As a rule, the question of how to turn on a video card in BIOS is most often asked by laptop owners who have installed two independent graphics accelerators - integrated and discrete. The operating system itself is far from always able to understand the wishes of the user and switch from one adapter to another in work. Moreover! Sometimes it is impossible to use two cards at the same time using regular means in the operating system. Therefore, it is necessary to solve the problem of how to turn on the video card in the BIOS on a laptop. To do this is quite simple, but do not forget about some of the features of the Windows OS itself. Actually, all these questions are further proposed for consideration. The technique is quite simple, but you should pay attention to some small nuances.
How to enable a video card in BIOS and why is it needed?
To start, let us dwell on the question related to why all this is needed. Let us leave aside the problem of how to turn on the integrated video card or its analogue in the form of a discrete accelerator in the BIOS, but let's see what benefits can be drawn from this.
If anyone does not know, integrated chips, unlike discrete ones, consume significantly less energy in operation. And for a person who constantly carries a laptop with him and uses it without power, this is just what you need. Indeed, in fact, in this way, significant savings in battery power are achieved, which in some situations can be a key factor.
Another point is connected with the simplest situation, when at one time the most common office tools are used, and at another - games or resource-intensive multimedia programs. It is clear that for any editor like Word or Excel, the maximum capabilities of the graphics chip are completely unnecessary. The usual integrated adapter is enough here. But in the hours of leisure, when the user decided, for example, to pass the next level of a new game, you can not do without a discrete card. And the system does not always perceive both graphics chips. Rather, she sees them, but uses only one, setting it by default. This is where knowledge about how to turn on a discrete graphics card in BIOS if an integrated one (or vice versa) is currently installed as the main one is useful.
Basic BIOS settings
Now directly about the problem itself and its solution. How to enable the integrated graphics card in BIOS, if the system prefers a discrete accelerator by default? Everything is extremely simple.
We go into the settings of the primary system, using one key or a combination of several (for different models of laptops or stationary PCs, they can differ significantly), and then go to the advanced settings section. It is usually called Advanced. Here you need to select the menu of the current parameters of the chipset (Chipset), and then find the line Boot Graphic Adapter Priority, First Display Boot or something like that. If the PCI Express parameter is set in the settings, which corresponds to the use of a discrete video card connected directly to the PCI bus, the parameter must be changed to another one (for example, iGPU or Internal). After that, it will be enough to save the changes on exit (F10 + Y) and reboot the system.
Turning on the graphics adapter without entering the BIOS
Recently, a rather interesting opportunity has appeared that allows you to solve the problem of how to turn on the video card in BIOS without having to directly enter the primary system.
To do this, you just need to download the so-called BIOS emulator - a program that runs directly in the environment of Windows operating systems in the DOS-mode of the command console and allows you to make settings that are no different from the actions performed in the primary system itself. The section names, however, may differ slightly, but the algorithm for turning on the video cards is the same.
How to turn on the video card through BIOS in case of installing a second accelerator or simultaneous use?
Another situation that worries all users to a fairly large extent is related to determining the possibility of the second accelerator, say when buying, a discrete card in addition to the existing integrated one.
In this case, the question of how to turn on the video card in BIOS is solved using the above parameters and setting them to automatically be automatically activated (Auto parameter), which sets a certain sequence of switching from one adapter to another. However, for the most part this concerns the choice of the preferred chip when booting the system. Therefore, you will additionally have to use other settings as well.
What is needed for the operation of two accelerators?
It goes without saying that the system must have correctly installed drivers for both devices. With integrated chips, as a rule, there are no problems, since Windows-systems install their control components automatically.
But for discrete cards, drivers alone will not be enough. Here you will also need to install related software.
Auto switch between adapters
Consider the situation on the example of video accelerators of the Radeon line. We will need a small utility called AMD Engine / CatalystControl Center.
After installing and starting it (of course, on behalf of the administrator), you must select the AMD PowerXpress configuration item. What is most interesting: the program will automatically detect not only the discrete graphic chip associated with it, but also the built-in card with a mark of which device is currently in use. To select a second accelerator, you just need to select it and click the use button. To automatically switch between adapters - use the item to automatically select the GPU power consumption when working on battery (battery).
Exactly the same situation is observed with NVIDIA video cards, for which they have developed their own utilities. In addition, you can additionally use various kinds of “native” programs for tuning the performance of chips, testing and overclocking them using a software method, or adapting to computer games, which ultimately will give a more tangible result in terms of chip speed and GPU performance.
Instead of an afterword
If we sum up a conditional outcome to solve the problem of how to turn on the video card in BIOS, it is not difficult to conclude that things may not be limited to just the settings of the primary input / output system. If you really want to use both adapters and all their capabilities, as they say, one hundred percent, and even with automatic switching between them, depending on the operating mode of the laptop, you can’t do without complex measures. For stationary terminals, a change in the use of accelerators is purely nominal, since the mode of operation from independent sources is usually not used in them (unless, during a power outage, when the power is supplied by an uninterruptible power supply unit).