I'm trying to reduce my RTX 5070's idle power usage while browsing and watching YouTube. I enabled the Ryzen 9700X's integrated graphics through the BIOS and followed a guide with a few additional settings. However, Task Manager shows the iGPU at roughly 15% usage during video playback while the RTX 5070 still shows around 11%. I expected the dedicated GPU to remain almost completely idle.
HWiNFO64 shows that the RTX 5070's total power draw stays about the same even when I watch videos, so I'm unsure whether the Task Manager percentage actually indicates meaningful activity. Task Manager's GPU Engine column identifies the browser as the process using the GPU. My monitor is still connected to the RTX 5070 because the guide said connecting it to the motherboard video output was unnecessary.
System: Ryzen 9700X, RTX 5070, MSI B850M Gaming Plus WiFi. What could be causing the dedicated GPU to remain active, and is there a reliable way to reduce its idle power draw?
3 Answers
Where is the monitor connected? If it’s plugged into the RTX 5070, the card generally has to remain active because it is driving the display. Enabling the CPU’s iGPU in BIOS doesn’t automatically transfer display output to it. To test the lower-power setup, connect the monitor to the motherboard’s video output and make sure the iGPU is enabled, then check whether the RTX 5070 reaches a lower idle power state.
You can leave the monitor connected to the dedicated GPU for gaming, but that may prevent the card from reaching its lowest idle state. Browser hardware acceleration can also create a small amount of GPU activity. If the reported board power and clock speeds remain unchanged, the 11% usage may just be a measurement of a small video or compositing workload rather than a significant increase in power consumption. Try disabling browser hardware acceleration as a test, but video playback may then use more CPU power.
Check Task Manager’s GPU Engine column by right-clicking the heading row. That will show which GPU and engine each application is actually using. A browser can still use the dedicated GPU for hardware acceleration, even if the integrated graphics is enabled. Also, the utilization percentage alone doesn’t tell you how much power the card is consuming; HWiNFO’s board power and idle clocks are more useful for this.
The browser is definitely the process showing activity while YouTube is playing, but nothing else seems to be using the card. HWiNFO reports that the total power draw barely changes.
The monitor is still connected to the RTX 5070 because the guide said that should not be necessary. I’ll need to test the motherboard output, although I’d prefer to keep the monitor connected to the dedicated GPU for games.