switching between nVidia GeForce 640M and Intel integrated graphics

Question

Hello I'm new to Ubuntu and all in Linux. I have a computer with 8 GB of RAM and a processor Intel core i7 3770S and video card nVidia GeForce 640M and and Intel integrated graphics. In my system information is displayed only integrated graphics Intel. How do I switch to the nVidia GeForce 640M (in the BIOS do not have this function)? Sorry for the grammatical errors, I do not know much English.

Ubuntu 14.04

Solution

Use following link to install the Nvidia Prime

Ubuntu 14.04 Nvidia propriatery driver install

Then execute the following command on your terminal:

To switch to the Intel onboard graphics : sudo prime-select intel

To switch to the Nvidia graphics : sudo prime-select nvidia

If you want to know which graphics is in use execute the following command:

sudo prime-select query

Comments

[Taz D.]

Enter BIOS when you startup your PC go to the advanced settings or wherever you can find this option Primary Display Device and change it from integrated graphics to PCI or AGP or whatever is in there. It looks like your machine is a laptop. Did you install the nvidia graphics card after buying the laptop or was it present from the start. Does Windows detect the nvidia graphics card?

[CreFroD]

Yes Windows detect it. And it isn't laptop, it is ASUS All in one PC. And for information my PC has UEFI BIOS. I couldn't install nVida graphics card because it is mono-block.

[Taz D.]

See if you Intel card is present in the following list, and go to this link to download and install Intel(R) Graphics Installer 1.0.4 for Linux. There is a direct link on that page specifically aimed to Ubuntu 13.10 (either 32bit or 64bit). It should be enough for you to be able to run Ubuntu better and faster.

[Bruno]

There is a solution that might work for you, it's a bash script which switches between nvidia and intel video cards. Here's the link: github.com/bauca/graphics-switcher

[WinEunuuchs2Unix]

I have an i7 3630QM with GT650M and tried nVidia drivers many times and simply gave up with all the headaches. So I simply use the iGPU with Intel HD3000 graphics without a problem. Same issue with my i7 6700HQ with GTX 970M although nVidia Graphics drivers were running successfully for a few weeks before breaking. Then I switched over to iGPU with Intel HD 530 Graphics without a problem.