[SOLVED] I've had my monitor plugged in my motherboard these past 4 years, how little of my GPU have I been using?

[Vlad Pintilei]

Basically I just upgraded my GPU from an RX480 to a RTX3060.
And today as I was plugging everything back in I wondered : "Where should I plug my monitor? In my graphics card or my motherboard?"
And when I googled it my heart sank.
All this time I had been using my integrated graphics and I didn't even know it.
However, when I was tweaking my call of duty settings, I still saw that my VRAM limit was 4GB, just as much as my 480 had.

So my final questions are: Have I been using exclusively my integrated CPU graphics all this time? Or was my GPU also kind of doing something instead of just sitting there doing nothing.
Even if I was using my GPU, was it time for an upgrade?



Thanks in advance to all the people who reply to this.

 

[Koekieezz]

However, when I was tweaking my call of duty settings, I still saw that my VRAM limit was 4GB, just as much as my 480 had.

uninstall both radeon driver and nvidia driver with DDU, then reinstall the nvidia driver.

So my final questions are: Have I been using exclusively my integrated CPU graphics all this time? Or was my GPU also kind of doing something instead of just sitting there doing nothing.
Even if I was using my GPU, was it time for an upgrade?

Only noticable if you have bad performance on games, if so, then you're using only igpu this whole time.

 

[Vlad Pintilei]

uninstall both radeon driver and nvidia driver with DDU, then reinstall the nvidia driver.

About that, I just upgraded my card from an RX480 to a RTX3060, and I cannot install the drivers for the LIFE of me.
They just simply won't install!
They just say "driver failed to install" and all I can do is reboot my pc and try again with the same results.
They keep trying to download in my SSD that is almost out of space, instead of my HDD where I direct them too.
It literally asks me for the download path I want it to take, I change the C: letter to F:, and it still tries to download in C: where there's no space.
I'm over this garbage.

 

[rickypicky5]

About that, I just upgraded my card from an RX480 to a RTX3060, and I cannot install the drivers for the LIFE of me.
They just simply won't install!
They just say "driver failed to install" and all I can do is reboot my pc and try again with the same results.
They keep trying to download in my SSD that is almost out of space, instead of my HDD where I direct them too.
It literally asks me for the download path I want it to take, I change the C: letter to F:, and it still tries to download in C: where there's no space.
I'm over this garbage.

AFAIK, drivers have to be installed on your OS disk (where Windows is installed). You need to clean up your SSD by deleting unused files and moving other files that can safely be moved to your HDD.

 

[Ralston18]

Will add a suggestion.

Re: cleaning up the SSD.

First back up all important files to another location. Not C: not F: Ensure that the files are recoverable and readable.

Second Copy (not Move) the unused files from SSD to the HDD. Copy to a specific partition or at least a folder so you can be certain where the copies are located. Likewise verify that those copies are recoverable and readable.

Third, then delete the unused files on the SSD. Moving can be risky on its' own merits. Having an SSD that is almost out of space could prove problematic. And if a move is disrupted the data could be lost in the process.

 

[rickypicky5]

So my final questions are: Have I been using exclusively my integrated CPU graphics all this time? Or was my GPU also kind of doing something instead of just sitting there doing nothing.
Even if I was using my GPU, was it time for an upgrade?

If the cable going to your monitor was NOT coming from your discrete GPU, then AFIK you were using the integrated graphics from your CPU.

 

[geofelt]

Yes, you have been using integrated graphics all along. 🙁
The monitor should have been connected to the discrete graphics card.
You just gained experience.
3060 is a fine card, if you play fast action games you made a good upgrade.

What is your ssd? How much space is used out of the total capacity?
First, remove the rx480 .
Uninstall all of the installed amd apps and drivers you find on the windows installed programs list.
I don't know that running ddu is really necessary, but some will recommend that.

One way to make room on the ssd would be to run windows disk cleanup.
You may gain enough by emptying the recycle bin.
Download the nvidia driver directly from nvidia and save it.
It should take about 680mb.
Install the 3060 as well as your monitor(attached to the 3060)and run the saved installer.
The 3060 has a default low res mode that will run without any graphics driver at all.