GPU Hardware Acceleration

[mharris85VYU]

My client buys Alienware X17 R2 laptops for their engineers to run Civil 3D. They use an HP Thunderbolt Dock 230W G2 w/ combo cable dock to connect multiple monitors, Ethernet and some other peripherals. While troubleshooting an issue with one of the computers and dock, I came across the setup and specifications document for the Alienware. As I was reading through it, I noticed that for the Thunderbolt port on the laptop, it only supports graphics acceleration from the integrated (Intel) graphics and not the discrete graphics card (Nvidia 3080). Per the document since it is a gaming laptop "For the best gaming performance, connect your display directly through your computer's HDMI port." The laptop has one HDMI port and 1 mini display port. My question is since they are connecting monitors through the Thunderbolt port, would the lack of graphics acceleration from the 3080 cause a noticeable performance drop in Civil 3D and other Autodesk software?

[GKNIGHT892NE]

My knowledge and experience is that AutoCAD creates most of the performance drop rather than the graphics card acceleration or software based.  In other words it doesn't matter in what I'm doing. There is not a lot of 3D zooming around or orbiting a complex structure/landscape.

I recommend getting all the memory you can.

[nkg2]

I just want to say I am glad to know that MS Surface is not the only company to do what Alienware is doing.  I bought my surface with the upgraded video card as well and had to go into the nvidia control panel to point the resources to autocad or it would default to the IRIS card on the surface.  There is no way to force nvidia to be the lead graphics card for everything.  Needless to say I love my Surface but I have expressed frustration as to why I lost money buying a video card if it is limited to programs that I need to run instead of running it like it was intended (to be primary).  Off my soap box.  

[thejac]

You don't need the Nvidia control panel to do this as it is built into both Windows 10/11 now.

1. Select the Start  button, then select Settings .

2. In Settings , select System  > Display  > Graphics.

3. Under Custom options for apps, select the app or game you want to change the graphics settings for, then select Options.

4. In Graphics preference, do one or more of the following:

   • If your PC has more than one graphics processor (GPU), select the graphics performance setting you want to use for the app or game—Let Windows decide (Power saving), Power saving, or High performance.