Laptop using onboard Intel HD 4600 instead of Quadro K1100M?

1st Official Post

    Finally decided to repurpose a Dell Precision M3800 for my HTPC. I just did a fresh install of LibreELEC. The laptop has an Intel i7-4712hq with built in Intel HD 4600, but also has an Nvidia Quadro K1100M that is MUCH more powerful. When viewing system information the GPU = Mesa DRI Intel(R) Haswell Mobile.

    I may be wrong, but I feel the Nvidia Quadro would be ideal. Is there a way to make it use this GPU instead?

    Intel CPU specs = Intel® Core™ i7-4712HQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz) Product Specifications

    Nvidia GPU specs = NVIDIA Quadro K1100M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

    In some Dells with dual graphics hardware there I believe is a setting in the BIOS to specify the default graphics option - but I don't know about the M3800. (Typically F2 on boot up to enter BIOS on Dells.)

    • Official Post

    Most nVidia GPUs suffer from under-development on closed-source VDPAU so even if the card is vastly superior in mathematical compute capabilities it may not necessarily be any better than the Intel GPU which is still capable of hardware accelerating the same range of media. Kodi is not a complex OpenGL app, so it doesn't really need or benefit from high-end GPUs.

    • Official Post

    Just a little explanation: On a Linux OS like LE, the OS selects the the eGPU (your Nvidia) as default. It seems like the driver for your eGPU is not available, so the OS switches to the iGPU (your Intel). If you really think it's worth to go into depth, provide a log file.

    Quote from chewitt

    Most nVidia GPUs suffer from under-development on closed-source VDPAU so even if the card is vastly superior in mathematical compute capabilities it may not necessarily be any better than the Intel GPU which is still capable of hardware accelerating the same range of media. Kodi is not a complex OpenGL app, so it doesn't really need or benefit from high-end GPUs.

    Perfect, this is what I was trying to discover. I know the GPU is technically much more powerful, but is it even worth bothering with the Intel igp. I couldn't find a direct answer on if the Intel could handle 264/265, 1080p/60, 4k/30 or 4k/60 with hardware decoding.