Enabling onboard GPU by software, can be done?

Hello, I know this is probably a stupid question, but I ask it just in case. In my main PC still running Windows 10, soon to upgrade to Windows 11, the CPU is an Intel Core i7 3770 socket 1155 (3rd generation) which has Intel HD 4000 graphics onboard. But my full ATX Asus P8H61 motherboard does not support graphics, so I have installed a discreet Asus GeForce 620 GT 1GB card. I have read that DirectX 12 can combine the two graphics cards and improve graphics performance. So here comes my question, if the motherboard does not support graphics, is there any software that can enable the onboard GPU regardless? I don't care to use its output, I only want to use its processing to boost graphics performance in some non-demanding games and video applications. Is this possible?

Thank you in advance.

Love your enthusiasm :)

When this feature was announced in 2015 it was pretty vague as how will it be achieved , till years later unofficial posts started hinting what Microsoft Actually meant .

See the whole idea was to drop manufacturer bridging support between twin cards and letting game makers do all the work by api calls to utilize the twin cards .

The bridging support between cards instructed both cards would be same manufacturer and model , while DX12 Multi GPU instructed that it is whatever the game developer is willing to support but the GPUs themselves have to be at least DX12 branded .

So far the list of games developed to support this feature is not so big but however most of which only supported twin GPUs of same manufacturer , except for one and only game , named (Ashes of the Singularity) that managed to introduce first time support for Nvidia & AMD cards combination .

So the long leap you are going for doesn't pay off anyway .

P.S here is a list of DirectX 12 games supporting Multi-GPU so far :

• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. - Twin Support
• Sniper Elite 4. - Twin Support
• Hitman 2 & 3 - Twin Support
• Rise of the Tomb Raider. - Twin and Multi Support
• Strange Brigade. - Twin and Multi Support
• Ashes of the Singularity. - Twin , Multi and Mixed Support

Glossary : Twin (Same Manufacturer & Same Model) , Multi (Same Manufacturer & Different Models) , and Mixed (Different Manufacturers & Different Models) . Judging that all cards must be DX12 branded .

I was very disappointed to discover that the game had to support crossfire when I had dual RX 580 cards installed. I thought crossfire was completely handled by the motherboard and graphics driver. So, I replaced both RX 580's with one GTX 1080 Ti. Now on Wednesday my new laptop is getting delivered with RTX 3070 and I am hoping it compares in performance to my desktop computer with the GTX 1080 Ti.

What I want is to share data calculations (processing) between the discrete and the onboard GPU to improve performance in video rendering. Why not if this is also possible when gaming. As far as I understand, you cannot use the onboard GPU unless the motherboard supports graphics and you force it enabled in BIOS, regardless if you have a discrete graphics card. I just asked if there is a way to enable the onboard GPU in Windows 10 or 11 without necessarily having a motherboard that supports graphics. You wouldn't have any outputs to connect a second or third monitor, but you could use its processing power to offload the discrete card.

spapakons said:

What I want is to share data calculations (processing) between the discrete and the onboard GPU to improve performance in video rendering. Why not if this is also possible when gaming. As far as I understand, you cannot use the onboard GPU unless the motherboard supports graphics and you force it enabled in BIOS, regardless if you have a discrete graphics card. I just asked if there is a way to enable the onboard GPU in Windows 10 or 11 without necessarily having a motherboard that supports graphics. You wouldn't have any outputs to connect a second or third monitor, but you could use its processing power to offload the discrete card.

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You still did not understand ...
Multi GPU feature does not work on its own , the program / game manufacturer chose to write code for it in his program or not , the upper list of games I shared are the only ones with Multi-GPU support and for specific GPUs , Intel wasn't included at all , mind you you need your GPUs to be DX12 in first place .

nIGHTmAYOR said:

You still did not understand ...
Multi GPU feature does not work on its own , the program / game manufacturer chose to write code for it in his program or not , the upper list of games I shared are the only ones with Multi-GPU support and for specific GPUs , Intel wasn't included at all , mind you you need your GPUs to be DX12 in first place .

Click to expand...

I speculate that "spapakons" Interest isn't gaming. Combining an iGPU with an old GT 620 probably wouldn't do much for top-tier games, even if it was possible.

I was hoping to reduce rendering times for HD video editing, but it seems I have to replace my graphics card. The problem is, apart from they are insanely expensive at the moment, my motherboard is full of expansion cards. There is no room for a graphics card that requires two available slots (the PCI-E x16 and the slot next to that), so if I would replace it I would use a card that is slim enough to occupy only one slot. Do you have any suggestions? Preferably a newer nVidia model, I don't like AMD. I would also consider a used or refurbished card, as long as it is faster than mine, there is no need to be a brand new model.

Nvidia Quadro series. Like a P4000. I have not owned one, just looking at benchmarks.

My main computer is also an ASUS and also did not come with the built-in/onboard video adapter/GPU, has to use a PCIe X16 card which in my case is a GeForce GT710.

Any of the latest higher end RTX GPUs would probably be severely bottlenecked on an i7-3700, I used a GTX 970 with my i7-3700K which was fine, should be OK with a 6GB GTX 1060 or GTX1660 maximum before bottlenecking becomes an issue, 1660 is more likely to actually be available and would be a vast improvement over that GT 620, Second user? for Nvidia any cards ending in 20 30 and 50 are low end entry level cards however newer cards are obviously a lot better. A GT1030 which are pretty cheap and available is still 557 times faster and a GTX1050 1139 times faster than your GT620 according to UserBenchmark, and probably a reasonable option if you don't want to start looking at a bigger PSU.

Looks like I would buy a newer entry level nVidia card, just not 710 GT since I believe it would not be a great difference from my 620 GT, probably a 1030 GT. Quadro might be rather expensive. I have to google first to make sure it occupies only one slot. Thank you all.

Thank you, I just had a look at a Greek site that anyone can sell or buy his used devices. I found one at 80€, maybe I will consider it for Christmas.

There are relatively low-end Quadro cards that are available at low prices on the used market. I guess that they're not attractive to gamers.

However, while I haven't done a lot of looking, the GT1030 may be the best choice, if you can find a single-slot version at an attractive price.