When/why do I need a second graphic driver (Intel + AMD-ATI)?

pstein · 24 Jun 2013

I bought a new Samsung notebook with a core i7 CPU and an (additional)
AMD Radeon HD8870M graphic chip.

I guess the AMD Radeon chip is only for those users who are not satisfied with the (speed) of the Intel-built-in graphic chip.

What else are the advantages of using the AMD Radeon display chips over the Intel built-in graphic? Do I eventually miss some power options?

From my point of view I am ok with the Intel-graphic GPU.

Do I really have to install the additional AMD (Catalyst) drivers to let the notebook work properly?

Currently I installed only the Intel graphic drivers and the system seem to work fine.

As far as I can see the AMD graphic driver package installs many, many stuff (Control Center, Profile handler, utility, help for various languages,....). I hate these frills. Is there a way to only install the AMD drivers only - without the Catalyst stuff around?

Peter

Akutalji · 24 Jun 2013

New notebooks nowadays use dual graphic processors to help save power. When just browsing the internet and doing work on the desktop, the intel chip is used to save power. When you demand more graphic intense programs (games, HD Video), the ATI card kicks in to provide the best performance.

If you don't play lots of games, then the ATI card is not required.

And yes, you NEED to install the AMD Catalyst Control Center (CCC) for this option to function. The software (as of my current knowledge) is required to be installed for the drivers to work correctly.

Hope I answered some questions

bobafetthotmail · 24 Jun 2013

The ATI chip is also handy for watching movies (HD and 3D) and connecting the laptop to another screen or to have HD audio pass-through with HDMI cable. Other than for games and 3D modelling, and running some GPU-accelerated software.
Here to read more.
Would be interesting to know why you bought a laptop with a semi-gaming graphics when you don't even need it. That's all $$$ that could have been saved for something else.

I understand that CCC is a piece of trash (because NVIDIA ones are better, yeah right

), but why so much hate? It's not taking any real drive space.
After you installed it just write "msconfig" in the Start menu searchbox, press enter, go in the startup tab and disable any of ATI stuff entries.
Then it will just sit there doing nothing until you open it manually.

pstein · 27 Jun 2013

bobafetthotmail said:

The ATI chip is also handy for watching movies (HD and 3D)

Hmm, currently I have installed Intel HD grpahics driver but no ATI driver.

...and I can watch *.avi movies with well known VLC player on my laptop very well.

So is ATI Catalyst driver really necessary to watch movies?

Faladu · 27 Jun 2013

No it's not, but to use the hardware fully, apparently you need that driver installed.

8870M? That a typo?

bobafetthotmail · 27 Jun 2013

What kind of question is that? You already gave the answer.

Anyway, unless you encounter stuttering or issues, no.

But that just means that your movies aren't high-quality enough to warrant the use of a dedicated serious hardware decoder as in the ATI card. Nor using a screen big enough to need that other card.

I can watch 720p movies of any kind (that's standard TV quality) even on my netbook that has an Atom n455 (single core with multithreading) and its crappy GMA3150 for example. On my primary rig's screen (the one in my specs). *avi means nothing as video is encoded as MPEG2 anyway, and even my netbook has a hardware decoder for that (so your intel HD graphics does as well). It's the video's native resolution that matters.

Which again makes sound weird to see that someone bought a semi-gaming laptop to do something that anything in the 400$ range could have done without any issue.

Mark Phelps · 27 Jun 2013

pstein said:

I bought a new Samsung notebook with a core i7 CPU and an (additional)
AMD Radeon HD8870M graphic chip... Do I really have to install the additional AMD (Catalyst) drivers to let the notebook work properly?

Didn't the notebook come with the right drivers already installed?

Or, did you add the AMD card yourself, and are asking if you need to install the AMD drivers to use it?