FAQ
Q1: What is AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A1: AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics is an innovative new technology exclusive to AMD platforms that allows AMD APUs and select AMD Radeon™ discrete graphics cards to work together; when combined, the platform delivers stunning high definition and DirectX® 11 & DirectX® 10 capabilities that are better than either device alone. Currently, AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics is supported on the AMD A-Series APUs in conjunction with select AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 series graphics cards used under the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.
Q2: How do I know my AMD Radeon™ HD Graphics card is capable of supporting AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A2: There are two main ways to find out if your system can support AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics. One, you can go to www.amd.com/dualgraphics and get the latest information, including all supported discrete GPUs. Two, if you purchase an AMD A-Series APU for your desktop PC as an individual processor-in-a-box (PIB), the right hand panel will show the supported discrete GPUs for that particular APU model.
Q3: I just bought an AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series graphics card. How do I configure my PC to take advantage of AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A3: To take advantage of AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics, you must use a compatible AMD A-Series APU to pair with your supported AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series card. After installation of your graphics card, install the latest AMD graphics drivers. After driver installation, the option to enable AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics should become available in the AMD VISION Engine Control Center.
Once installed, go into the “Performance” section of the AMD VISION Engine Control Center and check the box that says 'Enable Crossfire™' - this will allow the AMD A-Series APU graphics to work in tandem with the select AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series GPU installed for increased graphics performance.
Q4: Where do I plug my monitor in to get the best performance when using AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics technology?
A4: For best performance, AMD recommends plugging the display into your discrete graphics card. This will ensure that even applications that do not take advantage of AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics will still be able to run on the faster graphics card in your system. However, to be more accurate, we recommend that you plug your monitor into the AMD Radeon™ graphics with the higher model number. If that is your APU, plug into the motherboard, if it is your discrete graphics card, plug into that.
Q5: Why doesn’t my DirectX® 9 game look better on AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A5: AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics was designed only for the latest DirectX® levels to allow AMD to focus resources on providing an optimal user experience on the latest graphics technologies. AMD encourages users to take advantage of these and numerous other innovations that have come to market recently by upgrading system hardware.
AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series graphics, found in both AMD A-Series APUs and discrete video cards, are designed to deliver the best possible DirectX® 11 experience. As such, the dual graphics performance increase is applicable to select DirectX® 11 & DirectX® 10 enabled applications. For DirectX® 9 applications, the combined performance will be disabled and the fastest graphics engine will perform those tasks; however, users will still experience the speed and performance of AMD Radeon™ graphics.
Q6: Why doesn’t this work with Windows XP?
A6: AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics was designed for the latest Microsoft Windows operating system; this allows AMD to focus resources on providing an optimal user experience on the latest platform technology. AMD encourages users to upgrade to the latest operating system to take full advantage of the features and benefits of Windows 7 (including DirectX® 10 & Direct® 11) to ensure users get the best performance for what they do with their PC. For users that continue to use Windows XP and previous versions, dual graphics combined performance functionality will be disabled and the fastest graphics engine will perform those tasks.
Q7: Does AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics work with AMD Eyefinity Technology?2
A7: AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics will support AMD Eyefinity Technology as long as your discrete GPU supports AMD Eyefinity Technology and monitors are plugged into the discrete GPU outputs.
Q8: With a multi-monitor setup, why do some of the displays become disabled when I enable AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics?
A8: AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics is a form of AMD CrossFireX™ Technology and with the current solution only displays from the 'master' graphics device (the one that monitors are plugged into) are available. The other displays are disabled. To ensure your displays remain available, make sure to connect your displays to the 'master' graphics device. The 'master' device settings can be found in the AMD VISION Engine Control Center, which is the user interface for the drivers and installation package.