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How to enable dual graphics amd. AMD Dual Graphics: Analysis of Test Results. Windows standard tools

AMD Dual Graphics Review | Hybrid CrossFire reboot

The solution AMD is calling now Dual Graphics, formerly called Hybrid CrossFire. Technically, the former name was more accurate as the feature uses AMD's multi-GPU technology to scale APU performance with discrete graphics.

This means you can take an APU based system, add Radeon graphics, combine them into one configuration and use the resulting aggregate graphics performance resource to achieve higher frame rates than the same components individually.

Solution Dual Graphics was introduced by AMD alongside GPU Llano in 2011; you can find a corresponding review on our resource. While we understand the appeal of the Hybrid CrossFire, in the first implementation, several flaws were found... Then we expected to revise the technology Dual Graphics when she becomes more mature. As time went on, Llano architecture gave way to Trinity, which in turn was replaced by Richland.

AMD had as many as three generations to refine and improve the hardware and software components of the technology. So we thought it was time to test Dual Graphics more thoroughly. After all, AMD makes some pretty bold claims about the potential benefits of this feature. The slide below is taken from a presentation accompanying the Richland premiere:

Over the past two years, we have accumulated many questions about Dual Graphics... For example, AMD does not recommend bundling APUs with graphics cards higher than Radeon HD 6670 due to a possible imbalance in graphics resources. However, we have heard that Radeon HD 7750 complements the array perfectly Dual Graphics... Can an APU with VLIW5 graphics architecture and GCN-based discrete card be coupled at all with this technology? If so, will the cards provide more expensive Radeon HD 6670 worthwhile results that justify the overpayment? If any restrictions Dual Graphics worth knowing about? In this article, we will try to answer these questions.

We also wanted to include our analysis based on the FCAT utility, which, using video capture, measures the number of dropped and short frames (too small for the naked eye to perceive with the naked eye) generated by configurations from several GPUs. Unfortunately, we were unable to get the utility to successfully process videos from Dual Graphics... AMD said the issue we were facing could not be fixed in the foreseeable future. If you remember, in the AMD A10-6700 and A10-6800K review the problem manifested itself in the fact that the bits of adjacent frames were shown where they should not be, something like this:

See the gap in the image? We do not agree with this state of affairs, so we found a way to objectively assess the effectiveness Dual Graphics: We used video capture, which is usually used by FCAT to generate data. You will be amazed at the unexpected results (at least we were). We'll talk about video demos in more detail later.

AMD Dual Graphics Review | Demo video, test bench and benchmarks

We always wanted to show exactly the picture that we see when comparing the output quality of different graphics adapters. The problem is that lossless video capture at 60Hz at 1920x1080 pixels creates a huge video file that is too large to download. In addition, when you upload this file to YouTube, its frame rate is truncated to 30 FPS, throwing out half of the information from the original file. Luckily, thanks to YouTube HTML5 testing, we found a way out. You need to activate the beta feature by going to link, and click the "Join HTML5 Testing" button:

After logging in, close and restart your web browser. Now you need to access the HTML5 based speed control through the settings button in the lower right corner of the video playback window:

We recorded our results at half the speed. Therefore, at "normal" speed settings in YouTube (30 FPS), you can carefully examine the result at a lower speed than in reality and feel the difference. Then, if you want to see the output image as it looks during testing, set the video speed to 2x (60 FPS). Thanks to this technique, we have a great opportunity to showcase the gaming experience at a 60Hz refresh rate, and for readers to see what we see when we collect the results.

But first, we'd like to give you some tips for testing HTML5. Make sure the video is fully loaded before playing it at 2x speed. For this, as a rule, a wider channel is needed, since jumps and freezes will interfere with the normal perception of the picture. We also observed situations where YouTube did not register changes in speed settings without reloading the page. And finally, we recommend that you first watch the video at normal speed, and then at high speed. This makes it much easier to see the differences in the smoothness of the frame rate.

During testing, we are using Catalyst 13.6 Beta drivers instead of Catalyst 13.8 Beta, which add frame adjustment for smoother, more stable output. AMD claims new driver does not affect configuration Dual Graphics... It only works with a few discrete GPUs. Otherwise, the software of other system components has been updated to the latest versions.

Test bench configuration
CPU	AMD A10-6800K (Richland), base frequency 4.1GHz, 4.4GHz Turbo Core, Integrated Radeon HD 8670D (844MHz)
Motherboard	ASRock FM2A85X, Socket FM2, Chipset: AMD A85
RAM	AMD Gamer Series Memory, 2 x 4 GB, DDR3-1866, CL 13-13-13-34
Storage device	Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB 7200 RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA 3Gb / s
Net	Integrated Gigabit LAN controller
Video card	AMD Radeon HD 6670 DDR3, GPU 800 MHz, 1GB GDDR5 @ 800 MHz (1600 MHz effective)
Power Supply	ePower EP-1200E10-T2 1200W ATX12V, EPS12V
OS	Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64
DirectX	DirectX 11
Graph. drivers	AMD Catalyst 13.6 Beta 2
Tests and settings
Metro: Last Light	Version 1.0.0.0, DirectX 10, built-in benchmark
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Version 1.6.89.06, Version 1.5.26.05, 25 s. Fraps
Tomb raider	Version 1.04, THG benchmark, 60 p. Fraps
F1 2012	Version 1.2, Direct X 11, built-in benchmark, 60 sec. Fraps
BioShock Infinite	Version 1.0.1441711, built-in benchmark, Fraps
Company Of Heroes 2	Version 3.0.0.9804, built-in benchmark, Fraps

All laptops have at least one graphic solution- built-in video card. However, for comfortable work with applications (in particular, gaming), it is recommended to use not the built-in video system, but an additional one. It can be called in different ways: external, discrete, etc. The bottom line does not change from this: this video card is a separate unit, not integrated into the laptop, so it is not subject to the restrictions specific to the laptop card.

In particular, its performance does not depend on the degree of workload of laptop devices and is determined only by the internal design. In addition, it has its own memory and does not occupy RAM laptop.

In general, a discrete video card in a laptop is a complete analogue of a regular video card in a stationary PC, but made in a different design.

This article will cover how to enable discrete graphics on an AMD laptop.

The main feature of the discrete adapter is its increased performance in comparison with the built-in one. Sometimes the increase in performance when switching to a discrete card is up to 200-300%.

Of course, this significantly increases the energy consumption of the system, which leads to a decrease in the mobility of the laptop, but in those cases when high performance of the video system is required from it, this is the only possible solution.

Methods for switching a discrete video card on a laptop

There are several ways to switch the GPU used:

System tools included in the Windows operating system (OS).
Using the low-level laptop configuration settings program - BIOS or UEFI.
Application of special software supplied with the laptop.

Each method has its own peculiarities of application, and in some cases it may not be enough. For example, you cannot switch to operating system, if the external adapter is "tightly" disconnected in the BIOS.

Let's consider the application of each method in more detail:

Windows standard tools

To switch to a discrete card in the operating room Windows system you must first turn off the built-in card, and then reboot the laptop. After this procedure, it will switch to using a discrete video adapter.

Disabling is done in Device Manager in the "Video adapters" section. It is enough to select an integrated map, click on it with the right mouse button and select the "Disable" item.

Important! This should only be done if both cards are displayed in the device manager! If only one is displayed, you must first enable the discrete one in the BIOS.

UEFI or BIOS

In the case of using BIOS switching, you need to go to the peripheral settings (it can be called "Peripherals", "Advanced Configuration" and the like) and select the graphics device used. A menu item for selecting an adapter may have the name "Graphics device", "Video Adapter", "Display ...", etc.

Attention! In systems where the UEFI interface is used instead of BIOS, the algorithm for changing the adapter is similar, although the information can have both a textual representation and displayed in the form of icons.

Using software installed with drivers

The configuration of one or another adapter can also be performed using special software, which, as a rule, comes with the OS on a laptop. For AMD adapters, this might be the Catalyst Control Center.

In the panel of the Catalyst program (which is called by clicking on it in the system tray), select the item "Switchable graph. adapters ", where the choice of the used video card is made. An alternative would be the "Performance" item in which the integrated card is disabled in the "Dual Graphics" section.

AMD Radeon Dual Graphics is AMD CrossFireX ™ -based technology available only on AMD APU-based systems installed with coordinated discrete graphics AMD boards Radeon. See http://www.amd.com/dualgraphics for the latest list of APU and discrete graphics systems that support AMD Radeon Dual Graphics technology.

When AMD Radeon Dual Graphics is enabled, the integrated GPU in the APU works in conjunction with the discrete graphics card to improve graphics quality and performance, especially for gaming applications. For getting additional information how these components work together, see.

Enable / Disable AMD Radeon ™ Dual Graphics Technology

Use the AMD Radeon Dual Graphics page to enable or disable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support.

When AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support is enabled, a discrete graphics card is used in conjunction with an APU to improve graphics quality and performance (where possible).

Note: When AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support is enabled, Control Center restarts automatically.

Go to AMD Radeon Dual Graphics page:
- Standard representation - Performance and Games> Gaming performance.
- Extended view - Performance and Games.
Select the appropriate option from the following:
- Enable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics- Allows multiple GPUs to carry out joint work with the aim of improving the quality and performance of graphics. Displays connected to the accessory graphics card are automatically disabled. For Windows® 8.1, AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support is enabled by default only for applications and games with AMD Standard Profile or Custom Application Profile. To enable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics for all games and applications - even those that do not have an application profile - select Enable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics for non-profile applications.
- Disable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics- Allows you to enable additional displays on the slave graphics card (this action does not improve performance or graphics quality).
Click and drag the slider to unlock support for displays attached to an optional graphics card. Not all AMD Radeon Dual Graphics configurations support unlocking displays attached to an optional graphics card. Note: For optimal performance when starting 3D applications, connect all displays to the main GPU and (if necessary) unlock the displays attached to the assistive GPU.
Click the Apply button.

AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support is enabled or disabled as appropriate. When AMD Radeon Dual Graphics is enabled, you can choose to show or hide the AMD Radeon Dual Graphics indicator.

Show / Hide the AMD Radeon ™ Dual Graphics Logo

With AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support enabled, you can choose to display the AMD Radeon Dual Graphics logo for 3D applications and games that run on full screen mode... This logo is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen and indicates that AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support is enabled. When AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support is disabled, the logo is not displayed.

Click right click Mouse Control Center logo in the Windows® notification area.
In the menu that appears, select the graphics card associated with the APU, specify AMD Radeon Dual Graphics options and select Show AMD Radeon Dual Graphics status icon (if applicable) to display the AMD Radeon Dual Graphics logo when AMD Radeon Dual Graphics is enabled To always hide the logo, even when AMD Radeon Dual Graphics is enabled, uncheck the box.

Found a typo? Select the text and press Ctrl + Enter

This means you can take an APU-based system, add a Radeon graphics card, combine them into one configuration, and use the resulting aggregate graphics performance resource to achieve higher frame rates than the same components individually.

AMD Dual Graphics Review | Demo video, test bench and benchmarks

After logging in, close and restart your web browser. Now you need to access the HTML5 based speed control through the settings button in the lower right corner of the video playback window:

Test bench configuration
CPU	AMD A10-6800K (Richland) 4.1GHz Base Frequency, 4.4GHz Turbo Core, Integrated Radeon HD 8670D (844MHz)
Motherboard	ASRock FM2A85X, Socket FM2, Chipset: AMD A85
RAM	AMD Gamer Series Memory, 2 x 4 GB, DDR3-1866, CL 13-13-13-34
Storage device	Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB 7200 RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA 3Gb / s
Net	Integrated Gigabit LAN controller
Video card	AMD Radeon HD 6670 DDR3, GPU 800 MHz, 1GB GDDR5 @ 800 MHz (1600 MHz effective)
Power Supply	ePower EP-1200E10-T2 1200W ATX12V, EPS12V
OS	Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64
DirectX	DirectX 11
Graph. drivers	AMD Catalyst 13.6 Beta 2
Tests and settings
Metro: Last Light	Version 1.0.0.0, DirectX 10, built-in benchmark
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Version 1.6.89.06, Version 1.5.26.05, 25 s. Fraps
Tomb raider	Version 1.04, THG benchmark, 60 p. Fraps
F1 2012	Version 1.2, Direct X 11, built-in benchmark, 60 sec. Fraps
BioShock Infinite	Version 1.0.1441711, built-in benchmark, Fraps
Company Of Heroes 2	Version 3.0.0.9804, built-in benchmark, Fraps

AMD Dual Graphics Review | Test results

Tomb raider

We begin our analysis with the game Tomb Raider. This is probably the best way for Dual Graphics as the game was sponsored by AMD. She's also very entertaining.

At least in theory, the results of this benchmark show that Dual Graphics has a significant performance impact by enhancing the capabilities of a single APU or discrete GPU. As AMD states, Radeon HD 6670 provides best ratio prices and performance paired with APU A10-6800K offering 100% acceleration over a discrete card.

The speed gains with GDDR5 cards are less impressive. But despite the mixing of VLIW5 and GCN architectures, there is a clear improvement in performance.

The graph of the frame rate in dynamics did not show anything new, although you can see how the configurations Dual Graphics provide a noticeable increase in frame rate than APU or discrete graphics card separately.

Now let's take into account the fluctuations in time between frames. It is easy to see that Dual Graphics provides a significant delay in changing consecutive frames. These delays can cause dropped or short frames, which negate the benefits of high frame rates.

The video below shows a direct comparison of the results APU A10-6800K(average frame rate 24.1 FPS), APU A10-6800K With Radeon HD 6670 DDR3 in mode Dual Graphics(average frame rate 43.3 FPS) and single Radeon HD 7750(average frame rate 49.2 FPS).

AMD Dual Graphics benchmark - Tomb Raider

The video at half the speed provides a powerful demonstration of what Fraps cannot tell you: configuration Dual Graphics provides the same "intermittent" output as a single APU A10-6800K despite double the average frame rate. Meanwhile, Radeon HD 7750 displays a perfectly smooth picture. This effect is not as dramatic at full speed, but is still noticeable.

Already during the first game tested, it becomes obvious that there is a discrepancy between the readings of utilities such as Fraps and the actual experience of the reproduced image. The increase in time fluctuations between frames confirms our hypothesis. Dual Graphics possibly increases the number of frames rendered per second, but since these are mostly dropped and short frames, this is not noticeable during real gameplay.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

A company spokesman has already stated that this driver does not affect the function Dual Graphics, even despite the introduction of adjusting the frame flow. Version 13.8 is aimed at discrete video cards in CrossFire bundles.

But to be sure of this one hundred percent, we spent an extra day on video capture with the Catalyst 13.8 beta driver.

AMD Dual Graphics Benchmark with 13.8 Beta Driver - Tomb Raider

AMD Dual Graphics benchmark with 13.8 beta driver - Skyrim

AMD Dual Graphics Test with 13.8 Beta Driver - F1 2012

AMD Dual Graphics Benchmark with 13.8 Beta Driver - Bioshock

As you can see, the new driver does not change anything in relation to Dual Graphics as the AMD spokesman said.

AMD Dual Graphics Review | Good for benchmarks, but not for games

Does installing a discrete graphics card in addition to the APU result in higher frame rates in games when activated? Dual Graphics? According to Fraps, it definitely does.

But does this lead to smoother gameplay based on the image seen on the screen? Having tested several games using this feature, we believe not. But in order not to be unfounded, we have found a way to demonstrate this. Since FCAT does not work due to problems with AMD driver, we used a video that was usually passed through the FCAT. And results for Dual Graphics turned out to be disappointing.

There is no connection between the higher frame rates in Fraps and what you actually see when outputting via DVI. AMD has been talking about this feature for almost two years now, and Dual Graphics should have already survived her childhood illnesses. We don't know how many gamers bought a graphics card to pair with Llano, Trinity or Richland APUs, believing that this would improve the gaming experience noticeably, but based on what we've seen, the additional costs were mostly wasted.

Yes, Fraps says the average frame rate rises significantly. Nevertheless, it was this paradox that, in the first place, became the inspiration for the creation of FCAT. If the program counts every skipped and short frame from the average frame rate Dual Graphics, you don't get any benefit from chunks of frames (like in the image above) artificially increasing performance.

We're not trying to find fault with AMD. While artifacts such as minor "lags" have been known for years, isolating data that makes sense for real-world sensations is a more recent phenomenon that has been noticed by the portal team. The Tech Report and then quantified against the performance of Nvidia's FCAT utility. We are very pleased that AMD took these issues seriously enough and developed a dedicated driver to address them. We will soon be testing the latest Catalyst beta driver using the same technology to see if the gameplay experience improves with more stable frame rates. If so, we would be delighted to compliment AMD's software product development team.

However, newest driver does not improve the situation with Dual Graphics... The problems with this technology are even worse than we thought before planning this analysis. We hope that the company will take a responsible approach to correcting the work. Dual Graphics as is the case with the CrossFire improvement with two discrete GPUs. AMD is currently promoting a feature that improves benchmark scores, but not gameplay itself. And this is wrong.

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