Windows 10: Set default GPU

Question

I'm using a GTX 760 graphics card and a GT 710 graphics card. Some of my programs run on the (much slower) GT 710 instead of my GTX 760. So following some tutorials they expect me to tweak the following settings in my NVidia Control Panel:

Select the software, then select the GPU. However the 2nd Option does not appear for me:

The problem is some programs run awfully slow with the GT 710. Without the GT 710 I would have to get rid of half of my monitors.

EDIT

"The screen where the the program starts, or shows the program full screen will use the GPU attached to that screen."

That is not so. All programs start on Monitor one. "Blender" as an exception is starting on Monitor 4, I don't know why, but as you can see it is also attached to the GTX 760.

From the screencap you posted, I assume that you have a integrated GPU on the motherboard/CPU?

No, I'm using 2 seperate GPU's

The powerful GTC 760 is in the one and only PCIEx16 slot and the lame GT710 is in the PCIEx4 slot. My CPU only supports 16 lanes, I have split lanes in the bios. (760 requires 8 lanes, 710 requires only one lane)

EDIT #2

I managed to "solve" the problem by disabling my GT 710 card in device manager, starting Blender and Substance Painter (which are the only problems that cause the issue) and then re-enabling the garphics card. Starting another instance of Blender or Substance Painter while the GT 710 is active will run the program on the GT 710.

Answer 1

While @othermusketeers answer is a bit short and doesn't explain why this may work, the switching of the primary monitor could be one of the answers you need. The screen where the the program starts, or shows the program full screen will use the GPU attached to that screen. So switching the primary monitor to the more powerfull GPU would be advised if you didn't do this already.

From the screencap you posted, I assume that you have a integrated GPU on the motherboard/CPU? If that is the case, try turning that one off in the BIOS if it's possible and set the primary GPU the GTX 760. Just to be sure.

And what is the PCI slot configuration of you desktop? Is the GT710 inserted in the primary (upper) PCI slot, or is the GTX760 in the primary slot. Windows tends to use the first GPU as the main one in most instances, especially if you can't choose the GPU like you stated. That could be a solution to your problem.

Dual-GPU setups without Crossfire/SLI bridges are more prone to issues like this. If you can afford it, buy a newer, more powerfull card or another GTX760 with an SLI bridge (if the motherboard supports it).

Answer 2

What you want to do is control which GPU the OpenGL context is created on. Luckily the latest Nvidia Driver has a way to do that.

Open the Nvidia Control Panel, and navigate to this setting:

Answer 3

I think your workaround in edit #2 confirms apps opening in monitor 4 seem to be the issue, maybe you can reset the app preferences in their GUI if possible otherwise %appdata% or %localappdata%(link) or registry? Maybe you added the newer GPU after you had those apps already installed & they are saving the preferences (& not adjusting to changes) so maybe even reinstalling them would help?

Also remember to be courteous to the people helping you, we aren't getting paid for this...

Answer 4

Have you tried going into RClick Desktop -> Desktop Settings and setting the main display?

EDIT: My apologies. It seemed self explanatory to me that setting the "main display" would be telling the computer the display (and therefor the graphics processor it is attached to) to use by default.

When graphics are display on a monitor, it is processed by the graphics processor that the monitor is plugged into. If the program you are loading starts displayed on a monitor attached to one of your weak GPUs, the program will be using the weak GPU. Hopefully this adequately clarifies my answer.