Is there anyway to switch off the Graphics Card.

[PimpinPenguin]

I like to leave my PC on at night to download stuff and to let it do it's maintenance stuff like Defrag. The only issue is my graphics card is way to loud and i can't sleep with it roaring away. I tried setting Windows to switch of my monitor but that doesn't switch off the Graphics Card. So is there anyway just to switch of the Graphics card but have the rest of the system awake and running?

 

[Rico]

I'm sure you can use Rivatuner or equivalent software to change your fan speed on the graphjics card to a lower setting. Off the top of my head I can't think of how to turn off your vidcard. Maybe when I get home

 

[Asus]

Your graphics card will always be on but there are a few ways to get your GPU fan to drop in speed.

For ATI cards you could try ATI Tray Tools or for Nvidia you could use rivatuner and tell the fan to run at a lower RPM. But that means your temp will go up too. Just make sure it is at an acceptable temp and you are set.

OR you could lower the clockseed the GPU runs at and the fan may automatically go lower since the GPU is cooler.
GPUs automatically switch from 2D settings (underclocked core and memory) to 3D settings (normal clocks) when a 3d game is detected running or not. But you could change the 2D clocks to be even lower. If your temp drops say 20 degrees, that might be low enough to get the GPU's fan to drop to almost silent. Save on power, heat and noise.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Thanks for that, i found a setting in the Ati overdrive to manually set the fan speed. Now i just have to remember to set it back to auto when i play a game.