Hey folks! I've got a powerful PC that burns about 200W even when it's just idling with my RTX 3090 installed. Most of the time, while working, I only need to run a browser or watch some YouTube. I remember in my old gaming laptop, it would automatically switch to the integrated graphics for light tasks and only use the GTX 970 for more demanding software or games. Is there a way to do something similar with modern desktops?
5 Answers
Gaming laptops can achieve that since they both use one display. But with a desktop, you'd have to keep plugging in different outputs, plus your 3090 will still consume power in the meantime. It might be easier to just sell the 3090 and get something that's less power-hungry!
My setup with a 3060 only idles around 50W, so I'm curious why your 3090 is pulling so much power. There are some tools to help manage GPU power you might want to look into. If your monitor can handle both GPUs, you could plug them in and switch whenever you need, though it's mostly a laptop feature.
That 200W you're seeing at idle is mostly from other components like the CPU and RAM, rather than just the GPU. While you could technically switch to the iGPU, it may not be worth the hassle for the power savings you'd get.
Doing an undervolt on your GPU could potentially save you a lot of power with minimal effort, which might be better than switching GPUs constantly.
It really depends on whether your BIOS supports switching between the integrated and dedicated graphics. Even if you switch to the integrated GPU, it will still use some power, though likely not the full 200W.
What do you call it in the BIOS?
I noticed that too! My system idles around 129-150W when I checked HWMonitor.