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Many laptops have two GPU's, an integrated Intel processor, and a discrete Nvidia processor. There are options to set which processor is used by specific applications, though those settings are not always reliable.

Is it possible to manually toggle which processor is in use for the current application? For instance something that could be bound to a hotkey so that one could switch GPU's on the fly. In some applications I do not believe that the Nvidia card is really in use, since the frame rates are not as high as expected (lower than the rates on a computer with all around less power). So the ability to manually force the Nvidia GPU to come on would be cool. Plus I could simply turn it off if my battery is dieing, sure my frame rate will fall, but it might still be playable - with lower power draw.

Plus it would just be cool to see the difference.

Furthermore, is there a way to actually see what GPU is handling what process at any given time?

For reference, my computer is the 14" Razer Blade, which runs Window 8. If possible an answer with a generic solution would be preferable, but I will accept a specific solution for this system if that is all that can be found.

Hennes
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zeel
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With the help of the Nvidia system control panel and its corresponding tray icon you can manage which graphic processor can be used for every application. But once an application is beeing managed by one graphic processor it's not possible to toggle to the other GPU. You have to close the program, assign it to the other GPU, and start the program again.

Starting an application with different graphic processor options is very easy when you use the appropriate context menu entry in Windows Explorer (the menu can be activated in the Nvidia system control panel, too). This way you don't have to configure everything inside the control panel.

Detecting if the Nvidia processor is used to a certain application is possible when you click on the tray symbol of the Nvidea system control panel (make sure it's visible). The current used programs are listed there with their symbols. (Just tested with Firefox managed by Nvidia instead of the standard Intel processor ... ).

Thorsten Albrecht
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