CanIRunIt says I can't run these games, but I can. I'm using dual graphics?

[Zenmode]

Ok, so I've been running into the strangest problems ever since I got my laptop. Here's what it's running:

AMD A10-5750M APU
8 gigs RAM
AMD Radeon HD 8650G
AMD Radeon HD 8600/8700M (?)

I understand that I have dual graphics. I understand that it can be better to just ditch one and only use one.

I also have found that using the switchable graphics options can be helpful. Some games run better on High Performance, and some run completely smooth on Power Saving. I don't understand why, but oh well.

I'm running the latest AMD 15.11.1 Beta Driver.

I recently switched off crossfire to try out DirectGMA as I've read that using ONE instead of TWO cards can help gaming performance. (True?)

My problem is this: When running the hardware recognition from CanIRunIt.com, it tells me that my computer does not meet the minimum requirements for some games, yet I know it can. Take Fallout 4 for example. I can run it completely smoothly on medium settings. Everything works great. A TINY bit choppy on High and a little bit choppy on Ultra. I also know that I test as not being able to play COD BO 3, and that WAS true. But that was BEFORE I was using DirectGMA. Could that have been the issue?

Should I never trust CanIRunIt?

Am I just not understanding something about my dual graphics or processor? I read the sticky about crossfire, but I don't seem to find anything new that clears my questions up.

I'm also so confused as to how my friend is running 1 gig of video ram and running his games much smoother than me, while I'm running with like 6. I understand it could be an APU bottleneck, but I doubt it since his desktop is much older as well.

Hopefully some of you gurus can help a confused soul out.

 

[Geek Jed]

I don't trust that website mostly, because when I had one 770 2GB and I was testing one there to see if I can run bf4 when it first came out, but it said in the reccommended that I need 4GB of video memory. But with that 770 I had with 2GB of v ram, I was able to get 90-120 fps.

 

[beegmouse]

Not all Games support crossfire well.

I have this setup.

Games that like crossfire see their performance double. Games that don't see it crippled

 

[Zenmode]

I don't trust that website mostly, because when I had one 770 2GB and I was testing one there to see if I can run bf4 when it first came out, but it said in the reccommended that I need 4GB of video memory. But with that 770 I had with 2GB of v ram, I was able to get 90-120 fps.

How exactly would I rate my own setup when it comes to games? I'm sure you can agree that all the numbers and letters are confusing, even to someone half knowledgeable about computers. When a game says minimum requirements are this, and my card is a totally different brand, do I just need to go to a site that puts my card against that card?

 

[Zenmode]

Not all Games support crossfire well.

I have this setup.

Games that like crossfire see their performance double. Games that don't see it crippled

I see. Because I switched on DirectGMA, does this take care of the issue of two cards running? If not, how do I turn off one card?

 

[beegmouse]

It's the "Dual Graphics" setting in Catalyst.

It's an unusual setup, so it's no wonder the website can't compare it with system requirements.

Either way it's a two mobile GPUs, Don't expect miracles. But it should be able to play everything there is at 720 on Low settings, so don't worry about "Can I run it"

You can. The only real question is how pretty you can make it, and does it like crossfire.

 

[beegmouse]

A note on the RAM

You have an APU which shares the 8Gig of system Ram for it's V-Ram
You also have one discrete GPU with it's own dedicated ram. (Most likley 1-2Gig)

To function in crossfire the APU can only match the RAM of the GPU.
So if you have a 1Gig GPU your APU will use 1Gig of system Ram, but this does not mean you have 2-Gig of VRam, It's a case of 1+1=1 both cards are rendering different frames of the same scene, The data in the V-Ram has to match.

Games which require more V-Ram than your discrete card have will function better on just the APU, which can allocate more Ram than the discrete has.

Games which require less and have been optimised in drivers will function better in "Dual Graphics"

 

[hang-the-9]

You are not using Crossfire on that laptop, you should not have to mess with any settings, you are changing your settings based on not quite understanding how video cards, especially in laptops, work.

Yes, in some cases games run better on a single card rather than on Crossfire or SLI. That is right.
But you are mistaken that is what the laptop is doing, there is a difference between Dual Graphics and Crossfire. There is the on-die video chip in the A10 CPU and one on the motherboard.

I'd just set the video options to defaults and let it run, you are likely to just make things worse with messing around and only half-knowing what is going on. A little bit of knowledge is dangerous

You can't compare just simple numbers like amount of RAM in a video card, you need to look at the full system specs and compare the parts. There are many slow video cards that have 2 gig of RAM that will be blown away by cards that only have 1 gig.

 

[Zenmode]

You are not using Crossfire on that laptop, you should not have to mess with any settings, you are changing your settings based on not quite understanding how video cards, especially in laptops, work.

Ahhh, I see. I was thrown off because it says "AMD Radeon Dual Graphics is based on AMD CrossFireX technology"

Yes, in some cases games run better on a single card rather than on Crossfire or SLI. That is right.
But you are mistaken that is what the laptop is doing, there is a difference between Dual Graphics and Crossfire. There is the on-die video chip in the A10 CPU and one on the motherboard.

I'd just set the video options to defaults and let it run, you are likely to just make things worse with messing around and only half-knowing what is going on. A little bit of knowledge is dangerous

haha I believe you! Unfortunately, I'm the type to jump in and tinker around with things, no matter the consequences. Needless to say, I'm a pro at windows re installations. Though, in this case, I am done tinkering, and will take your advice. Can you please tell me whether Dual Graphics is on or off by default, so that I can change it to what you say it should be?

You can't compare just simple numbers like amount of RAM in a video card, you need to look at the full system specs and compare the parts. There are many slow video cards that have 2 gig of RAM that will be blown away by cards that only have 1 gig.

So much more complicated than I would like it to be. I can see why that site tried to simplify it.

 

[Zenmode]

Thank you all for your help. I understand things a lot more

 

[hang-the-9]

Playing with things is great, I always say you learn the most from breaking something then trying to fix it As long as you are aware that something bad may happen and are ready for it with backups or a system without much on it that needs to be saved. What we usually see is things like "I have my pictures of my kid for last 10 years and I encrypted the files then wanted to clean space on the drive and deleted a lot of things and now my computer does not work and I have no backups".

I would think that the default setting would be to run on dual graphics, but I don't have any laptops that use that so I can't verify.

 

[Zenmode]

What we usually see is things like "I have my pictures of my kid for last 10 years and I encrypted the files then wanted to clean space on the drive and deleted a lot of things and now my computer does not work and I have no backups".

haha no, I learned to back everything up a long time ago the only thing is that I have lots of settings (AutoHotKey, VirtualEnv, FL Studio, Etc,) and coding projects going at a time, so it's kindof a pain to set everything back up again, even with backups of said settings and tools like FreeFileSync >.< luckily I'm getting better at things and don't have to do that as often!

Well, thanks again, I'm fine with knowing that things work, even if things arent quite default for now. I will know for next time

 

[beegmouse]

The default settings in that setup are to use the dedicated GPU and not use the GCN part of the APU and let the CPU part of the APU run faster and make more heat.

The above is the most stable setup. Enabling Dual Graphics turns on the GCN part of the APU, Using the Crossfire interface doubles your shader count, but uses more RAM and down clocks your CPU a little.

So it's game dependent which game and settings you use which mode runs the game best.