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Do computers have a "backup" graphic card?

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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I am trying to play an older game on my laptop (Dell windows 7 )but because of graphic issues, I need to turn off the hardware acceleration in order to get it to work.

I found this link: http://superuser.com/questions/205954/intel-4-series-ex...

and was wondering if I disable my graphic card, won't the screen go blank? or is there some kind of VGA back up graphics card that will take over?

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Graphics card Expert

A modern day computer either has a discrete graphics card (Radeon HD 7770 as an example) which attach to the motherboard's PCIe slot, Or an integrated graphics processor (iGP) that is inside the processor, and the HDMI or DVI plugs are usually attached to the motherboard (Intel HD 4000 as an example.) Not all processors have an iGP, AMD's FX series are made to be used with a discrete graphics card. If you disable a GPU on a Laptop, your screen should go black, and if you are using an iGP, the there is no other option but to use it, because a company like ASUS would normally have a discrete GPU already initialized (GTX 650M for an example.)
Graphics card Authority

Disabling Hardware acceleration in windows is not the same as disabling the graphics card. It is telling windows to run the driver in compatibility mode with basic VGA commands. The computer will act the same and most programs will never know that hardware acceleration is off because most programs don’t use it.

Bottom line disabling hardware acceleration is totally safe and will not mess up your computer.

And you can always turn it back on later if you like. I wanted to play Interstate 76 a few weeks ago and the only way to get it to run was to dissable hardware acceleration.
Graphics card Expert

Oh bucknutty,

You just made my day Interstate 76, words cannot express how darn good that was in it`s day.

I wish someone would do an update of it for the graphics cards we have now.
The story line and game play were quality +1.

May play it again now :) 
Don`t laugh I still have a 3d FX 2 card that still works... ;) 

bucknutty said:
Disabling Hardware acceleration in windows is not the same as disabling the graphics card. It is telling windows to run the driver in compatibility mode with basic VGA commands. The computer will act the same and most programs will never know that hardware acceleration is off because most programs don’t use it.

Bottom line disabling hardware acceleration is totally safe and will not mess up your computer.

And you can always turn it back on later if you like. I wanted to play Interstate 76 a few weeks ago and the only way to get it to run was to dissable hardware acceleration.



I should have said that it is impossible to disable hardware acceleration for this graphics card. I've tried every trick under the sun and it just does not work. I was going to disable this graphic card hoping that a back up graphics card would take over.

But from the poster above me it seems like it won't work.

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