really familiar with them, I could probably find them in the Lenovo manual.

Ok, novel over, sorry about that...
 
The motherboard will have video out connections on it. Typically VGA and HDMI or VGA and DVI on older systems.

Sounds more like you need to start investing in a new GPU with more VRAM, and possibly a non-OEM machine to put it in.

The reason for the laptop talk, is that you are essentially trying to achieve a feature that laptops have. Dual GPUs from different companies. Windows fully supports that, which is why you have the option to set which GPU to use.

Display passthrough is how most Laptops are built. Display is connected to the iGPU and discrete GPU is passed through. Other way around on bespoke gaming laptops though.
 
thegreatespero said:
it did cross my mind that I would probably need to connect the monitor to the i5-8400 but I
have no idea how to do that, if it even is needed...

several types of video connectors on the back of the tower, but I am not really familiar with them
Click to expand...
the motherboard I\O panel is where you would connect the display.
similar to this on the rear of the system:
images
.
depending on it's age; newer models will have HDMI, DisplayPort, possibly DVI ports.
older models will have VGA, HDMI, possibly DVI ports.

just compare the cable connector to the available ports visually and see which matches.
you can even google the types i mentioned just above and compare the images to the available ports.

but once you have connected the display here though you will not be able to output video through the GTX 1050 Ti or use the Nvidia proprietary DAZ Studio software.
thegreatespero said:
monitor has a VGA connector (the small blue type) but it is connected to the PC via an adapter, so I don't know which type of connection it uses)
Click to expand...
you mean the default connection is VGA or the adapter?

thegreatespero said:
It is a desktop
Click to expand...
i do not believe what you are hoping to achieve is possible with this setup.

like Eximo mentioned, you should be looking into getting a more capable system that is prepared to handle this type of software than trying to rig some sort of custom setup using this OEM Lenovo system.

adding a more advanced dedicated GPU with the necessary VRAM would most definitely mean that you will also need a more powerful power supply.
problem there is that these OEM systems are designed with proprietary hardware and it's unlikely you will find a retail power supply that can be paired with this system.
 
JohnBonhamsGhost said:
if the iGPU is doing all of the graphics processing then it cannot output the rendered data through another dedicated GPU.
only through it's own output port.

yes, you will find some laptops and other systems that can share VRAM between the two but it does not allow a dedicated GPU to output what the iGPU has processed.
especially in a desktop environment you cannot output from the iGPU without having a display connected to it.
Click to expand...
Did you look at the link I posted?
It has been a feature of windows since later win 8 versions.
You set each program to use whatever GPU you want and no matter which one is connected to the display it will use the GPU you specified.

It's not just for laptops anymore.
 
So I will need an adapter for the monitor?
JohnBonhamsGhost said:
the motherboard I\O panel is where you would connect the display.
similar to this on the rear of the system:
images
.
depending on it's age; newer models will have HDMI, DisplayPort, possibly DVI ports.
older models will have VGA, HDMI, possibly DVI ports.

just compare the cable connector to the available ports visually and see which matches.
you can even google the types i mentioned just above and compare the images to the available ports.

but once you have connected the display here though you will not be able to output video through the GTX 1050 Ti or use the Nvidia proprietary DAZ Studio software.

you mean the default connection is VGA or the adapter?


i do not believe what you are hoping to achieve is possible with this setup.

like Eximo mentioned, you should be looking into getting a more capable system that is prepared to handle this type of software than trying to rig some sort of custom setup using this OEM Lenovo system.

adding a more advanced dedicated GPU with the necessary VRAM would most definitely mean that you will also need a more powerful power supply.
problem there is that these OEM systems are designed with proprietary hardware and it's unlikely you will find a retail power supply that can be paired with this system.
Click to expand...
Actually since both cards are detected it is possible. Like I said, DAZ detects the card and can use it, it just runs out of VRAM in some cases. As for OEM or not, the program doesn't care about that. It's a case, a CPU, a mobo, a graphics card and some RAM. I am on budget or else I would buy an 8 or 12 GB card.
DAZ will work with any Nvidia card, it's simply that you will be limited on the scope of the scenes you can create (and obviously the time to render them will be longer, due to performance differences).
Oh and I had someone look at it and there is no proprietary hardware. Well, maybe the MB, but that is just some branded stuff, the power supply is replaceable. And so far i'm not even close to reaching the power consumption limit.

or use the Nvidia proprietary DAZ Studio software.
Click to expand...
Maybe you're right, but I don't see why that would be the case. Like I said, both are detected, and in DAZ I can choose to render via CPU, the GTX which is detected, or both.
 
thegreatespero said:
Now in my case I have only 4 GB on my 1050Ti, and since Windows 10 uses about 2 GB of that, I am no longer able to load scenes I used to render in Windows 8, much to my disappointment. So the reasoning was that I would use the i5 for rendering the windows interface and have it be used by most apps (even VLC uses the videocard and loading Firefox also uses VRAM), whereas I could use the GTX in DAZ Studio, and have it have more of its VRAM available.
Click to expand...
That doesn't seem like a viable long term solution.

Have to agree with @Eximo . It's time to get a new graphics card with more vram.
How about RTX 3060 12GB ?
 
SkyNetRising said:
That doesn't seem like a viable long term solution.
Click to expand...

I know and I agree with you, but for the moment it is what it is.
Not sure about its performance, although for sure it might be better than a 10xx generation, and with the amount of RAM it gets it seems like a good tradeoff price wise, since there is no point in it being faster but not being able to render the scenes it won't be able to fit in VRAM. Any place to get a comparison with other models? I am only interested in Nvidia, since Iray only works with their cards (I think Radeon cards work with Blender, but despite its abilities, that software is too unintuitive for me, so it's a no go.
 
TerryLaze said:
Change the cable that goes to your monitor from the GPU to the mobo.
(Connect your monitor to the mobo)
Click to expand...
Yeah, but how? Right now it goes into the GPU, and into the HDMI port (I was saying it was a miniVGA monitor and it is, but I forgot I used an adapter for it since the card didn't have a VGA socket). I don't see an HDMI port on the motherboiard towards the back of the case,
I was thinking I could try to remove the CMOS battery but it's like half buried under the video card (which seems to happen in some cases). Who the hell does the designing like this nowadays??
 
thegreatespero said:
Yeah, but how? Right now it goes into the GPU, and into the HDMI port (I was saying it was a miniVGA monitor and it is, but I forgot I used an adapter for it since the card didn't have a VGA socket).
Click to expand...
You have to tell us what outputs the mobo has and what inputs the monitor has.
If your mobo doesn't have any outputs at all then you have a problem, if it has then whatever it has you will need an adaptor turning it into whatever the monitor has.
 
So I called upon someone who is more adept at this stuff. The HDMI port for the MB was hidden with a cap on the back of the PC.

Setting the integrated I5 GPU as the primary device in the BIOS was not the solution, since that causes the Nvidia Driver to be disabled by Windows (it was no longer available when right clicking on the Desktop), so I reverted the BIOS change to use the GPU as the default.

The MB has a HDMI socket and I connected the monitor to it. So now my display is running on the I5-8400, but my GTX is also available and since the Intel CPU has taken over the workload of the display, seems to have made more VRAM available on the GTX 1050.

I used to have 2 GB in use on the GTX 1050, now I have 0 (zero) in use according to the Win Task Manager. Even the integrated GPU uses only 0,1 GB of RAM. Why it needed 2GB when running on the GTX as the sole display engine is a mystery.

The even better news is that my MB will support a RTX 3060 (maybe even a 40 series but I didn't ask since those are crazy expensive) as long as I buy a 6-700 W power supply. If DAZ Studio can fit its scenes within the 4 GB it should now theoretically have available, I'll be a happy camper, and even happier when I get a new video card.

The only issue is that the Lenovo case seems to be miniATX, judging by its size I expected it to be full ATX.

So yeah long story short, what worked for me was to install the driver for the integrated GPU so Windows can detect it, then to figure out where the video sockets are on the MB and connect the display to one of them to use the integrated GPU, instead of the GPU, while still keeping the separate GPU as the default in BIOS or else it gets disabled.
 
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