GPU degrades graphics peformance

[cschaepe]

So one important requirement for me was that my SB be able to run Zwift (zwift.com). This is a graphics program for cyclists. Anyway I didn't expect my SB to be a graphics powerhouse but running this program with the GPU only gives 4 to 5 FPS no matter what the resolution is low or high. Running without the GPU ie without the base gives 18 FPS and runs nicely in high res mode.
I imagine the drivers are to blame, but I might as well get a SP4 or another PC as the one main reason I got the SB was the GPU for this one game.
I am ready to return the SB as the extra $500 to run 3 times slower is not acceptable.
Any advice would be welcome. Do I try the insider program for updates. Is it Windows 10, firmware or just a hardware design that is flawed?
-Craig
btw. Even my 2 year old i7 laptop w/o a discrete GPU gives me 15FPS

 

[leeshor]

Welcome to the forum

Based on all the tests and reviews I've seen you may have a bad base, unless that software just doesn't like that GPU. Your results are backwards. With that said the entire system might benefit from the Insider build. If it still does it I would get an exchange.

 

[cschaepe]

one thing that leads me to believe the GPU is working is that I ran passtest testing tools and it claimed that my GPU was double the speed of my old laptop. Presumably if it was not working it would not test at double the speed. So perhaps it is a firmware driver or something off in the program I use.

 

[cschaepe]

More information. If I select the onboard GPU when I launch the application it still seems to want to use the discrete GPU. It tells me I cannot detach the base even if I select the onboard GPU.

I have to start the program with the base detached so it doesn't try and use the dGPU. Then I can dock it and it will run ok. Granted without using the dGPU but at least it is not getting confused by having both GPU's available.

I really like my SB but I need it to be able to run my Zwift.com application preferably with the dGPU working properly.

 

[Telstar1948]

FWIW, I've read that the two GPU's are supposed to work together. From that I didn't get that it's one or the other but rather both in sync working together. Maybe that's blarney but I've seen that somewhere.

 

[Aegeas]

In my opinion, this is not your SB's issue. Zwift needs to be fixing this with Nvidia. They have written their application to grab the video adapter it thinks is best and in this case it isn't selecting correctly.

 

[flar]

Have you checked its selection in the nVidia Control Panel? Perhaps the preference in the CP overrides the "launch with" option in the context menu?

 

[cschaepe]

In my opinion, this is not your SB's issue. Zwift needs to be fixing this with Nvidia. They have written their application to grab the video adapter it thinks is best and in this case it isn't selecting correctly.

Well it very well may be zwifts problem but it is not just selecting the wrong GPU. If I detach the base and run, it gives acceptable performance. If I run with the base and ensure it is using the dGPU it runs at a third of the speed. With GFXBench the Tesselation score is much slower with the dGPU. Attached are the screen prints

 

[cschaepe]

I downloaded GfxBench and ran the tests. In the offscreen tests it seems to test as normal. The onscreen tests are way below what they should be. Given that my OpenGL game does run like crap with the dGPU it seems to indicate something is wrong.
Do I have a bum GPU?
Can someone look at the screen prints of the results and compare them to there SB? I need some proof that I have a bum GPU or not.

Link removed by Admin, not working properly.

Thanks
-Craig
SB i7/16/512

 

[cschaepe]

As further proof that the additional Nvidia GPU is weak. I ran Cinebench 11.5 OpenGL test both with and without the dGPU

dGPU = 26.32 FPS
iGPU 520 = 28 FPS

Why would MS put a GPU that performs worse than the integrated GPU?

 

[gootdude]

It's been known for quite some time that this is a custom version of the 940m with faster memory. Your results beat the 940m, and that's all you should expect.

The dGPU is definitely much faster than the 520 iGPU as benchmarks and real world use has shown, so there must be something screwed up in the drivers/optimization for Cinebench to perform so poorly.

Microsoft has definitely aimed for very low overall temperatures, as I've overclocked the card with nvidia inspector and haven't seen the dGPU temp ever exceed 65C, so I'm not sure why they decided on such a weak configuration.

Hopefully the future will include more powerful dGPU's for purchase, but since these aren't built for gaming, I wouldn't expect it.

 

[cschaepe]

The only reason I was benchmarking the dGPU with Cinebench & GfxBench was that it was only giving 4-5 FPS for an OpenGL game "Zwift" I was using. While the built in 520 was giving 18FPS. I would at least expect it to outperform the onboard 520. If it did not way spend the extra dough.

Perhaps with DirectX it is better, but every test I have done with OpenGL says that it performs worse to much worse.

I don't know the reason it may come down to only having 1 gig of ram for the dGPU.