How to force NVidia 1060 on Surface Book 2

Question

Hi.....  proud new owner of a 15" Surface Book 2!

I cannot find where to tell the PC which GPU to use for an app.   I had owned the previous Surface Book and there was an NVidia Control panel thatgave you all kinds of control over that.

The new Surface Book 2 doesn't have that installed on it and it seems that it's stuck using the crappy Intel Pro 620 GPU on every piece of software.  I haven't modified ANYTHING since I unboxed it last night (in other words, I haven't screwed any drivers or anything up).   If I look under Device Manager, it shows both the Intel 620 and the NVidia 1060 as graphics adapters.

I'm sure this is something very simple but thanks for helping!

Answer 1

The NVIDIA Control Panel does not appear when pressing Start and typing because it is not in the list of apps in the Start menu. 

To open it, go to: Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, NVIDIA Control Panel.

Answer 2

try downloading the latest Surface Book firmware here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49497

go to your "system information" find "version" and download the firmware closest to that number.....

if all else fail...MS can "Fresh Start" your laptop.  Unfortunately, thats what I had to do but everything is working properly after that. Make sure you back up everything first.

Answer 3

Just so you guys know, this is likely an adobe issue. I edit in Davinci Resolve and i am getting full use of the 1060 GPU. I am editing Red Raw 4k, 6k, and 8K footage (quarter res playback), mixed in with some Sony footage with little issues. Davinci only sees the Nvidia.  Just wanted to put that out there.

i hope they do fix this though as i have a VR project i need to edit.

Randal, VLC and WMP behave EXACTLY the same way though. Even after making copies and remainin .exe so that you can select High-performance graphics, SB2 balances the load across the two GPUs.

Answer 4

Interesting, Randall.

I know there's been at least one person to also have issues with a legacy installation of PP, so I wonder if the issue is a fundamental software incompatibility or if it could be remedied via software updates.

I will be piloting Davinci Resolve, but seeing as how deeply rooted I am into Adobes family of products (and Premiere Pro's market share), I would love to see the this issue resolved on either Microsoft or Adobe's part.

Answer 5

Just so you guys know, this is likely an adobe issue. I edit in Davinci Resolve and i am getting full use of the 1060 GPU. I am editing Red Raw 4k, 6k, and 8K footage (quarter res playback), mixed in with some Sony footage with little issues. Davinci only sees the Nvidia.  Just wanted to put that out there.

i hope they do fix this though as i have a VR project i need to edit.