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How to force NVidia 1060 on Surface Book 2

Anonymous
2017-12-07T20:27:23+00:00

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!

Surface | Surface Book | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-12-27T19:02:29+00:00

    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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-03-04T18:08:55+00:00

    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.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-27T18:38:44+00:00

    Thank Tommy, perhaps you haven't read through the thread but NCP is preloaded on SB2 and most of us here have already made all possible selections to "force" high powered graphics but fact remains that SB2 balances load across both GPUs and worst, favors use of iGPU regardless of selection.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-27T02:39:48+00:00

    Uhm...

    Just go to nvidia.com, download and install G Force Experience, you will then have the Nvidia Control Panel and you can choose to force the Surface Book 2 to use the Nvidia all the time (which is what i have it set on since i rarely run on battery)....

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-10T19:42:38+00:00

    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.

    My current guess is this might be an underlying provision baked into their Power Slider scheme https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/customize-power-slider

    Also Power Options is configured to hide a lot of options and for you to tweak you need regedit. There is one in particular, Surface Overlay Power Setting, that has me intrigued as to what configurable options may be but alas they have it locked down :( sigh. If you want to see what I'm talking about, follow these instructions here: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-max-intel-hd-graphics-surface-pro-4

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