Disable GPU (GTX 970) and use onboard graphics?

ravihpa

Junior Member
Feb 25, 2009
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Hi guys,

Basically, I work from home, and I have only one PC. Recently, I caved in and bought a GTX 970 for gaming, and here's my complete config...

Monitor - Dell S2409W 24" Full HD Monitor.
Processor - Intel Core i5 4440 @ 3.10 Ghz.
Motherboard - ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 2.
GPU - ASUS Strix GTX 970 4 GB GDDR5.
RAM - Kingston 8 GB 1600 Mhz.
PSU - Seasonic M12II 620W EVO Edition (FULLY MODULAR)
FANS - 3 x Cooler Master Silencio FP 120 PWM Fans.

Now, throughout the week, I work on this PC for 8 to 10 hours EACH DAY, and will only be able to game on this PC once or twice a week on my weekly offs. It just seems waste of power and energy to keep the GPU running all this time without any use.

Another thing is, we also have frequent power cuts, and I have a 900VA inverter/UPS (with a huge truck battery) at home. I know for sure WITHOUT THE GPU my inverter can power this thing for 4 to 6 hours straight, which enables me to work without interruptions.

Now, I wanted to know, is there a way to disable my GTX 970 and only use the onboard graphics?

One thing that I have in mind is open the case side panel and simply UNPLUG the power pin of the GPU (which would still be plugged in the PCI-E slot), and simply plug it back in when I want to game on the PC.

I know it seems like a hassle but I can only game once or twice a week, so I'll be doing this pin unplugging/plugging thing once or twice a week :)

Is it safe to keep the GPU plugged into the PCI-E slot with the power pin unplugged?

What would you recommend ? I would love to hear your input on this :)
 

Seba

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
1,599
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Leave it like it is. While not gaming, GTX 970 (or any other modern graphics card) consumes little power.
 

dailow

Member
Oct 27, 2001
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0
66
If you go the route of unplugging the power from the GTX 970, then it would be better to remove it from the system entirely. It might not necessarily function with the power pins unplugged, but it could still be drawing power. I believe a PCI-E slot alone can provide up to 75W of power to a card.
 

Sabrewings

Golden Member
Jun 27, 2015
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You'd also be swapping your monitor input cable from one to the other constantly. It's easier to just leave it in. Honestly, the 2D power use of a GPU is not much at all.
 

Zodiark1593

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2012
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The idle power use of modern cards is quite low, I believe between 10 watts and 25 watts. A drop in the bucket compared to anything else in the house. Leave it as is.
 

JeffMD

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2002
2,026
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Your 970 is so optimized that it will consume tiny amounts of power if not in 3d gaming (and be downlocked significantly), and under normal settings will run without the fans even running as long as the case itself isn't getting too hot.
 

Seba

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
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I do not think that he is worried about the energy cost, but about the shortening of the duration his UPS can power the PC during a prolonged blackout. But in his place I would first test this and only inquired about options if the duration is considerably diminished.
 

TheELF

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2012
4,027
753
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I do not think that he is worried about the energy cost, but about the shortening of the duration his UPS can power the PC during a prolonged blackout.
It's the same thing, 10W is not going to shorten the time by much.
 

Seba

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2000
1,599
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It is the same thing only if it is 10 W. If it would be let's say 100 W, energy cost would still be negligible (compared to the cost of energy for the rest of the house), but from UPS duration point of view, 100 W more would be a significant increase.

One instance in which the idle power consumption could be higher is in configurations with multiple monitors. But in this case there is only one monitor.
 

ravihpa

Junior Member
Feb 25, 2009
10
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0
Wow, thanx a lot for all the input guys :D

Like Seba said, I'll just have to test it out and see how much my inverter lasts with this newer addition of GPU :)

If it works and my inverter gives acceptable hours of backup, then no problem at all, but if it shuts my PC down, then I'll have to figure something out.

May be unplug power pin of GPU card and disable PCI-E in the bios so it doesn't provide power to the card.

I don't feel comfortable COMPLETELY UNPLUGGING the card and plugging it back in once or twice a week :p

Let's see how things pan out :D

Once again, THANX A LOT TO ALL YOU GUYS for your input. Really appreciate it :)
 
Last edited:

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,595
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Do not plug/unplug the card repeatedly. Those connectors aren't rated for a high number of plug/unplug cycles. IIRC the Molex spec for PCI-e power connectors only calls for 30 or so cycles... and the motherboard PCI-e slot not much more than that...
 

ravihpa

Junior Member
Feb 25, 2009
10
0
0
Yes, not in favor of manually unplugging the card and replugging it every now and then.

I would prefer keeping it plugged and manually removing the power pin from the card or since I have a modular power supply, unplugging the power supply from the PSU itself.

And may be disabling the PCI-E in the bios so the mobo doesn't power the card, IF AT ALL THAT IS POSSIBLE.

But that is only if my inverter doesn't give acceptable backup :)

My motherboard will be arriving tomorrow, and I'll be assembling my PC tomorrow. Let's see how it goes.

Will definitely post here of the outcome :)
 

JeffMD

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2002
2,026
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Your priorities are misplaced if you are worried about your UPS times. If you actually have to rely on such a device enough times that you are worried your 970gtx will shorten your time on it, then you need to look into working on a second computer or better yet, a laptop to do your work on, and leave your PC to play only.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
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https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/25.html

10 watts idle. Let's be generous and say 15W with efficiency accounted for. With 8-10 hours of work per day, we get to 3000 hours per year with off days accounted for. Again, pretty generous. That works out to 30 kW per year. How much does a kW of electricity cost? $0.15. All this hassle for less than $5 savings per year? Seriously?
 

Zodiark1593

Platinum Member
Oct 21, 2012
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https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/25.html

10 watts idle. Let's be generous and say 15W with efficiency accounted for. With 8-10 hours of work per day, we get to 3000 hours per year with off days accounted for. Again, pretty generous. That works out to 30 kW per year. How much does a kW of electricity cost? $0.15. All this hassle for less than $5 savings per year? Seriously?

He's looking at it due to the UPS as OP apparently intends to be able to continue work during a power outage.

With this usage scenario in mind, a laptop connected to display would be much more ideal. Power goes out, dc the lappy and do work. For play and file storage, that is what Mr. Deskie is for. Or otherwise, just have the ups power the desktop long enough to transition your work to the laptop.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
The only reason I see for concern would be the browser using the video card. Most/all browsers have a single option that can toggle this off and on. So toggle it to off when you are working, back on when you are not. No power adjustments required.

But even with that, I agree with your current plan to just test it first. Make sure you are running everything that would be running if you were working.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
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Do not plug/unplug the card repeatedly. Those connectors aren't rated for a high number of plug/unplug cycles. IIRC the Molex spec for PCI-e power connectors only calls for 30 or so cycles... and the motherboard PCI-e slot not much more than that...

Hmm, 30 seems really, really low, could of swore this was over 2500 on the power plug, and 200 on the connector pins on the card itself.

Most UPS software tells you the power draw, so, it would be as simple as looking at the current load, then run something intensive, and see what the current load is then.
If you want to extend time as long as possible without putting system to sleep mode, then you need to setup a power plan that turns off monitors & HDs, and enable power savings mode on the CPU. That should get you at least 20 hours on a modern system doing minimal stuff, which the truck battery should easily handle. (BTW, I hope that beast is ventilated!)
Also remember to NOT power down the HDs too quickly, since to get them to spin up requires the most load.
 

coercitiv

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2014
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The only reason I see for concern would be the browser using the video card. Most/all browsers have a single option that can toggle this off and on. So toggle it to off when you are working, back on when you are not. No power adjustments required.
And then watch movies without hardware acceleration, and have the CPU go full throttle. :sneaky:

If OP is curious about his PC excess power usage through the week, he should measure it first (idle power usage). Taking any steps before that is equivalent to fixing something that ain't broken.
 

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,103
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Haven't used discrete graphics card for many years, didn't know modern graphics card use so little idle power, great to know.
 

Jovec

Senior member
Feb 24, 2008
579
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Use the UPS to either save and shut-down the computer or to buy time to get the generator up.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
And then watch movies without hardware acceleration, and have the CPU go full throttle. :sneaky:...

Um, no. Well, at least not with the way I watch movies (Media Player or VLC, which would be unaffected). And the point of the thread is at work, which is not a time he would be watching movies. That is the nice part about toggling hardware acceleration in the browser. Once work is over, toggle one setting, and back in business.
 

ravihpa

Junior Member
Feb 25, 2009
10
0
0
Thanx so much for all the replies guys. This is great :D

By the way, my motherboard arrived a day late and it missed out on my weekly off, so couldn't assemble the PC :(

I have another weekly off this Sunday, so will be assembling the PC this weekend :D

Will post here how it goes :)