Spyder calls discrete graphics on Windows

[nitro122]

Issue Report Checklist

• Searched the issues page for similar reports
• Read the relevant sections of the Spyder Troubleshooting Guide and followed its advice
• Reproduced the issue after updating with conda update spyder (or pip, if not using Anaconda)
• Could not reproduce inside jupyter qtconsole (if console-related)
• Tried basic troubleshooting (if a bug/error)
  • Restarted Spyder
  • Reset preferences with spyder --reset
  • Reinstalled the latest version of Anaconda
  • Tried the other applicable steps from the Troubleshooting Guide
• Completed the Problem Description, Steps to Reproduce and Version sections below

Problem Description

Spyder IDE randomly call DGPU. I cant open it without it calling the dedicated nividia card.

What steps reproduce the problem?

1. simply open spyder

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

I would the spyder to not unnecessarily call the DGPU a

Paste Traceback/Error Below (if applicable)

PASTE TRACEBACK HERE

Versions

• Spyder version: 5.4.3 (conda)
• Python version: 3.11.7 64-bit
• Qt version: 5.15.2
• PyQt5 version: 5.15.10
• Operating System: Windows 11

Dependencies

PASTE DEPENDENCIES HERE

Mandatory:

atomicwrites >=1.2.0 : 1.4.0 (OK)
chardet >=2.0.0 : 4.0.0 (OK)
cloudpickle >=0.5.0 : 2.2.1 (OK)
cookiecutter >=1.6.0 : 2.5.0 (OK)
diff_match_patch >=20181111 : 20200713 (OK)
intervaltree >=3.0.2 : 3.1.0 (OK)
IPython >=7.31.1,<9.0.0,!=8.8.0,!=8.9.0,!=8.10.0 : 8.20.0 (OK)
jedi >=0.17.2,<0.19.0 : 0.18.1 (OK)
jellyfish >=0.7 : 1.0.1 (OK)
jsonschema >=3.2.0 : 4.19.2 (OK)
keyring >=17.0.0 : 23.13.1 (OK)
nbconvert >=4.0 : 7.10.0 (OK)
numpydoc >=0.6.0 : 1.5.0 (OK)
paramiko >=2.4.0 : 2.8.1 (OK)
parso >=0.7.0,<0.9.0 : 0.8.3 (OK)
pexpect >=4.4.0 : 4.8.0 (OK)
pickleshare >=0.4 : 0.7.5 (OK)
psutil >=5.3 : 5.9.0 (OK)
pygments >=2.0 : 2.15.1 (OK)
pylint >=2.5.0,<3.0 : 2.16.2 (OK)
pylint_venv >=2.1.1 : 2.3.0 (OK)
pyls_spyder >=0.4.0 : 0.4.0 (OK)
pylsp >=1.7.2,<1.8.0 : 1.7.2 (OK)
pylsp_black >=1.2.0 : 1.2.1 (OK)
qdarkstyle >=3.0.2,<3.2.0 : 3.0.2 (OK)
qstylizer >=0.2.2 : 0.2.2 (OK)
qtawesome >=1.2.1 : 1.2.2 (OK)
qtconsole >=5.4.2,<5.5.0 : 5.4.2 (OK)
qtpy >=2.1.0 : 2.4.1 (OK)
rtree >=0.9.7 : 1.0.1 (OK)
setuptools >=49.6.0 : 68.2.2 (OK)
sphinx >=0.6.6 : 5.0.2 (OK)
spyder_kernels >=2.4.3,<2.5.0 : 2.4.4 (OK)
textdistance >=4.2.0 : 4.2.1 (OK)
three_merge >=0.1.1 : 0.1.1 (OK)
watchdog >=0.10.3 : 2.1.6 (OK)
zmq >=22.1.0 : 25.1.2 (OK)

Optional:

cython >=0.21 : None (NOK)
matplotlib >=3.0.0 : 3.8.0 (OK)
numpy >=1.7 : 1.26.4 (OK)
pandas >=1.1.1 : 2.1.4 (OK)
scipy >=0.17.0 : 1.11.4 (OK)
sympy >=0.7.3 : 1.12 (OK)

[ccordoba12]

Hey @nitro122, thanks for reporting. Please close Spyder, open the Anaconda Prompt and run there

spyder --reset

and try again.

Let us know if that helps.

[nitro122]

hey @ccordoba12 , thankyou for your reply. I ran spyder --reset but unfortunately the issue still remains.

[ccordoba12]

Then I don't know what happens because our default option is to not use the GPU in our interface but software acceleration instead.

You can check that by going to the menu Tools > Preferences and then

Application > Advanced settings > Rendering engine

[nitro122]

i checked it out. it says 'Desktop'. It call it at very random intervals. For instance when opening spyder the nvidia gpu indicator would light up and then switch off. This will playout until i close both spyder and anaconda. Hence believe it might be a bug

[ccordoba12]

i checked it out. it says 'Desktop'.

Ok, could you change that option to Software instead? That should avoid using your GPU.

By the way, I don't understand why you're seeing Desktop there because the default is Software, but doing the change should fix your problem.

[nitro122]

hey @ccordoba12 , I changed it to 'software'. But the indicator still turns on and off at random intervals when Spyder is open . Could it be a bug? Or are there any other settings I should change.

[ccordoba12]

You need to restart Spyder after doing it. Did you do that?

[nitro122]

Yes, it did prompt me to restart Spyder. But the issue still remains.

[ccordoba12]

Sorry, then I'd say this is not a Spyder problem. Sure, when you open Spyder the GPU is enabled, but Spyder depends on about 100 libraries (between direct and indirect dependencies), so any of them could be enabling it.

Sorry but for now I'm going to close this issue because I don't have additional feedback to give you. But if you gather more info about this, please post it here and I'll reopen it to continue the discussion.

[hippie68]

What does "Desktop" mean in this context? It is not self-explanatory to the average user.

[nitro122]

Sorry, then I'd say this is not a Spyder problem. Sure, when you open Spyder the GPU is enabled, but Spyder depends on about 100 libraries (between direct and indirect dependencies), so any of them could be enabling it.

Sorry but for now I'm going to close this issue because I don't have additional feedback to give you. But if you gather more info about this, please post it here and I'll reopen it to continue the discussion.

Hi @ccordoba12 ,
Thank you for your help. I got it to not call the DGPU

[ccordoba12]

@hippie68, that's the terminology used by Qt. You can read more about it here.

@nitro122, that's great! How did you manage to fix it?

[nitro122]

@hippie68, that's the terminology used by Qt. You can read more about it here.

@nitro122, that's great! How did you manage to fix it?

I installed the Standalone Spyder.