Arch Linux

alirezanet

Member

Registered: 2019-12-24

Posts: 23

should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

Hello.
Should I Use Nvidia gpu or intel in my laptop ? what is best solution to keep battery usage low and use full capabilities of system.

lspci :

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 620 (rev 02)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. HD Graphics 620
        Kernel driver in use: i915
        Kernel modules: i915
--
01:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GM108M [GeForce 940MX] (rev a2)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. GM108M [GeForce 940MX]
        Kernel driver in use: nvidia
        Kernel modules: nouveau, nvidia_drm, nvidia

neofetch:

                   -`                    alireza@myarch 
                  .o+`                   -------------- 
                 `ooo/                   OS: Arch Linux x86_64 
                `+oooo:                  Host: X510UQ 1.0 
               `+oooooo:                 Kernel: 5.4.6-arch3-1 
               -+oooooo+:                Uptime: 1 hour, 22 mins 
             `/:-:++oooo+:               Packages: 1122 (pacman) 
            `/++++/+++++++:              Shell: zsh 5.7.1 
           `/++++++++++++++:             Resolution: 1920x1080 
          `/+++ooooooooooooo/`           DE: Plasma 
         ./ooosssso++osssssso+`          WM: KWin 
        .oossssso-````/ossssss+`         WM Theme: Breezemite_dark 
       -osssssso.      :ssssssso.        Theme: Breeze-Dark [GTK2/3] 
      :osssssss/        osssso+++.       Icons: breeze-dark [GTK2/3] 
     /ossssssss/        +ssssooo/-       Terminal: konsole 
   `/ossssso+/:-        -:/+osssso+-     Terminal Font: Hack 11 
  `+sso+:-`                 `.-/+oso:    CPU: Intel i7-7500U (4) @ 3.500GHz 
 `++:.                           `-/+/   GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 940MX 
 .`                                 `/   GPU: Intel HD Graphics 620 
                                         Memory: 2280MiB / 11870MiB 

optimus-manager :

Current GPU mode : intel
GPU mode requested for next login : intel
GPU mode for next startup : intel

I can switch to nvidia or hybrid modes using this tool but i don't know what is the best solution ? or what are the differences between using these (nvidia - hybrid).
any advice is appreciated.
thank you.

Last edited by alirezanet (2019-12-26 11:42:17)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,405

Re: should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

Simply spoken: Staying on intel only will provide you with better battery life, switching to nvidia will provide you with better graphics performance. What's better for you at any given moment is something you will have to decide.

alirezanet

Member

Registered: 2019-12-24

Posts: 23

Re: should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

Simply spoken: Staying on intel only will provide you with better battery life, switching to nvidia will provide you with better graphics performance. What's better for you at any given moment is something you will have to decide.

yes you right but the question is what is the hybrid option? Does anyone use this ? and why?

Last edited by alirezanet (2019-12-26 11:40:30)

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 15,464

Re: should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

Hybrid mode allows you to switch without rebooting.

It's a recent addition to the nvidia driver, no idea how well it works.

---

Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,405

Re: should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

Hybrid technically allows both (enabling the nvidia card dynamically during runtime on a need basis), but due to your card not being a Turing level graphics card, you are not going to get the full power saving from having the nvidia card disabled, so if you want that you are better off with the intel only option.

IT also helps to read the projects readme as it answers questions like these: https://github.com/Askannz/optimus-mana … /README.md

Last edited by V1del (2019-12-26 13:30:34)

alirezanet

Member

Registered: 2019-12-24

Posts: 23

Re: should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

thank you.
that read me really helped. also this : https://github.com/Askannz/optimus-mana … nt-options
I want to try hybrid solution but i need to know is there anyway to check that nvidia gpu is running or its off ?

Last edited by alirezanet (2019-12-26 18:00:00)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 25,405

Re: should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

Check with nvidia-smi, you will also see the relevant power draw, you can not fully power it off in hybrid mode, that's reserved for Turing level GPUs (only in combination with Coffee Lake CPUs) right now

Last edited by V1del (2019-12-26 18:21:54)

alirezanet

Member

Registered: 2019-12-24

Posts: 23

Re: should i use nvidia or intel in laptop (what is Hybrid mode? )

thank you. so I'll use hybrid mode only when laptop is plugged in for now.