Interaction with NVidia GeForce 750m & Intel HD 4600 in HP Envy 17'

Hi there,
New here. Trying to ensure I stick to the good/bad thread title.

I have a HP Envy 17 Leap Motion SE NB PC with:

Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4702MQ CPU @ 2.20GHz
2x4GB Micron Technology 1600MHz
System Board:1968 KBC Version 93.52
BIOS: F.67

With Two Graphics Devices:
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 21.21.13.7866 (09/02/2017)


Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
10.18.15.4248 (29/06/2015)

Graphics Memory 2,161 MB

When I run Speccy it says

Operating System Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU Intel Core i7 @ 2.20GHz 55 °C Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard Hewlett-Packard 1968 (U3E1)

Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HP)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M (HP) 50 °C
ForceWare version: 378.66
SLI Disabled

Storage
698GB Hitachi HGST HTS541075A9E680 (SATA) 30 °C
698GB Hitachi HGST HTS541075A9E680 (SATA) 31 °C
57GB SanDisk Ultra Fit USB Device (USB)

Optical Drives
hp CDDVDW SU-208CB

Audio
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC

I have two questions or discussions if thats cool.

Why would there be a discrepency between the graphics memory report? The reason I ask is that Skyrim tells me there is 4GB VRam available and I would like to ensure that the program is running with the right number.

When I am using the NVidia card for gaming, internal and/or external screens, does the Intel card control the screen regarding brightness, contrast, gamma, colour etc? Reason I ask is that I want to run exclusively on NVidia, if possible

(quick question on typing on the forum - i seem to have sgnificant lag between keystroke and text appearing. Also, browser session from IE stops and has to restart. Anysettings I need to use?)

The specs for the laptop:

HP ENVY 17-j110ea Leap Motion SE Notebook PC Product Specifications | HP(R) Customer Support

claim that the nVidia graphics have 4GB of dedicated RAM. The Intel controller uses system RAM.

I believe that with switchable graphics like this, one controller or the other is in play. When the nVidia controller is used, I think that the Intel one is switched out completely. Not sure.

Thanks for the answers.

Devlin
I thought about that and it appears that Skyrim in this case tells me the physical memory when strapped to use the NVidia card. I think Bob is right as the specs in some places online do show 4GB on that card.

Bob
That is what I thought but my displays are still driven by the Intel control panel for gamma, brightness and the like. I can have the game running, fire up the Intel CP, and I can vary most attributes. I cannot do this with the NVidia card. SO perhaps when running through the NVidia in exclusive, then the Intel HD Graphics act as the monitor? So, is it possible that the Intel card always manages the screen (internal and/or external) and almost acts like a "passthrough" for the NVidia processing to the screen?

My Laptop is very similar, but a different manufacturer.
There is no discrepancy. The Nvidia Card has 4 GB of VRAM, the IGP HD4600 uses up to 2 GB this is taken from your main RAM (8GB).

So assuming you have selected the NVidia Card you would have say 6.5 GB of main RAM plus 1.5 GB for Windows, plus 4 GB of VRAM.

Select the IGP HD 4600 and you would have 4.5 GB of main RAM and the rest would be shared 2 GB plus 1.5 GB for Windows.
very approximately.

You can't run exclusively on Nvidia graphics, with Nvidia's Optimus switching. Internal or external monitor. You have to select the Application/Game defaults in the Nvidia Control Panel. Or right click the Application/Game shortcut and run which you choose.

The Nvidia control panel is not the same as you get on a Desktop PC with a separate Nvidia Graphics Card. In that case it is only the Nvidia Graphics that is used.
There are other scenarios but that is as simple as I can put it.
Technical details are here:
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/LO_op...itepapers.html

Helmut said:

(snip)

You can't run exclusively on Nvidia graphics, with Nvidia's Optimus switching.

(snip)

Thanks.

Optimus was the term I was unable to remember.

There's even a Wikipedia entry for it:

Nvidia Optimus - Wikipedia

It states that the integrated graphics processor always outputs the image. The nVidia device does the heavy processing in games.

The display hardware is common to either Graphics engine as you can see from the Nvidia info.

As to whether it slows the framerate depends on the overall scenario. The display hardware is a far less arduous task than what the Graphics chipset + CPU is doing.

In the case of a standard Laptop the display/frame rate is limited to 60 Hz. So a higher rendered frame rate means all are not actually displayed or you get tearing.