Steam – use a Steam Gift Card and not give Steam credit card information

I have a similar computer set up, and here is how I make it work:

1. Go to the NVIDIA Control Panel by right clicking on your desk top and clicking on "NVIDIA Control Panel".

2. In the default screen that pops up (it should be "manage 3D settings", and the "Program Settings" tab should be automatically selected), under "1. Select a program to customize:" hit the "Add" button.

3. From here, navigate to the folder where your steam games are located. For me, it is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common.

4. Select the folder for the game you want to use your NVIDIA card for, and find the .exe for that game (it's usually right in the main game folder). Select it and hit open.

5. Then, under "2. Select the preferred graphics processor for this program:" open the drop-down menu and select "High-performance NVIDIA processor".

6. Finally, hit apply in the far bottom right corner, and you should be good to go!

When you start the game from Steam, the .exe will be opened, which will now run with your NVIDIA card by default rather than your integrated card. I've noticed that most older games, when started, will use the integrated card by default. The method described above can be used for any .exe file, not just games in your steam library!

Yes you can re-gift steam games, as long as you accept them as gifts into you inventory, not activate them for yourself.

Games won't expire, but some items do (e.g. Coupons, beta access). Items that will expire say right in the description how long until they do. My coupon for 50% off Duke Nukem says

(Valid until Mon Jul 01 2013 02:59:00 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))

After that, I believe it will disappear.