Hello all, I am having an issue with my Framework 16 running Windows 11 where I am noticing the dGPU is heating up considerably, even when the lid is closed and no programs utilizing the dGPU should even be running. Based on data I’m getting from Windows perfmon, it appears the dGPU is being chosen as default over the integrated GPU for random processes, and I’m having trouble tracking down what exactly is utilizing my dGPU vs the integrated GPU. It severely impacts the battery life; my laptop only lasts for about 2-3 hours off power. Do some of the smart cookies out there know how to balance the dGPU vs integrated GPU usage to improve my battery life?
Do you mean dGPU or eGPU? If you are referencing the Graphics Expansion Bay Module, that would be a dGPU. Your issue likely stems from your Graphics and Performance settings. To maximize battery life, first go to Settings → System → Battery and change Performance Profile from High Performance or Balanced to Power Efficiency. Next, go to Settings → System → Display → Graphics and change all the apps that you don’t need high power graphics for to power efficiency mode (Uses the iGPU instead of the dGPU). This should help you maximize your Windows battery life.
Putting all the terminology stuff below.
eGPU stands for external graphics card, meaning the graphics card is separated from the Laptop and usually connected through a cable such as Thunderbolt or OcuLink. eGPUs are usually desktop graphics cards with external power supplies to power them.
A dGPU stands for dedicated graphics card, which is part of the laptop but not on the CPU package. It is an entirely separate chip that is still part of the laptop, usually on the motherboard (but for the Framework 16, a separate module). It receives power from the laptop itself and they are usually the mobile series of graphics cards. Any Radeon Graphics card ending in M or S is usually a mobile GPU.
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Thanks for the reply; you are correct, I meant dGPU. I get mixed up in all the terms.
Despite manually setting just about all the apps on the entire laptop to use the iGPU, save a few games or graphic intensive software like Blender or Unity Game engine, task manager and perfmon still show the dGPU is the only graphics card being utilized. So far, the only way I have found to force the laptop to switch back to the iGPU is to manually disable and re-enable the dGPU from the device manager menu. I’d rather not have to do that every time I want the laptop to switch back to the iGPU; I’m not sure if I’m just missing something or not.
Thanks again for the help,
Does anyone know if task manager will wake the dGPU similar to how nvtop will pull it out of d3cold on linux?
Blender and Unity Game engine are both very heavy graphics applications. AMD Adrenalin is likely overriding your preferences causing it to use the dGPU instead of the iGPU. You can also set the render settings in Blender to use the Radeon 780M iGPU instead although I very much do not recommend that as it will make renders a lot slower.
I would recommend that if you are doing 3D or other Graphics intensive tasks, stick to using the dGPU along with keeping it plugged in. Doing it on the go, you would still be better off with the speed improvements of the dGPU rather than having to wait longer for the iGPU to render.
I believe that Task Manager initially wakes the dGPU up for a very short amount of time on opening before letting it go back to sleep. When opening task manager and going to the performance tab, there is just a single spike in the graph for the RX7700S which is likely task manager waking it up.
I’m happy to leave the intense graphical stuff on the dGPU like you suggested; that’s why I bought it in the first place. Whenever I use my laptop for stuff like that I’m usually plugged in anyway. The biggest issue I’m facing is that even when I’m not actually running processes that need the dGPU, my laptop will default to it, despite my graphical settings telling the laptop to use the iGPU. For example, I also use my laptop for school work and writing papers; I don’t need Microsoft Word or Powerpoint to use the dGPU. However, sometimes my laptop decides to override my preferences and just use the dGPU anyway; it’s easy to tell when that happens because I can feel the laptop heat up, the battery dies much faster and task manager shows the dGPU usage going up while the iGPU sits at 0% usage.
I have no idea why that happens lol
Do you have the apps like blender or unity open when working on these docs? These applications cause the MUX to switch to the dGPU and it will not switch back unless the applications are closed. If you do not want this behavior, you could set it to use hybrid graphics mode, although that would cause an around 10% performance loss.
I don’t have anything open that I know of; I’ve hunted down applications through task manager and I can’t find anything. Is there any way to match up background processes to which processor is handling them? That’s the best guess I have for now.
Can you send a screenshot of the applications tab in Task Manager? This way it will be easier to see which applications might be using the dGPU. Also, have you set your performance to efficiency mode in the battery settings?
