Nvidia Optimus

Nvidia Optimus is a computer GPU switching technology created by Nvidia which, depending on the resource load generated by client software applications, will seamlessly switch between two graphics adapters within a computer system in order to provide either maximum performance or minimum power draw from the system's graphics rendering hardware. A typical platform includes both a lower-performance integrated graphics processor, usually by Intel or AMD, and a high-performance one, usually by Nvidia or AMD. Optimus saves battery life by automatically switching the power of the discrete graphics processing unit (GPU) off when it is not needed and switching it on when needed again. The technology mainly targets mobile PCs such as notebooks. When an application is being launched that is determined to benefit from the performance of the discrete GPU, the discrete GPU is powered up and the application is served by a rendering context via that GPU. Otherwise the application is served by a rendering context that uses the integrated GPU. Switching between the graphics processors is designed to be completely seamless and to happen "behind the scenes". Official supported operating systems by Nvidia are Microsoft Windows and Linux. A project called Bumblebee is an alternative open source implementation of Optimus support for Linux.