I just installed Windows 10 on a fresh hard drive. It's in a Dell Inspiron 2320 All-In-One computer.

 

I noticed there are two display adapters:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M

Intel ® HD Graphics

 

I'm assuming the Intel adapter came with the Intel i5 chipset and that the other adapter was installed because maybe this machine has a NVIDIA GPU.

 

If that is true, how does one know which adapter is in use?

If that isn't true, why are there two adapters?

I just looked at the spec's for this machine and it does come with both the NVIDIA and the Intel.

 

 

Integrated - Intel HD/HD 2000/HD 3000 Graphics

 

Discrete - nVidia GeForce GT 525M

 

Video memory - Integrated

 

Up to 384 MB of shared video memory

 

Discrete - Up to 1 GB

 

You can find the specifications in the PDF file HERE

Thanks for the link.

 

Did some research and found that machines may use both adapters. It will switch between them as needed. Actually, I saw that in a post somewhere about a laptop. It would use the better driver when needed and switch to the other driver to conserve power. Don't know how it all happens, but pretty cool.

I had a laptop in here a few months ago that had two graphic cards. You could chose which one to use when you right-clicked a video editing application program that was installed. Both drivers would be displayed. You could then choose which to use for that application.

I've never come across that yet.

It was an Inspiron 17R.

- from https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409923,00.asp

The Inspiron 17R Special Edition uses a switchable graphics solution to deliver enhanced GPU performance when it's needed, such as when gaming or using other graphics-intensive applications. An Nvidia GeForce GT 650M engine supplies the extra horsepower when the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 solution won't suffice.