Problems with Intel Arc Control

[alegrappa]

I everyone,

I am using the last version of Intel Arc Control and since few versions ago I am experiencing different types of bugs.

First of all, I have a MSI Katana GF66-12UE, it has a led on the power button that show if a program is running on Integrated GPU or Dedicated GPU. I don't know why, but every time that Intel Arc Control service is running on background, it shows me that the Dedicated GPU is being used and I have to stop it through task manager to end the Dedicated GPU usage.

Another thing that I discovered is that, on system information, I cannot switch gpu selection from integrated to dedicated one because my dedicated gpu it's not shown, It shows "Intel Iris Xe Graphics" in gray.

Lastly, I've already seen this thread but it's not fixed yet. On the camera tab, if I activate the camera preview a "the camera is currently in use" pop-up appears even if I'm not using the camera at all.

At the end, I attach my SSU.

[Jean_Intel]

Hello alegrappa,

Thank you for posting on the Intel️® communities. We would be more than glad to help you with your issue.

We wanted to update you on the camera problem and reassure you that we're actively working on a solution. Our driver developer team is currently working to implement a fix in an upcoming driver. Unfortunately, we're unable to provide a specific timeline or updates at this time, but know that we're making progress.

About the problem when trying to select the dedicated under the system information. Unfortunately, there is no option to select your descrete card. Intel® Arc™ Control is designed to work with our Intel® graphics, and using third-party graphics may result in compatibility issues.

It's worth mentioning that when software is running in the background, it will consume some hardware resources. However, this should not typically impact the overall performance of your system. We'd like to inquire about how you confirmed that the software is running in the background and consuming resources from your dedicated GPU.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[alegrappa]

Hi,

I can see that the program it's still running in the background even if I closed it from task manager, because an "Intel Arc Control service" still remain executing. While, I can see that It's using my dedicated GPU from the power led of my laptop that keeps lighting red (that means my dedicated GPU is used), and It continues until I turn off my pc.

This situation occours only if I open Intel Arc Control once and close it; if I boot my computer normally I can still see "Intel Arc Control service" running, but the power led lighting white (that means my integrated GPU is used).

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello alegrappa, 

Thanks for your response. Before I continue further, Can you share the following:

1. Can you send a short video where I can see the issue?

2. Can you take a picture where I can see the software running in the background?

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[alegrappa]

I tried my best, I hope you can understand from this video.

As I sad , if I open Intel Arc Control and then close it, there's still a background process that it's using dedicated gpu (as you can see from the video the power bottom led is red), after ending it the usage of dedicated gpu stops (from the video the power buttom led turns white).

This happen only if I open Intel Arc Control once, I discovered that on every start up of windows, the same process is still going background, but my pc use integrated gpu.

I hope that with this you can understand better.

[Jean_Intel]

Hello alegrappa,

Thanks for the information provided.

We will look further into this scenario internally, and we will post back as soon as we have further details.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Jean_Intel]

Hello alegrappa,

Thanks for waiting for a reponse.

Since your computer has two graphics cards, your system may support Switchable Graphics. The Switchable Graphics feature allows you to switch between using the Intel® graphics and a discrete graphics controller in a computer. If you want to better understand how your computer switches between the iGPU and dGPU. You should consult with your OEM. It is always recommended to use the drivers provided by the system manufacturer (OEM) to eliminate the potential impact caused by loading non-custom drivers.

However, you can perform those tests on fresh started PC:

• Test 1: open the device manager, disable Iris Xe, and check how Arc Control is working and what LED on the power button shows. Then enable Iris Xe.
• Test 2: disable Nvidia and perform the same test with Arc Control

We also want to inform you that Arc Control is not a mandatory application to be installed with drivers. If there's no use case for Arc Control, it can be uninstalled.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[alegrappa]

Hi,

thank you for your support and advices, I'm going to try these tests, but personally I will wait for future updates, maybe they'll fix the problems by themself.

Greetings

[Jean_Intel]

Hello alegrappa,

We appreciate your response.

We understand that you'd prefer to wait for future driver updates that solve the problem. However, we would like to know the outcome of the test to further investigate this matter and confirm if there is an issue with our drivers/application and start working on a solution for it. Your information will help us to further look into this.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[alegrappa]

Hello,

I performed both tests.

On both of them the result is that as soon as I disabled the graphics card, either Dedicated and Integrated, the power button turns red and it stay like that until I renable the other gpu.

Anyway, I discovered this program "Process Explorer" in which I can see the gpu memory usage on both graphics card. By using it I found that, when Intel Arc Control is running, it actually use igpu and the dgpu memory is at zero.

So my conclusion is that maybe there's some conflict with Intel Arc Control and how MSI system works that trigger the power button led to turn red even if the dgpu isn't used at all.

Greetings

[Jean_Intel]

Hello alegrappa,

Thanks for testing our recommendations and all the results you shared. We will further research this matter with the information you provided. Once we have further details, we will be posting back.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Jean_Intel]

Hello alegrappa,

We appreciate your patience.

After further reviewing this matter. it is important to note that all software operates on the CPU by default. Only when the CPU is instructed to delegate some tasks to the GPU, it sends the necessary instructions. For example:

• A game is launched <- it initially runs on the CPU.
• Then, the game calls for rendering API instructions like DX12 to render the launch screen <- this is still running on the CPU
• The specific API instruction is coded to be processed on a GPU, so when it is executed the CPU sends it to the GPU <- this is still running on the CPU
• The GPU receives the instruction from the CPU to render the game’s launch screen and does it, outputting the resulting video through its display interfaces <- this through the GPU's display interfaces.

Given these details, we can confirm that Arc Control is software that is always executed on the CPU. Arc Control has multiple components, such as one for the UI and another for communicating with the GPU.

The behavior you describe is expected, as closing Arc Control's UI does not stop the service used to communicate with the GPU. This service continuously requests telemetry from the GPU, which explains why you may see some activity on the dGPU. However, this activity does not mean that Arc Control is being executed on the dGPU. All Arc Control components are executed by the CPU and communicate with the dGPU only when they require information, such as telemetry.

In summary, GPU-related apps like Arc Control, games, and monitoring apps, may query the GPU for information, even if it is not being heavily used.

Additionally, you can contact MSI to better understand their customizations and implementation of hybrid graphics on your system. They can provide you with a deeper understanding of how your system handles working with both graphics adapters.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[alegrappa]

Hello,

thank you very much for your explanation, now I can understand the reason behind my problem.

Maybe I will contact MSI to better know how exactly this led color system can be interpreted.

Thanks for your assistance.

Greetings

[Jean_Intel]

Hello alegrappa,

We're glad to know the information helped. Hopefully, it will help other community members. We will now close this thread. If you need additional information, please submit a new question, as this thread will no longer be monitored.  

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician