Insert GPU in a HP 250 G9

[iberian96]

Hello .

They've just gave me a new hp 250 g9. It came with 16 gb ram,  GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7.

Even watching videos in full HD causes the frame rate to drop below 10 frames per second. Is this normal with this graphics card or is there some problem? even very old video games with minimum performance cause the frame rate to drop below 10 fps.

Is there a way to add a GPU to this model?

Specs : HP 250 G9 15.6" Notebook CPU:  12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1255U RAM: 16GB RAM Motherboard:   HP (89A0) GPU: Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128,0 MB) Provenience : Italy

Thanks for any answer !

[Huffer]

There is no way to add a graphics card: the graphics system is built into the motherboard and processor and there is no expansion slot. The Iris XE is actually pretty good as "integrated" graphics goes. It should be able to render full screen HD video smoothly and handle less demanding games. Are you running it in out of the box factory configuration? 

[iberian96]

Hello Huffer, thanks for your reply.

I haven't changed anything in the GPU configuration, I recently received the laptop as a gift (it's new) and it has always done so. the drivers are updated.
If you tell me there shouldn't be this problem, are you saying that restoring the operating system could fix it? Are there other things I can try to do first?

[Huffer]

I would first check the performance on battery and on AC power to see if there is any difference. If there is we can talk about changing some power settings.

Also read this tutorial and see if you have the Intel Graphics Command Center. If not, install it. Check the settings as explained here:

Making Games Run Smoother on Intel Iris XE Graphics With the Intel Graphics Command Center : 7 Steps...

[TzortzisG]

Hi!

@HufferThis might be one of the few cases in which a hardware-level GPU upgrade might be possible (sort of). HP generally prefers using single RAM modules on systems, and if this system has a single 16GB RAM module -I know my Tiger Lake and Alder Lake G8 and G9s did- then the Intel graphics chip will not be performing as it should. For that reason, switching to a dual-channel memory config is the first thing one should do on Iris XE systems.

Further reading: The Intel Iris Xe Graphics mystery 

[Huffer]

@TzortzisG I had not considered that possibility, but even switching to dual channel memory will improve the memory throughput by maybe 5-7% and the video improvement would likely be a bit less than that. Noticeable, and worth doing, but not game changing. If it is a single 16 gb memory chip I would add another.

[TzortzisG]

From personal experience the difference in performance is 30%+. The reason has sth to do with the design of the new Iris XE chips that can only work as Iris XE if provided with dual-channel RAM setups. You actually have to test the difference yourself to see how surprising it is. Hence the link above about the mystery.....

[iberian96]

Hello @TzortzisG ! How can check if my laptop is using a single 16 gb RAM module or  two 8 gb modules?

[TzortzisG]

Hello iberian96.

There are many ways to find this out. The simplest is from Windows Task Manager. This is what you'd get on your system with a single (1) 16GB module installed.....

Judging by my G8/G9 business laptops, HP tends to implement secondary power limitations on the iGPU. I managed to get rid of these with a third party application. It is also interesting to know that any throttling on the Intel CPU has direct and indirect consequences on the iGPU performance. So at the very least one should enable the High Performance power plan. Personally I use Ultimate Performance and always disable "Modern Standby" which makes it very very hard to access the advanced Windows power settings.

[iberian96]

Hi! 

The laptop is using two modules, 8gb of RAM each. Now I've enabled the high performance power plan.

I would also add that in some cases when I start a game or a video the fps are normal for some time, after which they drop to 5-10 fps for 2-3 minutes. Then they go back to 60 for a few minutes, then back to 5-10, in a continuous cycle.

Could it be due to some GPU limitation?