Question Switch from Integrated to Dedicated GPU

[AttendedAmoeba]

How do I switch to dedicated GPU from integrated GPU? (im dum dum on computers)

Lenovo Legion Y530

A month or two ago I factory reset my laptop because it was just lagging a lot but it's still lagging to this day. And then I learned about GPUs and saw that my laptop was only using Intel (R) UHD Graphics 630 and not the GTX 1050, I couldn't figure out how to utilize the dedicated GPU. I can't find any solutions that works from Google so I might as well just post here.

How do I switch to my dedicated GPU? Thanks for the answers.

 

[Sim2er]

The latest versions of windows 10/11 allow you to control this through the settings app. Older operating systems configured this through the drivers provided by AMD and Nvidia.

 

[AttendedAmoeba]

The latest versions of windows 10/11 allow you to control this through the settings app. Older operating systems configured this through the drivers provided by AMD and Nvidia.

Doesn't that only set it on a specific application? Or is it global?

 

[Sim2er]

Doesn't that only set it on a specific application? Or is it global?

There's a global preference which is overridden by app specific configuration (iirc). But usually you want to let windows automatically choose, so that integrated graphics can prolong battery life when unplugged. Like any automatic process though, mistakes can be made hence a few manual overrides can be necessary. This is an area where windows telemetry can hopefully improve the automatic process by collecting data on overrides, while still preserving the benefits of the automatic selector.

Unfortunately the switchable graphics settings are somewhat buried, perpetuating these kinds of issues which have been occasionally surprising gamers since around 2013 when more CPUs started to include graphics engines and Nvidia introduced their "Optimus" technology which is really just a brand name for the automatic GPU selector. Windows taking over this process is a win for uniformity (AMD and Nvidia had different implementations), yet this setting is still buried and not well advertised or explained.