GPU operation without a cable?
GPU operation without a cable?
I’m trying to clarify my understanding. Essentially, with both a GPU and an integrated GPU (iGPU), the setup allows the CPU to control the monitors. The GPU handles the processing, while the iGPU shows the results directly on the screen. This setup can offer advantages because some of the GPU’s power is used for rendering images that appear right away on your monitor, which slightly reduces its overall performance. Running the iGPU for the display can still be useful even if it’s not fully utilized, as mentioned in a video by Linus.
Surprise! GPUs can handle this task? I assumed their impact was limited to direct connections with the hardware.
What part exactly are you referring to? A GPU's display out getting routed through the iGPU for connecting an (external) monitor is commonplace in laptops. Though sometimes one of a laptop's monitor ports may be directly connected to the discrete GPU. I wasn't aware this is something that could work out of the box on desktops. But as was said above, supposedly Nvidia Optimus makes it possible? Since there's no dedicated physical connection between the GPU and iGPU, that would require output to be transported over the PCIe bus. Basically: GPU renders image, image is sent over PCIe to the iGPU, iGPU sends image to monitor. But if anything, I would expect that to decrease performance, not increase it. As I said, I could imagine an increase if and only if the GPU renders the image at a lower resolution, sends it to the iGPU and the iGPU then does the upscaling. Splitting work this way might potentially increase performance. At the expense of latency introduced by sending data over PCIe. Is that what's going on? I have no idea. Just thinking of possible technical explanations. But again, I'd perform multiple benchmark runs first, to rule out that the apparent performance increase (or decrease) was caused by some other factor entirely.
It's typical for the iGPU to function as a bypass when connected to the motherboard, allowing the 5070 to handle rendering. Connecting straight to the GPU increases load, which may cause a slight FPS decrease. You can turn off the iGPU in BIOS to see its effect.