@johnebaker

I went ahead and made sure again that my Intel GPU drivers are up to date. It didn't change anything however. Oddly enough, I do not even get the Intel "Graphics Properties" option when right-clicking on the desktop. I also do not have the option to change my preferred GPU in the Nvidia Control Panel.

I went ahead and instead disconnected one of my screens from the GTX 1080 and connected it to the integrated GPU. Then the Graphics Properties menu showed up and VPX did Hardware Acceleration (the encoding went faster than realtime). However I still wasn't able to select my preferred GPU in the Nvidia Control Panel. My guess is that it's because I have 3 monitors connected and thus still had 2 monitors connected to my GPU. However, once I switched the cable over to my GPU again, Hardware Acceleration stopped working again, too.

Having one of my monitors connected to the Motherboard is sadly no option for me, as well as not using my GTX 1080 at all (it's an expensive card, I didn't buy it for no reason). I do competitive gaming, I need consistent 250fps in my games as well as minimum input lag. I can't simply not use the GPU, that's not an option.

I'll try around a bit more, but I'm kind of disappointed that this just doesn't want to work.

So apparently the Preferred GPU option in the Nvidia Control Panel is just Nvidia Optimus which is a technology for Laptops, I'm running a PC however and not a Laptop.

So I guess there is no way to get hardware acceleration without having to have at least one of my monitors connected to the iGPU. However, what is the talk about NVENC H.265 Hardware Accelerated encoding then? Because that obviously doesn't seem to exist.

@Treeniks

Hi

. . . . I do not even get the Intel "Graphics Properties" option when right-clicking on the desktop . . . .

That suggests you have the Windows version of the drivers installed - did you download the Intel Driver Assistant and Installer and run it.

. . . . . However I still wasn't able to select my preferred GPU in the Nvidia Control Panel. My guess is that it's because I have 3 monitors connected and thus still had 2 monitors connected to my GPU . . . .

That should not make any difference the iGPU can be used with no monitors attached.

As you are gaming did you follow item 2 in the topic I linked to?

. . . . what is the talk about NVENC H.265 Hardware Accelerated encoding then? Because that obviously doesn't seem to exist. . . . .

Video Pro X can use the NVENC HWA, however only for h.265 (HEVC) - File, Export movie, Video as HEVC.

HTH

John EB

@johnebaker

That suggests you have the Windows version of the drivers installed - did you download the Intel Driver Assistant and Installer and run it.

Yes, it says everything is up to date.

And like I said before, I do get the "Graphics Properties" option once one of my monitors is connected to the iGPU.
And I don't quite understand what you mean with Windows version of the drivers, am I supposed to install the Linux drivers or what? Or are you just talking about the drivers that come with a Windows installation in the first place?

That should not make any difference the iGPU can be used with no monitors attached.

As you are gaming did you follow item 2 in the topic I linked to?

Like I said, I don't have the option to select which GPU to use. Neither for the Global, nor for the per-program setting. The option to do so is done by Nvidia Optimus, which is only for Laptops and thus the option doesn't exist on PCs.

Video Pro X can use the NVENC HWA, however only for h.265 (HEVC) - File, Export movie, Video as HEVC.

You basically just repeated what I said. My question was why NVENC HWA doesn't work for HEVC export for me, however I was able to figure out why. NVENC HWA is a feature of VPX10, I only have VPX version 15.0.3.154 which is VPX9. My VPX version doesn't have NVENC HWA, that's why it didn't work all along. The confusion came because of the new way Magix names their products, because there is no clear difference between the different VPX version anymore (which is kind of stupid in my opinion), thus there was hardly any way for me to easily check whether or not my version even has a certain feature (and Im not paying another $150 for the upgrade, at least not right now).

I'm just going to have to live with the fact that one of my screens runs off of the iGPU because otherwise there seems to be no way to get VPX to use Hardware Acceleration.

@Treeniks

Hi

. . . . I don't quite understand what you mean with Windows version of the drivers . . . .

Microsoft supply drivers for a lot of hardware and these are part of Windows, however as I found with my new M/B etc the drivers are not always up to date.

. . . . I supposed to install the Linux drivers or what . . . .

You would not be able to install them - Linux is an entirely different operating system.

. . . . . The confusion came because of the new way Magix names their products, because there is no clear difference between t . . . .

Agreed and my apologies - I missed that you were on VPX9.

. . . . I don't have the option to select which GPU to use. Neither for the Global, nor for the per-program setting. The option to do so is done by Nvidia Optimus, which is only for Laptops and thus the option doesn't exist on PCs. . . . .

That is odd - my old PC which has an NVidia card, albeit an older version, and Intel GPU, with the same NVidia control panel as you posted, does have the option.

. . . . . I'm just going to have to live with the fact that one of my screens runs off of the iGPU because otherwise there seems to be no way to get VPX to use Hardware Acceleration. . . .

That is very odd because it should not happen, however if you can live with it then at least you can proceed.

HTH

John EB

@johnebaker

. . . . I supposed to install the Linux drivers or what . . . .

You would not be able to install them - Linux is an entirely different operating system.

I was joking ^^

That is odd - my old PC which has an NVidia card, albeit an older version, and Intel GPU, with the same NVidia control panel as you posted, does have the option.

Nvidia Optimus was always referred to be for "mobile" devices. But I've seen many people on the Geforce Forums that, just like me, are searching for the option and don't have it. After some searching I found that Nvidia was apparently working on a Desktop version of the technology called "Synergy" but according to Wikipedia it was never released. But all the information I could find about the topic was very contradictory.
What I did find out though is that apparently Razer (and others) used to have some driver packages for Nvidia GPUs (specifically for things like the Razer Core Enclosure) that did include Nvidia Optimus. Is it possible you have some sort of Razer driver or Razer synapse installed on that PC? Because that could be the reason you have the option on it.

That is very odd because it should not happen, however if you can live with it then at least you can proceed.

Well, I'd still like the Hardware acceleration to work without needing to plug in one of my monitors to the iGPU. I guess it's just a bug with VPX9, since H.264 exporting has no trouble using Hardware acceleration, even when not having the iGPU plugged in. So I guess they just improved the stability of Hardware acceleration and added NVENC support with VPX10. It works for now, but I guess I'll just have to upgrade at some point (or just switch over to Vegas Pro because it seems to have much less problems with these kind of things).

@Treeniks

Hi

. . . . You would not be able to install them - Linux is an entirely different operating system.

I was joking ^^ . . . .

Thank goodness for that 😀 - I know it has been done, how the person managed it I do not know, however it totally bricked their PC OS - what a mess it was to clear up as I was 'not allowed' to do the obvious - wipe and start again.

Have a look at this topic it may give you more clues as to what is happening.

John EB

@johnebaker

Thank goodness for that 😀 - I know it has been done

I'm expected to start studying computer science in around 8 months and have been working with Computer Peripherals my whole life, so I know what I'm doing ^^ I imagine it requires some serious dedication to actually install a driver meant for a different OS...

Have a look at this topic it may give you more clues as to what is happening.

Well the post at least clears up why the Graphics Properties option disappears. It doesn't explain why VPX doesn't want to use the iGPU for Hardware Acceleration unless it's plugged in however (though they do say it becomes idle when not connected).

However I noticed something that makes me think that it's all just a bug from VPX:
Now for H.265 encoding (HEVC export) Hardware Acceleration just didn't work, unless the iGPU was connected to at least one monitor right.
I tried to look into H.264 encoding again since from my testings early on, VPX said that Hardware Acceleration was actually enabled when encoding with H.264 even without having the iGPU connected to a monitor. But I remember how it didn't make any difference in performance, whether I turned on Hardware Acceleration or not.
So I tried it again: plugged off the iGPU, tried H.264 encoding and VPX clearly said "Hardware Accelerated" (with no monitor connected) in the export window but the export was as slow as ever. I went in the export settings and turned off Hardware Acceleration, now the "Hardware Accelerated" was gone but the export was just as slow as before.
Then I plugged in the iGPU again, tried the same thing and when having Hardware Acceleration on, the export was way faster than real time.

So either Intel's driver forces the iGPU to be idle when not connected to a monitor, even if a program tries to use it (and then VPX H.264 encoding not realizing that the iGPU doesn't do any work), or my current VPX version just has a bug. Clearly it said that it was using Hardware Acceleration, even though it wasn't. The inconsistencies between HEVC and normal MPEG-4 export are really what confused me in the first place. I originally thought Hardware Acceleration was only not working for me for H.265 encoding, turns out it wasn't working for H.264 encoding either.

I'll make sure to try if it's any different if I come around to upgrade to the latest version of VPX to definitively say whether it's just Intel's driver forcing the iGPU to be idle or VPX having a bug.

I guess the problem is solved then (though I wouldn't know which response to tag as solution since we didn't really find a solution other than connecting one of the monitors to the iGPU).

@Treeniks

Hi

. . . . I tried to look into H.264 encoding again since from my testings early on, VPX said that Hardware Acceleration was actually enabled when encoding with H.264 even without having the iGPU connected to a monitor.. . . . . But I remember how it didn't make any difference in performance, whether I turned on Hardware Acceleration or not. . . . .

That is most odd.

Do you have, or can you create, a small non-confidential test project, which shows this, note the times for export with and without HWA turned on, that you can package using File, Backup copy, Copy project and media into folder, Zip up the backup folder and upload the zip file to Dropbox or somewhere similar where we can test it?

John EB

@johnebaker

sure thing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FzsmxUeyqo3FusQa_RRoRGxgXs3AIKEX/view?usp=sharing
just some random Monster Hunter World gameplay.

I tested three situation for H.264 encoding. I used the "MP4 FullHD 1920x1080 59.94p" preset and changed the framerate from 59.94fps to 60fps for all exports.

with HWA on and the iGPU connected to a monitor: 34 seconds
with HWA on and the iGPU not connected to a monitor (VPX saying that the export is Hardware Accelerated): 2 minutes and 16 seconds
with HWA off: 2 minutes and 22 seconds

I am asking for help regarding my Magix video pro x program.

After upgrades, it has very poor performance. Support for the external graphics card does not work. Only the Intel integrated card works. But the performance is very poor. The program does not use 2 cards as it has until recently.It pops up constantly in AVCHD files and only in them to activate the audio and this message is still displayed, but unfortunately it can not activate it. The problem is what was strange in the Magix movie Plus version which I also have. What only pleases me in the updated version of MAGIX Movie Edit Pro Premium is not the problem, but the performance is just as weak. If you want I can take a screenshot and see what the problem is. MAGIX Movie Edit Pro Premium however no longer exists MAGIX Video Pro X anyway. I am asking for help because I want to continue using your software, but I want it to work properly.

I tested three situation for H.264 encoding. I used the "MP4 FullHD 1920x1080 59.94p" preset and changed the framerate from 59.94fps to 60fps for all exports.

with HWA on and the iGPU connected to a monitor: 34 seconds
with HWA on and the iGPU not connected to a monitor (VPX saying that the export is Hardware Accelerated): 2 minutes and 16 seconds
with HWA off: 2 minutes and 22 seconds

Just for completeness, check your BIOS settings for any settings for Intel HD Video. Some BIOS has set it to Automatic, that will on turn on if a monitor is detected on the Intel HD graphics port. You may be able to set it to ON which set it on permanently.

While in the BIOS, check also if you can increase the video memory, may help to increase speed.

@wongck

I've checked many times (after all the iGPU used to be disabled by default). One option allows me to select which of the GPUs the system should prefer (however it just uses the other one if the one selected isn't available) and IGPU Multi-Monitor which basically disabled or enables the iGPU when an external GPU is connected. The latter is the option I had to enable to get my system to recognize the iGPU at all, and after all, VPX does recognize it, it just doesn't use it (or can't use it).

I already have the iGPU shared memory on the maximum setting.

@Treeniks

Hi

Thanks for the test project.

Tested with/without HWA I get different results than yours:

• with HWA using the iGPU 42 seconds (8 secs longer)
• without HWA using the processor 1m 42 secs (34 secs faster).

Unfortunately I cannot test with a NVidia card installed - the ones I have do not fit my motherboard and I have been unable to borrow a GTX 1060.

John EB

Thank you Treeniks!!!!!!!!!! You are a genius and this answer should be featured in bold at the top of the Magix home page.😍

Yes this was a very good good tip that helped me to get my iGPU hardware rendering when it inexplicably stopped working 6 months ago and again in the last few weeks when it failed to speed up export encoding.

I, like @Treeniks found that the export encoding progress window was reporting Hardware encoding but Task Manager showed no activity on the iGPU. I went back to the Windows Graphics Settings mentioned in the video and found that where I had selected that the Powersaver GPU ie the Intel iGPU was to be used with VPX, it now read Default GPU?? Setting it back to Powersaver re enabled HW acceleration on the iGPU.

Whilst I am suspicious that this may have been reset by a Windows or Intel Graphics driver update (I have read of others finding their Windows Power plan mysteriously changing possibly due to such events), I am unsure as to whether changing the "Preferred GPU for playback in the arranger" in VPX Program Settings is perhaps over riding the Windows Graphic setting or vice versa.

More testing needed on that, but so far I can say that on my setup with an iGPU and an Nvidia GTX1060 both enabled and connected to separate monitors - the smoothest playback of section of 4K material, showing the lowest load in TM for both GPU's and the CPU, is with the Powersaver iGPU selected for VPX / MEP and the Nvidia 1060 selected for play back in the arranger in VPX Program Settings. Selecting the Intel Graphics in VPX showed double the load on the CPU in TM, about 3x the load on the iGPU and an unchanged load on the 1060, when playing the same section of the timeline.....intriguing!

Peter

Was having an issue getting Harwade encoding working with HEVC on my new PC using MEP 2019.

Windows 10, 9700K, GTX1080

The process below solved my problem because i couldn't set the preferred graphics processor using the Nvidia control panel.

Going into display settings, graphics settings and setting the graphics performance settings to power saving instead of High performance for MEP.

Hardware encoding is now working for me!

Thanks. This method also works for me. But sometimes it switches to high by itself and again I have to manually force power save. What can this be caused by?