Your computer with integrated and dedicated graphics won’t necessarily promise the best graphics performance. Sometimes, you may find some apps are having a hard time working smoothly or the game is laggy. That’s because these apps and games are often confused and conflicted about one thing – which graphics chip (GPU) should be used?
Whether you use the GPU companion app or the Windows 11 Settings app, it’s a good idea to set GPU priority for select graphics-demanding apps and games. Before we show you how to make apps and games pick your computer’s preferred GPU, let’s first understand why you should set that GPU in the first place.
- 1 Why you should set your preferred GPU for apps and games
- 2 Set preferred GPU for apps and games using settings
- 3 Set preferred GPU for apps and games using the NVIDIA Control Panel
- 4 Set your preferred GPU for apps and games with AMD Radeon graphics
- 5 Optimize performance by efficiently managing your GPU usage
Why you should set your preferred GPU for apps and games
Before you go any further and learn how to set your preferred GPU on an application-by-application basis in Windows 11, let’s see why you should manually select your preferred GPU for apps and games instead of let Windows automatically select that GPU for you.
1. Reduce PC power consumption
One of the most direct benefits of installing your preferred GPU is that it will help reduce power consumption. As opposed to running continuously in the background, optimizing the GPU to run on an application-by-app basis will only turn itself on when you hit your PC with a specific workflow, such as playing a game. It benefits gaming laptops that don’t offer great battery life.
2. Reduce heat generation of PC
Higher power consumption requires more electricity and directly leads to more heat generation. However, if you choose your preferred GPU on an application-by-application basis, you can make the graphics chip consume only the power it needs, thus resulting in lower heat generation.
That means the components inside will have more room to run faster and longer – mainly because they don’t overheat. Also, your PC fan won’t run at high volume all the time to keep the internals cool.
3. Optimize your PC’s graphics performance
While many high-end PCs come with dedicated and integrated GPUs, Windows is up to you to decide which GPU to use for a particular workload. Meanwhile, if you step in and assign your GPU resources on an application-by-application basis, it helps to get the best out of the internal graphics chip to exploit the potential of application-based graphics performance or game you use.
4. Improve your PC CPU performance
When you specify applications to select a specific GPU, it reduces the CPU overhead by a few percent since it has to work a little less to figure out the other details. While that frees up the processor load, you can use it to handle heavy tasks without worry.
Now that you know why you should choose your preferred GPU on an application-by-app basis, let’s see how you can do so on your Windows 11 PC through the Settings app as well as the dedicated app. Applications supported by NVIDIA or AMD GPUs:
Set preferred GPU for apps and games using settings
Windows 11 redesigned the Settings app and included options to change Display parameters, including choosing GPUs for apps and games. Here’s how to use the settings app on your Windows 11 computer to set your preferred GPU:
Step 1: Press the Windows + I keyboard shortcut to open the Settings app and click Display.
Step 2: In the display settings, scroll down and click on Graphics.
Step 3: Use the drop-down menu indicated in the image below to select either the Desktop app option or the Windows Store app depending on the type of app you want to configure. Then click Browse.
Step 4: In the File Explorer window that appears, navigate to your preferred application or game installation location and select the *.EXE file or its shortcut. Then click Add.
If you can’t find the application you’re looking for, try navigating to the default ‘Program Files’ and ‘Program Files (x86)’ installation folders located on your system’s Windows drive.
Step 5: After adding the app, click on Options.
Step 6: In the Graphics Options dialog box, select your preferred GPU and click Save.
Power-saving options – choose the processor’s integrated graphics chip, which uses less power.
High performance options – choose a dedicated graphics chip that offers better performance but consumes more power.
Set preferred GPU for apps and games using the NVIDIA Control Panel
If your computer has an NVIDIA graphics chip inside, chances are your computer has NVIDIA Control Panel installed. This is a handy app to set the preferred GPU for apps and games. Here’s how you can use it.
Step 1: Press the Windows + S keyboard shortcut to open Windows Search and type NVIDIA Control Panel. Then, under the search results, click Open.
Step 2: Inside the NVIDIA Control Panel, click the ‘Manage 3D Settings’ option in the left column.
Step 3: On the right pane, click the Program Settings tab.
Step 4: In the Program Settings tab, click the Add button.
Step 5: Scroll down and select the app you want to configure. If you can’t find the app you’re looking for, click the Browse button.
Step 6: When the File Explorer window opens, navigate to the location where your favorite application or game is installed and select its *.EXE file. Then click Add.
If you don’t know the installation location of the application you are looking for, try navigating to the default ‘Program Files’ and ‘Program Files (x86)’ installation folders located on your main Windows drive. system.
Step 7: Now click on the ‘Use Global settings (integrated graphics)’ drop-down menu and select ‘High-performance NVIDIA processor’ or Integrated Graphics according to your preference.
Step 8: Next, click Apply to save the changes.
Set your preferred GPU for apps and games with AMD Radeon graphics
AMD Radeon GPUs provide a similar method to let you assign apps and games to select dedicated graphics. If your computer has an AMD GPU released before 2015, you can use AMD Radeon Setup. However, if your computer has a modern Radeon graphics chip (released after 2015), get the help of AMD Software Adrenaline Edition to configure apps and games to select the right dedicated graphics. .
Optimize performance by efficiently managing your GPU usage
Configuring apps and games to choose dedicated or integrated GPU will definitely improve performance – of apps and systems. Although Windows 11 will retain those settings, unless you change or reinstall Windows, you just need to confirm if the application can take full advantage of the additional graphics engine. However, even your casual games will perform better with faster graphics and responsiveness.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
