Thanks for the suggestions about the Catalyst Control Center and removing the card entirely. I think I'll eventually try removal (motherboard connectors permitting) to see how the integrated graphics do. I read somewhere that current computers will recognize the presence or absence of a discrete car...

Steve, Thanks for the info. The 130 Watt number for the GTX 645 did seem high but that's what the manufacturer lists as "Maximum Graphics Card Power" at http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-645-oem/specifications . Or is that a different spec from TDP? I'd be inclined to follow y...

I'm new to your excellent site and have both a general and a specific question. They may of course be based on faulty premises. Can you turn a discrete graphics card off (using the BIOS or another method) when not doing graphics intensive tasks and just rely on the integrated graphics of the CPU? If...