Using NVIDIA's Power-Saving GPU Technology

NVIDIA® power-saving GPU technology (NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology for notebooks) automatically turns the high-performance NVIDIA GPU on to accelerate programs or displays. The technology optimizes the balance between power savings and performance, and is available only with Windows 7 and later.

When you click the NVIDIA GPU Activity icon in the notification area of the Windows taskbar, the window shows which programs and displays are using the NVIDIA GPU. If there are no programs or displays using the NVIDIA GPU, then the window indicates that your PC is in power saving mode.

Note: Your PC manufacturer may provide a custom Windows power plan that prevents programs from using the high-performance NVIDIA processor.

 

How do I specify which graphics processor my program uses?

When you run a program, the NVIDIA driver automatically selects the appropriate graphics processor to use for the best performance - either the integrated graphics processor or the high-performance NVIDIA GPU.

When programs are run on displays connected to the integrated graphics, you can customize this selection in two ways:

 

Notes:

 

How do I know which programs, displays, and videos are using the NVIDIA high-performance GPU?

Click the NVIDIA GPU Activity icon in the Windows notification area. The window indicates:

If there is no GPU Activity icon, click Desktop from the NVIDIA Control Panel menu bar and select Display GPU Activity Icon in Notification Area.  (See Using the Desktop Menu)

 

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