We all want to experience the best possible visual and smooth performance while playing games and other programs. A computer uses a graphics unit to render the images on your screen to provide this adventure.
you may find two types of Graphics Processing Units or GPUs in a computer;Integrated GPU and Dedicated GPU. The capability of the Integrated GPU is limited and hence less than most Dedicated GPUs. And this is the reason you see some computers with lower graphical performance.
But, sometimes, even when you have a Dedicated GPU in your computer, your computer might befunctioning poorly in terms of graphics. This can happen if your system uses an Integrated graphics unit and has not switched to the Dedicated one. You will have to manually instruct your program or system to utilize the higher capability graphics card.
In this guide, we are going to illustrate the methods to utilize the Dedicated GPU instead of an Integrated graphics unit.
Difference Between Dedicated Graphics Card and Integrated Graphics Unit
Every computer needs to process the visuals such as images and videos in the computer for better experience. To do this, it uses two kinds of Graphical Processing Unit whose differences lie in their hardware built and rendering capacity. These are: Integrated GPU and Dedicated GPU.
Let’s talk more about what actually are these units.
The Integrated Graphics Processing Unit is directly incorporated within the computer’s CPU. It does not have its own memory unit to dedicate to the programs and games for rendering their visuals. Instead it uses some portion of memory of RAM and does the work.
For instance, if you have a RAM of 8 GB memory space, the Integrated GPU might use 1 or 2 GB of it to run the graphically demanding programs. Hence, If you ran heavy games, you would not have enough RAM as well as GPU memory since both are shared from the same hardware.
Integrated GPU is only used to run less intensive programs due to its lower capability. It would not be feasible for people to get a powerful GPU when they need to run some programs needing little rendering. Hence, the manufacturers provide Integrated GPU so that we could do basic rendering tasks or run low-end games without any difficulties.
However, since the Integrated GPU does not have extra hardware, they take up no additional physical space inside the system. Similarly, they generate less heat needing no extra cooler due to less power usage by them.
Talking about Dedicated Graphics Processing Unit, it is found as separate hardware with its own set of memory, processing unit, and cooling system. It even has its own power source, which is a separate connector present in the PSU for the dedicated GPU.
Hence, it does not affect the RAM or CPU usage and does not cause them to heat up during intensive rendering jobs. Due to a distinct processor and more power usage, theGPU does produce a lot of heat.But it is managed using the casing fan as well as its own set of cooling fans.
A dedicated GPU is much faster due to the availability of a large amount of memory to process the visuals of demanding programs. Hence, these are of major interest to gamers, heavy computing users, and data processors.
Now let’s quickly see the reasons for choosing a Dedicated GPU instead of an Integrated one.