#Hotswitch panel pc movie#
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It will therefore consume more power in order to render the ‘power-hungry’ graphics. Usually, the second GPU is more powerful than the main one.

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When you engage a game or a 3D movie or software, the light will turn to orange to indicate that your NVidia GPU is now running. You save more power with the main GPU than the dedicated GPU. This is the case when you are running small tasks. When your GPU is not running, you will see a white or blue light on the side of your laptop, on top or on your power button. To switch to your NVidia dedicated GPU, Right-click the blank space on the desktop, select NVIDIA Control Panel to switch between two graphics manually under Manage 3D Settings > Preferred Graphics Processor. If you want to know whether you have a dedicated NVidia GPU, go to Device Manager > Under Display adapters > you should see your main GPU (e.g. NVidia provides a range of graphic adapters that are used for your computer’s dedicated graphics processing unit.

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This includes games, 3D movies, 3D modeling and some graphic design software like Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. The second GPU is usually a dedicated GPU that is automatically activated when heavy graphics come into play. The first GPU is an integrated GPU that is usually provided for normal computer usage, which does not need heavy graphical processing. Use brains, not brawn.Some laptops come equipped with two Graphics Processing Units (GPU). You'll break it, and then you'll burn out whatever device you're hooking up.

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If perchance you find yourself having to install something with a P7 connector, and it doesn't slip on easily, you probably have it on backwards. Consequently, many brand-new drives were immediately burned to a crisp the first time the computers in which they were installed were powered up. You're unlikely to need this one nowadays.Īlthough P7 connectors were keyed, they were also flimsy so it was very easy to force them on the wrong way. But there are exceptions.įloppy drives, older optical drives, and some other IDE and EIDE devices connected using an even smaller power connector called a P7, which is shown in this picture. They're usually located on the edge of the motherboard that will be closest to the front of the computer when the motherboard is installed. Unfortunately, there's no standardization regarding the exact location of the panel headers. That's why all the connectors for which polarity matters (mainly the LED's) are marked with a tiny '+' sign or arrow to identify the positive wire. That means it is possible to attach the leads in the wrong polarity.

The front-panel leads connect to a bus on the motherboard marked with tiny text and polarity markings, when needed, because the headers are not keyed in any way. If the case has front-mounted USB ports or a card reader, there will be leads for those accessories, as well. The connectors usually include those for the power and reset switches, the power LED and hard drive activity LED's, and on some cases, the system speaker. Like any other unused adapters, if your power supply has one or more P4 leads that you don't need, tie them off out of the way of fans, other components, and metal parts.Įvery computer case comes with a set of wires usually called 'front panel leads' that connects the motherboard to the LED's and switches on the front panel. Newer devices tend to use either a SATA power connector (because power supplies tend to come with an abundance of them), or the 6- or 8-pin GPU connector described earlier in this page.

If you're in doubt, consult your motherboard's manual.įor a while, some other devices (especially high-powered video cards) also used a P4 connector to supply extra juice beyond what they could get from the expansion slots. As a general rule, if the motherboard has a socket for a P4 connection, it should be connected. Many motherboards designed for newer Intel and AMD processors also require the P4 lead.

Some AMD Athlon processors also required the P4 lead.

It was attached to a socket on the motherboard that usually was located very near the CPU. This connector got its start with the Intel Pentium 4 processor, which required an additional connector that wound up being called the P4 connector.