Switch between intergrated and dedicated gpu

[MinusBlindfold]

I've been assembling my first homebuild, and it's for my audio production setup. I've built it to be silent running with audio recording in mind. However, with a potentially overclocked i7 and z97-pro running things, I feel it would be a waste not to install a dedicated graphics card for some real good gaming. My worry is the cooling needs (my current option is a passive gtx750) and the db.

If I was to get a dedicated GPU, would I be able to have it working while gaming, with all fans going crazy, and then switch over to using the intergrated GPU for when I'm on ProTools, recording, with all(most) fans off? And if so, how easy is the switch?

Thanks!

 

[SkylerJacobs]

The new 900 series by Nvidia can run without the fans on at idle/low loads. I suggest looking in to these and not worrying about having to switch back and forth

 

[ppalm]

To add to what Skyler said, the cards downclock themselves at lower demands, requiring less power draw and cooling. The iGPU is a nice backup to have though if your card ever crashes and burns on you (hopefully not literally!). You probably thought of this because they tend to switch on/off on laptops, but I think there is custom circuitry/software/firmware involved in this process. On desktops, they literally use different display ports on the back side of the computer.

 

[MinusBlindfold]

To add to what Skyler said, the cards downclock themselves at lower demands, requiring less power draw and cooling. The iGPU is a nice backup to have though if your card ever crashes and burns on you (hopefully not literally!). You probably thought of this because they tend to switch on/off on laptops, but I think there is custom circuitry/software/firmware involved in this process. On desktops, they literally use different display ports on the back side of the computer.

Ok, I think I understand, and I have been recommended the MSI gfx 970. What worries me is that it will run with fans when using applications like ableton live or protools. Will I have to switch the display chord back to the CPU slot to work with the intergrated graphics?

 

[ppalm]

Unfortunately, I think that would be the case. I'm not sure if the iGPU is activated by default either, it may require setting the display to the iGPU in the BIOS every time you want to use it, which sounds unbearable.

Apparently, there's somthing called Optimus for nVidia which manages this on laptops, but I'm not sure if its baked into the big nVidia driver or if its a stand-alone that you can only get with specific laptops.

On the Optimus whitepaper, I see something interesting on page 17.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/L😵ptimus_whitepapers.html
It shows where you can choose which GPU to use to run certain applications. Take a look at your control panel settings to see if maybe you could just do that.

If all else fails, you could look into soundproofing options. It would be a bit of work but would mitigate all sound from all fans instead of just the GPU issue.

 

[MinusBlindfold]

Thanks, this is really helpful. It seems Optimus is a solution for laptops only. I was going to get the MSI gtx 970, but then I heard about the coil whine issues facing the 970-series. I have already cancelled my passive Asus gtx 750, and I will rather order the passive Palit gtx 750 Ti. It's sufficient. And I will put the saved money towards replacing my ps3 with a ps4.

The R5 is soundproofed. I'm not going to overclock my i7 4790k, although the asus z97-pro allows for it. It also is a great cpu-cooler controller. The Noctua nh-d15, using only one fan, will be sufficient there, I hope. And the PSU is the Rosewell Silent Night. 600w of passive power. With two intakes at the front, and one output at the back, I'm hoping this runs near-dead silent.

Any other suggestions? A quiet running optical-drive?

 

[king3pj]

I just wanted to point something out before you go with the 750. Like SkylarJacobs said, the 970 you were considering will run completely silent when not under load. Specifically, the fans don't kick on until the GPU reaches 60 degrees Celsius.

This isn't likely to happen when you are doing general computing or audio recording. My 970s idle in the high 20s to low 30s when I am doing general computing tasks on my computer. The fans only kick on when I am gaming. Even then some games don't push these cards hard enough to reach 60 Celsius so the fans don't always even kick on when gaming.

If you still want to save money with a 750 Ti that's fine but I thought you should know that a 970 or 960 would likely be completely silent when you aren't gaming.

 

[ppalm]

Another thread gave me a second idea based on something similar I've done before. I had two computers hooked up to one monitor and cycled the inputs to switch over. You could do the opposite, hookk up two connections to your monitor, one from your GPU and one from your iGPU. Then, choose your input as the method to cycle and leave the iGPU enabled in the BIOS all the time.

There's one caveat though, the dedicated GPU is probably smart enough to not push pixels to an inactive link, but would it try to double-process everything even when its not being used? I can't say for certain. We still have cable STBs that work full time when the TV's off, so who knows. You won't know until you try, or someone else tries/tried and posts their findings.