[Sorry if in the wrong post section. I dunno quite where to post this!]

OK, here's the TL;DR edition:

Got new i5 laptop with AMD Radeon 520 mobile graphics chip. STOP.
Trying to get games running in Wine through PlayonLinux. STOP.
Wine only reports the Intel 4000 processor. STOP.
Need power of Radeon 520 with GB dedicated RAM for any kind of half modern game. STOP
Tried everything sans editing x.conf and I'm not sure that's the real problem anyway. STOP.
Totally lost. Can someone help me get Radeon chip recognised in PlayonLinux/Wine please!! STOP.
[I use KDE but will run with any distro that will fix this sans the likes 'DIY' distros such as Arch, Gentoo, LFS or Slackware. Currently have Manjaro stable on the machine where KDE Info centre reports BOTH graphics chips exist. Kubuntu and Neon did not.]
Addition: [Blame lack of sleep.]
I assume Wine would emulate an Intel chipset, no? In which case there is not a problem if Linux is actually using the Radeon chip but I can't tell what is what.
Addition: [Blame lack of sleep.]
I assume Wine would emulate an Intel chipset, no? In which case there is not a problem if Linux is actually using the Radeon chip but I can't tell what is what.

Long edition:

I was just given an early new HP i5 laptop from a grateful client who is emigrating. Given I usually run a n3350 netbook this was nice - and surprising! [HP Model 14-bs128TX by name. Has hyperthreading so how is this an i5???!]
The one thing this machine will do, on paper, that my vast hoard of el cheapo dual core nuffin laptops that I use in my business, is play a few faintly up to date games. I don't want to play many but I want to try out 'Skyrim.' Yes, I will likely go with Steam but when I know the hardware and drivers are OK. I am using Wine to test.
I tried a test with the install of 'Morrowind' via PlayonLinux just to see if it detected the Radeon 520 chip. It doesn't! EVER!
I am a stickler for KDE for various reasons, so I have thrown Kubuntu, Neon, Netrunner, PCLInuxOS and, currently, Manjaro stable so no avail, Manjaro at least recognises the Radeon 520 in the Info Center. I have made sure the AMDGPU drivers are installed. Manjaro was good on that.
But, I install 'Morrowind,' get the program to check hardware, it only ever returns: 'Intel 4000.' I have tried up to Wine 4.12 with it.
I am utterly at a loss. I cannot find anything online that really addresses this. I cannot tell if the problem is with Linux install, kernel parameters, GUI, Wine or what.
Read about and no solutions online seem to apply.

I do not want to play many games. I am not really a gamer. But there's just a couple and they will need to use the 2GB RAM Radeon 520. If I can get Morrowind to run with that card then I can go to 'Skyrim' (say) via Steam or Wine... but not when the 520 is unused.

Please advise or I just have an overpowered Libreoffice and 'youtube' machine for use by students which seems a bit of a waste.

As I say, I am running Manjaro stable on it right now. [Tried 'Rolling' and everything I tried to install caused a conflict!]
Many thanks.

Before moving on to wine & Steam, you should get your graphics sorted out.
You appear to have some sort of hybrid graphics there, AMD version. Consult the wiki or help pages of your distro on how to set that up properly.
Then do searches how to make that play nice with Steam.
I'm sure you're not the first one encountering this problem.

Maybe this Manjaro forum post about AMD+Intel has what you need to know.

That's EXACTLY what I am trying to do!

Quite. Only... nobody seems to tackle it or have an answer. I've been hunting.

Anyway, good news is... Manjaro stable seems to be where it's at. It has lots of GUI tweaking tools in place that I did not expect. It also DEFAULTS to using the Radeon card!!!

Soooo.... while Wine is clearly assuming an Intel card it's actually using the Radeon 520. Manjaro has a 'Manjaro settings' tool with 'Hard ware configuration' which display what HW is used and the primary use card is AMD Radeon! [And the AMD graphics drivers are available in the repos as needed. It also helps the processor handles hyperthreading so the CPU can carry a little of the weight beyond the minimum spec for 'Skyrim.']

Manjaro works it out. I got Morrowind running enough to prove it's working in Wine.
All the other distro defaulted to the inbuilt i5 graphics chip. Manjaro did not.
Yay Manjaro.

That's enough for me! Even if Manjaro is not a perfect fit for the business (winff is conspicuous from the repos) I have lots of laptops that are (including a 1GB atom n455 from 2010) so this machine can be the odd one out. That's fine.
So, for my purposes, this is solved and I will mark as such.

Also... lots of expenses this month so zero budget for games right now anyway. Gotta wait until after invoicing. I will research in the meantime.

Thanks.

OK. Thanks for that. As I have just posted Manjaro stable is pretty intelligent and does default to the Radeon chip unlike all the other distros. I figure Wine emulates an intel chip. That's OK. Tests indicate it'll hold.

I have zero budget for games anyway now. Had another expense fly in after posting my initial query. Ah well, lots of work coming in now so invoicing will allow for treat.

Many thanks. Will marked as solved after this. It's good enough for me.
"Use Manjaro stable kids!"
If I have further trouble at least I know which distro to run on and seek advice from. The others either did not detect the 520 or insisted on running with the stock i5 regardless.

^ What is "Manjaro Stable"?
A cursory glance at their web page - there's no "Manjaro Stable" offered for download.

I wonder why you are not succeeding in that.
I'm sure manjaro has a good wiki, and then there's always the legendary archwiki behind it.

Uh?

Manjaro KDE stable is here:

https://manjaro.org/download/kde/

And it has solved my problem which is why the thread is marked solved.

There's no need to go looking for trouble.

Be (more) precise.

No. I think I'm just going to quit using Linux Questions now.
I get very little help but lotsa snark.

Thanks. It's been... fun.

1 members found this post helpful.