ASRock Z68 Pro3 and Lucid Virtu

Desert Rain · 6 Sep 2011 at 22:47

I wasn't sure where to post this as it covers various components, but here goes. I have an ASRock Z68 Pro3 with 2500K and a GTX 460. This gives me the option of using the Lucid Virtu software to allow the GTX 460 to idle unless high end graphics are called for.

From googling, the downside of this is a 10%(ish) fps loss compared to using the GTX 460 on its own. No longer being a massive gamer, this doesn't sound so bad.

I was wondering if anyone here had tried out the Lucid Virtu software and/or what peoples thoughts were generally.

olivier renault · 6 Sep 2011 at 23:09

Nope. But I thought the advantage of Lucid Virtu was more about allowing QuickSync with a dedicated GPU.

So, ... slightly lower energy bills, or drop in performance?

You'll be pulling around 130W idle, versus maybe 30-60W without the GTX 460. So that's one light bulb, not inconsiderable if your machine is on a lot of the time, but not so much a bother if you just use it a couple of hours a day.

10% drop sounds a lot though, I thought it was less than that.

Desert Rain · 7 Sep 2011 at 12:47

With the benefit of hindsight, I don't suppose that an overclocking forum was the best place to ask if anyone had nobbled their GPU to save energy

Gammawolf · 7 Sep 2011 at 12:56

I was pondering this as well as I have a similar series mobo in a similar situation, wondering what exactly are the benifits/loss of using this lucid stuff. I did a quick search but didn't pick up much online about it. When i put my system together i might do some wall testing for power and benches to see how it affects my system power and performance. I'm all in for saving energy as my room uses on average over 6KWH a day, which is 25% the average daily usage for the house... did i mention we have an electric cooker and 4 other people live in this house with 2 other computers... I need to do something about my power usage !! I am intrested if you find any more detailed info on this Desert

Davefran · 7 Sep 2011 at 13:10

There are two modes for Lucid one for power saving and one for extra speed when encoding (the prefered one if you have a discrete GPU)

3.1 i-Mode
i-Mode provides user with Intel Sandy special features and power saving options when no 3D gaming is used.

To use Lucid VIRTU solution in i-Mode, display must be always connected to Sandy Bridge motherboard video
output.
Note: Display can be also connected to IPG VGA output instead of IPG DVI output.

3.2 d-Mode
d-Mode is provided for demanding 3D gamers to achieve uncompromised 3D performance of discrete GPU
installed in the system. In this mode, Virtu allows user to utilize Intel special features such as trascoding, while
display is connected to discrete GPU.

Note: We recommend you use d-Mode for better 3D performance unless you use Intel Insider feature or the
power saving i-Mode.
To use Lucid VIRTU solution in d-Mode, display must be connected to discrete GPU installed in the system.