AMD Motherboards - Installation of dedicated GPU on APU System

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Installation of dedicated GPU on APU System

Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Technical Support
Forum Name: AMD Motherboards
Forum Description: Question about ASRock AMD motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3232
Printed Date: 10 May 2025 at 7:24pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Installation of dedicated GPU on APU System

Posted By: poor_bastard
Subject: Installation of dedicated GPU on APU System
Date Posted: 11 Aug 2016 at 9:42pm

I am a Noob and i have bought a AMD A10 7800 with GeForce GTX 1060.

My Motherboard is Asrock A88M-G/3.1.

I am a Noob so someone will assemble my PC but i have to install the System myself and i dont know how to do it.

Can someone here plz help me?

I want to set the primary graphics adapter to PCIE in the Bios and i would like to deactivate the integrated gpu in the bios. is that possible? and can you guys tell me how i can do that?

also how do i install my system then after i deactivated the integrated gpu? do i just start windows 7 (i have win 7) and install the mainboard drivers and then the nvidia drivers? or how do i have to do it, in what order?

do i have to disable the igpu in the bios or do i have to disable it in the system manager?

can the a88m-g/3.1 even deactivate the igpu and set the primary adaper to pcie?

Replies:

Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2016 at 6:07am

Sure it supports disabling the iGPU so that you can use your 1060 Wink

See pg 44 of the manual, Onboard Graphics.

EDIT

On the same page, you should also consider Onboard HDMI HD Audio and Shared Memory.

Posted By: poor_bastard
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2016 at 6:01pm

thanks for the answer.

i want to disable the igpu and set the amount of shared memory to 0mbyte :D

what do you mean with onboard hdmi audio? do i have to disable audio too when i disable the igpu?

also i dont know how the installation process is....i have to install the mainboard first (i use windows 7) but there are so many drivers.

there is the all in 1 driver for amd, which i dont know what its content is...but i guess chipset and graphics....do i have to install that when i disable my igpu?

if not, how do i install my a88x chipset then without the all in 1 driver?

i only see seperated drivers on the asrock page for usb, audio but sata and the chipset? i guess i need the all in 1 driver for that...and that will install the amd graphicsdriver....so how do i install my mainboard without the amd graphicsdriver?

Posted By: poor_bastard
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2016 at 6:08pm

also i am kinda confused about the audio...as far as i know the mainboard has audio but the igpu part/apu part of my a10 7800 has audio as well...so i am totally confused now on how this system actually works.

will the amd a10 sound also deactivate when i deactivate the igpu and the a10 will more or less act like an athlon 860k?

also what exactly is the "share memory" option for? i guess its how much memory is reserved for the igpu?

or will this feature automatically reserve memory for my dedicated gpu too if i set the primary adapter to pcie. i heard pcie has a feature where it can reserve some ram for the graphicscard.

how do i set the reserved ram to 0mbyte? there is auto, 32mbyte,64mbyte etc. if i set it to auto it will stop reserving ram?

Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2016 at 7:32pm

1st. Directly above the System Panel Header (PANEL1) is the BIOS chip. It has a white sticker over it with the BIOS revision it came flashed from the factory. The A10-7800 is supported by all BIOS revisions. Yet before proceeding further I urge you to use Instant Flash to upflash to the latest BIOS available, 1.40 Dated June 01 2016. Doing so will give you greater compatibility and less issues.

Please reply first before proceeding with the below what is printed on the BIOSes sticker and also if you need assistance with using Instant Flash.

================================================

Set "Shared Memory" to Auto.

The HDMI Audio, depending on whether your monitor has an HDMI connection AND whether you want to use the 1060's HDMI audio or the onboard, AND then if you have separate desktop speakers(Logitech 5.1 etc.) or not. But disabling the iGPU doesn't disable the audio, only the iGPU section of the 7800.

You need to install the AMD All-In-One immediately after Win7 finishes and dumps you to the first desktop after finishing installing. Rebooting afterwards.

Then your 1060's graphics driver. Rebooting afterwards. (note: this driver most likely has an HDMI audio driver that will install itself)

After those, it's any order you choose.

Posted By: poor_bastard
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2016 at 7:46am

do i have to install the seperate drivers also? on the asrock mainboard page i see the all in 1 driver, the audiodrivers, usb 3 drivers etc. do i have to install all the files there or only the all in 1?

i dont intend on using hdmi or hdmi audio, i use a monitor with dvi and normal (non usb) audiospeakers. i dont know what the connection is called but the "normal" audiocables from before people started using usb speakers :D

the ones where you stick the output to green and the mic to red :D so it is better to disable hdmi audio in the bios when i dont use it? sorry, but i am a noob.

my boards bios is: p1.10

and no, i have never flashed a bios so i would need help.

Posted By: poor_bastard
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2016 at 9:52am

also i have a question since you are knowledgeable :)

i noticed that the ram "socket" is pretty near to the first pcie slot. the pcie 3.0 x16 slot so i wonder if it is a problem to install a big graphiccard in this motherboard.

do you know something about that? or does it just look that way as if the ram sockets would kinda interfere with the graphiccard?

i am planning to buy a zotac geforce gtx 1060 amp edition and this card is 21cm long...do you know if i can install that card on this mainboard without problems? i only have a 15cm long gtx 650 here to test....havent bought the 1060 yet so i cannot test how the board will react to long cards.

if the amp edition is too long i have to buy the zotac gtx 1060 mini which is 17cm long.

Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2016 at 8:08pm

poor_bastard wrote:

my boards bios is: p1.10

and no, i have never flashed a bios so i would need help.

Download http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/BIOS/FM2+/A88M-G3.1%281.40%29ROM.zip" rel="nofollow - THIS file. It's the Instant Flash flavor of the 1.40 BIOS file. With a USB thumb drive of a smallish capacity, unpack the A88MG311.40 file from within the just downloaded compressed archive to the root of the thumb drive. Now, assuming the thumb drive itself isn't bootable(it should NOT be here for this purpose!), let's place the drive in one of the USB 2.0 black ports that are just "above' the PS/2 KB/Mouse port on the rear I/O panel of the motherboard.

Ready? Set? Let's boot into the BIOS, enter the "Tool" tab, and in the middle left you'll see the heading "UEFI Update Utility", with "Instant Flash" just below it. Select/click on Instant Flash, it should begin and display the "A88MG311.40" file that is on the root of the thumb drive. Hit the KBs Enter key and it should take off and begin flashing the BIOS.

When it's finished flashing, after it reboots go IMMEDIATELY back into the BIOSes "Exit' tab and first choose "Load UEFI Defaults, then choose "Save Changes and Exit"

Assuming that went off w/o a hitch, you'll be good to go at re-entering the BIOS and configuring it's options for items like AHCI, WoL, etc etc.

After making your personal changes in the BIOS an usung "Save Changes and Exit' one lat time you'll bee good to begin installing the OS

poor_bastard wrote:

do i have to install the seperate drivers also? on the asrock mainboard page i see the all in 1 driver, the audiodrivers, usb 3 drivers etc. do i have to install all the files there or only the all in 1?

Yes. The All-in-One contains the system/chipset drivers.

Since we'll be upflashing your BIOS let's begin it's journey with the latest and greatest All-In-One driver AMD offers: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download#" rel="nofollow - http://support.amd.com/en-us/download# then scroll to the bottom, "AMD Chipset, AHCI, USB 3.0 and RAID Drivers" and download the file.

poor_bastard wrote:

i dont intend on using hdmi or hdmi audio, i use a monitor with dvi and normal (non usb) audiospeakers. i dont know what the connection is called but the "normal" audiocables from before people started using usb speakers :D

Ok. We'll begin with the latest and greatest Realtek HD Audio Drivers, http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#High%20Definition%20Audio%20Codecs" rel="nofollow - http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#High%20Definition%20Audio%20Codecs , check off "I accept to the above", hit Next, choose one of the top two files, whether you'll be running an 32bit or 64bit Windows.

Any more questions feel free to PM me as us Mods are having issues with receiving email notice of new posts to our replied to threads. The PM will assure you get my attention.

Posted By: wardog
Date Posted: 13 Aug 2016 at 8:11pm

Sorry for my typing skills. I'm on a laptop, an item whose keyboard I can not begin to describe my despise of.

EDIT: Keep me posted of your progress please.