Pro Faster with iGPU than Discrete GPU (Software Rendering)

JoshBerna

Hi all,

I've been having issues for a good bit now with Pro running slow (name of the game, right), but I recently encountered something of a fix that's just led me to more confusion.

My workstation is pretty darn good, Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 4060ti, 64GB DDR5, all the works right. Nonetheless, pro has been excruciatingly slow with what feels like basic processing. Just today I was on my laptop with an I9-13900H and a 4060 and had trouble with basic tasks like pasting text elements on a layout--the software would freeze up for a few seconds each time.

I ended up launching pro with software rendering from command prompt (ArcGISPro.exe \softwareRendering), bypassing the GPU, and the performance difference was unbelievable. Suddenly it felt like I was working on an actual graphics workstation. No more hangups.

I haven't been able to find hardly any information online as to why bypassing the GPU for rendering actually results in far better performance. I've got the most recent Nvidia studio drivers for the 4060 and 4060 TI. I tried DX11 and 12, among many other settings configurations in hopes of solving this issue prior to this discovery.

I consulted chatgpt, desperate for any information, and was told by the robot that this is a possible issue with some RTX, AMD Pro series, and certain Quadro cards. Something about render pipeline bottlenecks. I don't trust the robot of course, so I was hoping somebody here may be able to explain this to me a bit better.

Why would rendering be better on the iGPU over the discrete GPU? Is it an issue with 4060 series cards? Any information would be much appreciated, as I'd like to fully utilize the hardware in my systems.

Thank you!

Luke_Pinner

Based on some text in the docs (in the virtualisation section so unsure if really applicable), I wouldn't think passing the \softwareRendering flag would use your iGPU, but rather your CPU.

If hardware acceleration is not available, ArcGIS Pro falls back to software rendering—meaning it is using the CPU to simulate graphics card functions.

In the Windows System > Display > Graphics settings (custom settings for applications) you can specify which graphics card a particular application uses, either iGPU or dGPU. You can force iGPU or dGPU or let Windows decide (will usually select iGPU). I always ensure Pro is set to use my NVIDIA dGPU as it's a bit slower when using the iGPU.

JoshBerna

Thanks for the response, but I am well aware of how to specify which gpu an application should use. Pro is set to use my 4060 in both Nvidia control panel and my windows settings.

Thanks for the tidbit on \softwareRendering bypassing the iGPU though, I didn't know or even think about that. That changes my question a bit it would seem: why is my CPU (not iGPU) rendering more effectively than my discrete gpu?

Luke_Pinner

@JoshBerna wrote:
That changes my question a bit it would seem: why is my CPU (not iGPU) rendering more effectively than my discrete gpu?

Good question. No idea.

Where'd you find this softwarerendering commandline option? I can't find any mention of it in the docs.

JoshBerna

It was some silly thing chatgpt suggested that actually happened to improve my performance.

JoshuaBixby

Assuming you didn't build this workstation yourself from various components, try the latest graphics drivers from the vendor and not Nvidia. The GPU may be Nvidia, but there is a reason vendors often release their certified versions of graphics drivers.

CalvinHarmin

This is the case for my Lenovo P1 Gen 7 laptop with Ada 2000 GPU. Nvidia doesn't even offer drivers for it from the nvidia driver lookup page.

Edit: maybe I'm wrong

JoshBerna

Yah, that's a good idea. The workstation has a PNY card. The laptop on which I saw better performance with the CPU rendering has a Nvidia brand laptop 4060 however.

I'll try the PNY drivers for the workstation, but not sure what to do about the laptop.