An interesting feature that first appeared on the desktop environment with the Sandy Bridge architecture was the integrated graphics on the CPU. This meant that regardless of if you had a discreet graphics solution you always had the ability to use “Built in” processing power to watch movies, view 3D content and take part in some casual gaming.
With Ivy Bridge, Intel have stepped up with new graphics architecture by delivering full DX11 functionality. With HD-4000 there is a significant increase in execution units which mean even greater performance enhancements when compared to HD 2000/3000 - found on Sandy Bridge CPUs. To the end user this should translate to being able to handle 1080p movies, more complex gaming titles and even more intense 3D renders.
This motherboard HDMI/VGA/DVI ports to allow connectivity to Intel’s IGP with support via Lucid VIRTU MVP. What VIRTU does is – it allows the user to utilise both discrete GPU and Intel's IGP (built in graphics on the CPU) without the need to change hardware or switch the outputs.
VIRTU brings in many unique features, a great deal of them are associated with power management – relating to heat, fan speed, and other useful elements. There are two different modes to use when considering VIRTU:
i-Mode
This provides the user with Intel features and power saving options when not being used for 3D gaming. Display must be connected to video output on the motherboard to use this feature.
d-Mode
This mode allows gamers to enhance their 3D experience and performance – combining a discrete graphics solution and the iGPU. In this mode we can use VIRTU to assist with things like transcoding and media encoding in general. The overriding thought on this is that even entry level AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards have their own technologies for handling media encoding such as AMD Stream and NVIDIA CUDA – both of these technologies are deemed as being exceptional alternatives and don’t offer any real advantage over VIRTU using IGP for these types of task.
Display drivers for discreet graphics card must be installed prior to VIRTU drivers.
For more information on VIRTU please go to: Lucidlogix Virtu MVP
