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I'm trying to mine using my CPU and GPU. When the CPU is set to use all its cores, I have no problems, but when I use my GPU, my desktop gets way too slow because unity uses it too I think, so I need to find a way to be able to use my GPU for mining while using Intel graphics for unity and the rest, can anyone help? I have a Nvidia GTX 850M and Ubuntu 16.04, and I don't know where to begin.

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    Quick clarification for newcomers thinking they can mine bitcoin on CPU or GPU: you can't. This question is not about Bitcoin.
    – Jannes
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 13:02
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    actually, i'm not mining bitcoin, i'm just trying out mining monero
    – user3781458
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 13:07

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Mining on a cpu at all is a bad idea, it can and will wear the cpu down, and is ridiculously slow compared to a gpu. Also mining with an Nvidia card isn't the smartest thing either as they are much slower than AMD cards. Regardless you will make next to no money mining with this kind of hardware given that there are thousands of people with ASIC miners that pump out 2TH/s +. My advice would be save up some money and purchase a high-end ASIC miner and refrain from mining with your current computer.

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    i am not mining bitcoins, i am minning monero (XMR) and at the moment, there are no cryptonote ASIC miners
    – user3781458
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 23:23
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Just purchase a second computer specifically for Monero mining, and don't even run the GUI (Unity). If your mining efforts aren't profitable enough to warrant a dedicated computer, then you probably shouldn't be mining.

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  • i'm just starting today, so no profits yet, just wanted to test the waters and see how things are
    – user3781458
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 13:30
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You could add a second video card and mine with one and use the second for productivity.

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  • i use a laptop, and i can't really afford a second gpu right now, but i already have intel haswell, which run unity fine before i install nvidia driver, however, once i install nvidia drivers, either everything use nvidia, or everythin use intel, i can't find a way to separate them as planned(intel for unity, nvidia for the rest)
    – user3781458
    Commented May 10, 2016 at 20:04
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I won't answer your question How can I use one GPU for computing and the other for interactive use?, because I think this is a general question and is more in the focus of SU and/or ask ubuntu, but address your primary problem description in the title: GPU mining slows down my ubuntu:

So, to improve your interactive use when you mine with ccminer on your primary GPU (which also applies if you only have one installed) take a look at the --bfactor parameter. From the help:

  --bfactor=[0-12]  Run Cryptonight core kernel in smaller pieces,
                    From 0 (ui freeze) to 12 (smooth), win default is 11
                    This is a per-device setting like the launch config.

Just try out different settings, I usually use something between 6 and 11, depending if I work in a terminal or with GUI programs.

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After a lot of research and tries and fails, i found the solution in here, and it works great https://askubuntu.com/questions/758972/does-ubuntu-16-04-support-hybrid-grafics-cards-bumblebee

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  • Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
    – q9f
    Commented Jul 5, 2016 at 8:22

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