How to disable the integrated graphics card on a laptop or computer?

The presence of two types of hardware solutions for processing computer graphics - a graphics core built into a processor or motherboard and a discrete video adapter has become almost the standard for modern computers and laptops. It should be noted the high efficiency of this approach to solve the mass of tasks of users and personnel serving the equipment. However, in some cases there is a need to solve the question: how to disable the integrated video card on a computer or laptop? The causes of this need and methods for resolving the issue will be discussed later in the article.

When can integrated graphics come in handy?

The presence of a built-in graphics adapter makes it easier to diagnose hardware components in case of problems with the PC. Among other things, from the moment a discrete video card fails and until its replacement, you can use a computer almost fully, except for tasks that require a powerful graphics processor, in particular computer games and video processing programs.

As for laptops, energy saving comes first. Switching to the integrated graphics card when performing tasks that do not require large computing resources brought into the system by a discrete graphics adapter allows you to save laptop battery power.

In most cases, there is no strict need to disable the built-in adapter. An exception may be a situation in which errors and malfunctions occur, and it is the graphics built into the motherboard that make it impossible to fully use individual applications. In any case, before disabling the integrated graphics card of the motherboard, you should analyze the possible negative consequences of such a decision in the event of an unexpected failure of the external graphics adapter.

Methods

If there is a need to prohibit the system from using the integrated graphics, you can use one of several methods. These methods make it easy enough to both turn off the integrated video card and turn it back on. In deactivating the integrated graphics core, BIOS tools, device manager, as well as specialized software from video card manufacturers - AMD or Nvidia can help.

BIOS disable

How to disable the integrated video card via BIOS? In reality, universal instructions for all PCs and laptops do not exist. The fact is that the variety of BIOS models and versions has led to a large number of sequence options for performing the required operation. In addition, not on every laptop or computer the ability to disable the integrated graphics via BIOS is provided by the manufacturer. We describe only general points:

1. After entering the BIOS, you need to find a section called Config, Advanced Settings, or something similar.
2. The destination may be called Graphics Configuration, Integrated Graphics, OnBoard Video, Adapter VGA or otherwise, but in most cases contain the word Graphics or Video.
3. The value of the found parameter must be changed to Disabled.
4. As regards PC motherboards, to disable the integrated solution it is usually enough to change the Primary Display item to PCI-E.
5. Do not forget to save the BIOS settings before exiting. Usually, the F10 key is used for this.

device Manager

Another answer to the question of how to disable the integrated video card is to use the built-in features of Windows, or rather the device manager. The methodology of the method is as follows:

1. We open the device manager, which allows you to view all the equipment installed in the system. To do this, right-click on the “My Computer” icon on the desktop, select “Properties” in the menu that opens, and click on the “Device Manager” link in the right part of the window that opens.
2. In the “Dispatcher” we find the “Video adapters” section, by clicking on the name of which we open the list of graphic cards.

Adapters found, but how to disable the integrated video card? For this:

• We determine which solution is integrated. If this is difficult to understand, you can use the search for a description of the component by device model on the Internet.
• We right-click on the name of the device to be disabled and in the menu that opens, select the "Disable" item.
• After confirming your intention to refuse to use the device in the request window, you must close the device manager and restart the laptop or PC.

Adapter manufacturer utilities

Most computers and laptops are equipped with discrete graphics cards from one of two manufacturers - NVIDIA or AMD. In conjunction with the drivers for these solutions, the user usually receives a special software package, with the help of which the functions of the graphic adapters are controlled, as well as their settings. Utilities provide a lot of features, including disabling unnecessary user hardware components. To understand how to disable the integrated video card using these tools, you need to find and run one of the following applications.

NVIDIA Control Center

To disable the integrated graphics or, in any case, to use it with various programs through the Control Center from NVIDIA, you need to go the following way:

1. We launch the application and find, and then open the item “3D Settings”.
2. Select the “Manage 3D Settings” section.
3. Open the tab "Software Settings" located on the right side of the screen.
4. For each individual program, we use exclusively an external video card.

Catalyst control center

For owners of graphics cards from AMD, in most cases, the Catalyst Control Center program is available. The procedure for disabling integrated graphics is as follows:

1. We launch Control Center, we find and open the section "Food".
2. The line we need to go to the video card switching screen is called “Switchable Graphics Adapters”.
3. After clicking on the link named above, a window opens in which the choice of a video card for use is available. In our case, you need to click on "High performance GPU." After saving the settings, the system will launch applications without using an integrated graphics solution.

We hope that the above helped the reader figure out how to disable the integrated video card on a laptop or computer. Regardless of the method chosen, do not rush off. It is quite possible that it will be possible to do without such cardinal solutions, and the problems encountered with video adapters can be solved by other methods.