Is it possible to switch between Integrated Graphics and GPU based on the task using Single Monitor ?

[rahul.damani25]

I want to minimize my power draw and so I want a way to switch to Integrated Graphics for less demanding tasks and only switch to GPU when gaming. Is there a way to achieve this using same monitor ?

 

[luckymatt42]

No, there is not a way to achieve this, other than unplugging your monitor from your gpu and plugging it into the motherboard outputs.

Good news is that your gpu does reduce it's power draw automatically during light loading, but yes even then will still draw a bit more power than integrated graphics.

 

[geofelt]

Why do you need to reduce power draw?

If your monitor has two inputs, you might try connecting each input to different graphics adapters.

I really do not think it is worth your effort.
A low demand on a discrete graphics card runs the card on minimal power.

 

[rahul.damani25]

I really don't think the Power draw will reduce that much myself, but I was just curious about it. If it can work for Laptops, why not PC's.
So I tried connecting my Integrated Graphics through HDMI cable and GPU through Display Port to the same monitor but still Windows was detecting it as 2 Monitors, so I actually ended up cloning one screen on another. Now its working fine and I don't actually need to switch back n forth.
I also tried running Chrome and other apps which use Hardware Acceleration and Task Manager showed they were using Intel HD. Then I tried playing Far Cry Primal and it was using my GTX 1080. So I suppose its working, but I am not sure whether my GPU is powered off when not playing, or atleast not drawing power.
Anyways, it was good to try though.

 

[TJ Hooker]

If it can work for Laptops, why not PC's.

Because laptops that work like that were specifically designed to be able to, and involves the discrete GPU routing its display through the iGPU. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Optimus

You can sort of force similar behavior on a desktop in at least some cases, but it's pretty hacky. See here for an example: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/use-amd-freesync-nvidia-gpu,37701.html

So I tried connecting my Integrated Graphics through HDMI cable and GPU through Display Port to the same monitor but still Windows was detecting it as 2 Monitors, so I actually ended up cloning one screen on another. Now its working fine and I don't actually need to switch back n forth.
I also tried running Chrome and other apps which use Hardware Acceleration and Task Manager showed they were using Intel HD. Then I tried playing Far Cry Primal and it was using my GTX 1080. So I suppose its working, but I am not sure whether my GPU is powered off when not playing, or atleast not drawing power.
Anyways, it was good to try though.

Are you switching your monitor between different inputs when doing this, or does it do this with no manual intervention? If so, that's interesting. But your GTX 1080 is going to be powered on regardless, which means you may very well be consuming more power as now you're running your iGPU + dGPU, rather than just a dGPU.

 

[rahul.damani25]

If it can work for Laptops, why not PC's.

Because laptops that work like that were specifically designed to be able to, and involves the discrete GPU routing its display through the iGPU. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Optimus

You can sort of force similar behavior on a desktop in at least some cases, but it's pretty hacky. See here for an example: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/use-amd-freesync-nvidia-gpu,37701.html

So I tried connecting my Integrated Graphics through HDMI cable and GPU through Display Port to the same monitor but still Windows was detecting it as 2 Monitors, so I actually ended up cloning one screen on another. Now its working fine and I don't actually need to switch back n forth.
I also tried running Chrome and other apps which use Hardware Acceleration and Task Manager showed they were using Intel HD. Then I tried playing Far Cry Primal and it was using my GTX 1080. So I suppose its working, but I am not sure whether my GPU is powered off when not playing, or atleast not drawing power.
Anyways, it was good to try though.

Are you switching your monitor between different inputs when doing this, or does it do this with no manual intervention? If so, that's interesting. But your GTX 1080 is going to be powered on regardless, which means you may very well be consuming more power as now you're running your iGPU + dGPU, rather than just a dGPU.

No there is no manual intervention involved here. But yeah I suppose that I might be consuming more power. The reason for that I think is not because I am using iGPU + dGPU but because dGPU is directly plugged to PSU, which means that even if CPU doesn't uses it, its still essentially ON, although it should be at lowest power consumption.
Anyways, I will try to find more results on this, to see if somehow I can power OFF dGPU when not being used and trigger it ON somehow. Although I doubt there is much luck in doing that, since I haven't come across anyone doing so earlier.