Introduction For an avid gamer, having a robust Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is non-negotiable for an optimal gaming experience. Hybrid laptops, equipped with both an integrated GPU (iGPU) and a discrete GPU (dGPU), have become a popular choice for many. If you’ve delved into maximizing your ...
"In our tests, on a select set of popular PC games, we observed an average of ~16% FPS increase1 and ~27% display latency reduction1. In addition, CASO contributed to a 45% decrease in timeout detection and recovery events (TDRs)"
Cross Adapter Scan-Out (CASO) can improve the performance of hybrid laptops that have both an integrated GPU (iGPU) and a discrete GPU (dGPU) or external GPU (eGPU). CASO is a feature of DirectX that allows the dGPU/eGPU to directly display the rendered frames on the screen, bypassing the iGPU. This reduces the display latency and increases the FPS for gaming scenarios. CASO does not require any specialized hardware solutions like NVIDIA’s Advanced Optimus or AMD’s Smart Access Graphics (no mux switch needed), but it does require Windows 11 and compatible hardware (AMD 6000, Intel Iris, any nvidia dGPU).
Usually, you'd only have one GPU working on a display. However many laptops come with the ability to leverage two GPUs on one display. On such setups, these typically involve the iGPU, which is weaker but less power hungry, and the dGPU, which is more powerful but comes at an additional power cost.
Hybrid mode is when the iGPU is doing the typical GUI stuff and the dGPU kicks in for more GPU intense stuff like games.
The Idea is, that the integrated CPU is a lot more efficient. So if you're only browsing or having the desktop open, only the internal one is working, while the dGPU can be powered off completly, increasing battery life. But Games can still use the full power of a diskrete GPU.
Possibly. It also suggest you'd get all these benefits by just disabling one of the GPUs, because unless battery life is a concern for your gaming laptop the difference in power draw on the desktop will be fairly minor.