Nvidia Optimus - Disable IGPU?

[DoomSlayer]

So far I have optimized my laptop (MSI GL63 8SD) rather well, getting over 3000 in cinebench r20 on the CPU.

(I have officially ditched my actual PC at this point. My laptop is nearly double its performance.)
((Only thing that limits me is the igpu. I can't use DSR and that's seriously pissing me off))

I have undervolted the core by -300, igpu by -100 and cache -144. And its been stable for a few weeks now.

Since MSI already included a fully unlocked bios, I found out I can overclock my ram which gave my CPU a boost in performance, and the memory bandwidth was better too. 2666 to 2933mhz

I also overclocked the screen to 67hz. I couldn't go anymore or else the screen would start to glitch but I have a feeling that's something to do with intel because if I hook up my 4k monitor which is 75hz, it'll display 75hz on my laptops screen too.

I found these settings in the bios. I don't want to change them in risk of bricking my laptop, even though after 3 bios crashes it'll automatically reset itself, I don't want to risk it.

(This isn't a modded bios, this is official. Left alt + right ctrl + right shift and f2 unlocks the hidden bios)

https://imgur.com/a/tQCh79A (bios photo, and cinebench)

If I set the primary display to PEG or PCIE, will it be running on the 1660ti? I really want to play the new cod at 1440p and I know this laptop can handle it at 1440p.

Oh and I also found some CPU overclocking settings... Tried them already, didn't work sadly... It booted into windows just fine, but it ignored whatever I set :P

[Omega]

Nvidia GPU --> Intel I-GPU --> Screen

That is how they are connected, the Intel GPU is required. In the Nvidia control panel set the prefered graphics processor to the Nvidia one. Doing this will reduce your battery life quite a bit.

[SenMithrarin85]

the discrete gpu renders behind the intel one which controls the main display. its sounds fine in theory but was a sodding nightmare in its early days where games would crash or refuse to lpad because they couldn't detect the nvidia/amd gpu in the laptop and defaulted to the intel one. for some it was simply a case of forcing them to use the discrete gpu in the control panel, but some games refused to work that way.

TL:DR as omega said, it can't be done. Early optimus laptops would output to external displays such as TVs via the nvidia gpu (if connected via hdmi) but these days, the intel controls that too.

[_I_]

on laptops you cannot disable the intel igp
its the only thing attached to the displays
the nvidia gpu writes to the intel hd frame buffer for it to display


dsr may not work if the intel hd frame buffer is not large enough for a bigger frame (to be scaled down to the display by the intel hd igp)
you can try giving the intel hd more vram (system ram allocated to its igp) in the intel gpu driver or bios
its about 16mb per 1080p display for frame buffer, will also need more for other hardware accelerated stuff windows is trying to do with it

[DoomSlayer]

Originally posted by Omega:

Nvidia GPU --> Intel I-GPU --> Screen

That is how they are connected, the Intel GPU is required. In the Nvidia control panel set the prefered graphics processor to the Nvidia one. Doing this will reduce your battery life quite a bit.

Couldn't care less about the battery life, it lasts for 2 hours to 4 hours if I have the nvidia gpu forced on in the control panel.

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

[DoomSlayer]

Originally posted by _I_:

on laptops you cannot disable the intel igp
its the only thing attached to the displays
the nvidia gpu writes to the intel hd frame buffer for it to display


dsr may not work if the intel hd frame buffer is not large enough for a bigger frame (to be scaled down to the display by the intel hd igp)
you can try giving the intel hd more vram (system ram allocated to its igp) in the intel gpu driver or bios

Yeah, I saw some settings related to the vram for the intel hd card... I got 16gbs in dual channel, might as well try.

[Komrade]

Originally posted by Flukey:

Originally posted by Omega:

Nvidia GPU --> Intel I-GPU --> Screen

That is how they are connected, the Intel GPU is required. In the Nvidia control panel set the prefered graphics processor to the Nvidia one. Doing this will reduce your battery life quite a bit.

Couldn't care less about the battery life, it lasts for 2 hours to 4 hours if I have the nvidia gpu forced on in the control panel.

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

The Nvidia GPU will always be primary for games, if it isn't select it in game, though it should default to it. You shouldn't game on battery if possible.

[DoomSlayer]

Originally posted by notkennyS:

Originally posted by Flukey:

Couldn't care less about the battery life, it lasts for 2 hours to 4 hours if I have the nvidia gpu forced on in the control panel.

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

The Nvidia GPU will always be primary for games, if it isn't select it in game, though it should default to it. You shouldn't game on battery if possible.

I couldn't anyways, MSI limits my GPUs power hugely on battery. I barely get 30fps on most games on battery power, I tried to find a way around it and its not possible.

And when I mean making the Nvidia GPU the primary card is to unlock the under functions like DSR... Maybe overclocking the screen to higher than 67hz. I can't go any higher as the screen will glitch out, probably due to the intel gpu.

[Komrade]

Originally posted by Flukey:

Originally posted by notkennyS:

The Nvidia GPU will always be primary for games, if it isn't select it in game, though it should default to it. You shouldn't game on battery if possible.

I couldn't anyways, MSI limits my GPUs power hugely on battery. I barely get 30fps on most games on battery power, I tried to find a way around it and its not possible.

Yep, the battery just can't provide the wattage needed.

[_I_]

its not like the p4/celeron days where the nvidia/amd gpu is connected directly to the display

[Omega]

Originally posted by Flukey:

Originally posted by Omega:

Nvidia GPU --> Intel I-GPU --> Screen

That is how they are connected, the Intel GPU is required. In the Nvidia control panel set the prefered graphics processor to the Nvidia one. Doing this will reduce your battery life quite a bit.

Couldn't care less about the battery life, it lasts for 2 hours to 4 hours if I have the nvidia gpu forced on in the control panel.

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

What laptop do you have anyway? If it's a desktop build in to a laptop casing that would change things.

Originally posted by notkennyS:

Originally posted by Flukey:

Couldn't care less about the battery life, it lasts for 2 hours to 4 hours if I have the nvidia gpu forced on in the control panel.

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

The Nvidia GPU will always be primary for games, if it isn't select it in game, though it should default to it. You shouldn't game on battery if possible.

Not if Optimus bugs out, which it always does.

[DoomSlayer]

Originally posted by _I_:

its not like the p4/celeron days where the nvidia/amd gpu is connected directly to the display

I just don't understand... The I-gpu is an integrated gpu. I didn't think making the nvidia one the primary one for the screen would disable the igpu all together?

[DoomSlayer]

Originally posted by Omega:

Originally posted by Flukey:

Couldn't care less about the battery life, it lasts for 2 hours to 4 hours if I have the nvidia gpu forced on in the control panel.

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

What laptop do you have anyway? If it's a desktop build in to a laptop casing that would change things.

Originally posted by notkennyS:

The Nvidia GPU will always be primary for games, if it isn't select it in game, though it should default to it. You shouldn't game on battery if possible.

Not if Optimus bugs out, which it always does.

MSI GL63 8SD
https://www.ultrabookreview.com/27482-msi-gl63-15-inch-laptop-review-core-i7-gtx-1660ti/
i7 8750h
1660ti
mine came with 8gbs in single channel, replaced it for corsair 16gb 2x8 kit 2666. Then I overclocked the ram to 2933

[Komrade]

Originally posted by Omega:

Originally posted by Flukey:

Couldn't care less about the battery life, it lasts for 2 hours to 4 hours if I have the nvidia gpu forced on in the control panel.

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

What laptop do you have anyway? If it's a desktop build in to a laptop casing that would change things.

Originally posted by notkennyS:

The Nvidia GPU will always be primary for games, if it isn't select it in game, though it should default to it. You shouldn't game on battery if possible.

Not if Optimus bugs out, which it always does.

Yeah that's true.

[Snow]

Originally posted by Flukey:

Wouldn't setting it to PEG in the bios make the Nvidia card the primary GPU, the intel one would still be active in the background as it isn't fully disabled, right?

It seems you misunderstood the concept. Intel's GPU is the one connected to the screen, so the one sending the image. If you somehow disable it - you'll get no image at all, because NVidia's GPU is not connected to the screen. Intel's GPU is always active on foreground.

[Omega]

Originally posted by Flukey:

Originally posted by _I_:

its not like the p4/celeron days where the nvidia/amd gpu is connected directly to the display

I just don't understand... The I-gpu is an integrated gpu. I didn't think making the nvidia one the primary one for the screen would disable the igpu all together?

The MSI GL63 8SD is a normal laptop and not a desktop. The I-GPU can not be disabled, the Nvidia one however can be set to be prefered.

Here is a slide from Nvidia which shows you how this stuff works and why the Intel can not be disabled:
http://notebookspec.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/NVDA_Optimus_Overview.jpg
It says the same as I said in my original comment.