NVIDIA GPU ISN'T WORKING

[[RNGR|x|GORO]]

Hello.

I just realised that my laptop (it's a Lenovo ideapad gaming 3) has been using the Intel card instead of the Nvidia card. Whenever I play any game, my Intel card is mostly doing all the work instead of the Nvidia one. I opened the task manager and checked the performance of the 2 cards, and the Intel one does almost 40% of the work while the Nivida one does less than 20%.

I already updated all my drivers, tried to force my laptop to use the High-performance Nvidia GPU (from the Nvidia control panel), forced my games to work on Nvidia but my Intel card keeps doing almost all the work. I even accessed the BIOS to change the graphic cards from there but I couldn't find any option to do it.

How do I force my laptop to use only the Nvidia gpu?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

So select the NVIDIA GPU.

How are you seeing the Intel GPU doing all the work. If you getting above 10-15 fps in most games then it's more then likely the NVIDIA GPU doing the work. Use GPUZ app and click the gpu at bottom drop down box. Then click Sensors tab.

The Intel GPU does have to act as frame buffer though in order to output to the Laptop Display

[andreasaspenberg575]

updating your drivers might have been a mistake. i did that twice. nvidia optimus might stop working if you use the wrong drivers. on the other end of the scale you have optimus incompatible games. if a game is incompatible with optimus, it will always run on your integrated gpu. what would really help is if you posted your dxdiag.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

DDU wipe all the Intel and NVIDIA GPU related stuff then reboot and install latest Chipset and GPU driver from Intel Driver Assist website. Reboot when done then download and install latest nvidia driver for Notebook from nvidia website. Reboot when done. Configure nvidia control panel properly.

If a game is not using correct gpu, click Graphics Settings in WinOS and add game exe to the list then change its options to high performance gpu

[andreasaspenberg575]

rebooting is a waste of time when installing graphics drivers. turning the gpu off and on in device manager works just as well. of course, if you update the drivers of your dedicated gpu when your system is running on the integrated one, then the driver simply updates, as the gpu is not running anyway.

[andreasaspenberg575]

it does not always work. several newer unreal engine 4 games for example is incompatible with optimus and will run on the integrated gpu no matter what. tales of arise even crash if my dedicated gpu is active when i try to start it. crisis core -final fantasy 7 reunion just fails to render with the good gpu active. both games work perfectly on my pc but, only with my gtx 770m disabled.

[Mr White]

Contact Lenova and show them a Screenshot. They better to help you.

[Midnight Aurais]

if it is a older game use dgvoodoo2 this is a compatibility layer which can fix issues and mimic videocards but also you can force your videocard to be used instead so directx 9 or lower

https://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2/

note even while virustotal says it is suspicious it is a false positive i don't know when they updated their scanning but before it said it was 100% clean so i looked into it and apparently now programs that do api calls or any type of call are automatically deemed malicious great love how much confusion that is going to give people

also you can try dxvk it might trigger the videocard on newer titles due to it being a directx to vulkan translation layer
https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases

installation :
- put dgvoodoocpl.exe and dgvoodoo.conf in the main directory of the game were the executable is for the game most of the times this is the bin folder

- now pick what api it should emulate for majority that is directx so you go to ms then you have to pick if the game is coded for 32 bit(x86) or 64 bit(x64) or if you want to run it on a arm device 64 bit and drop the files in the same directory from the previous step

launch dgvoodoo.cpl to configure it basically you want to change the adapter to use to your nvidia 770m then go to directx and either "disable and passthru to real directx" or change the vram to whatever your card has then make sure dgvoodoo watermark is unticked and press ok and start your game

if you did it correct and picked the correct dll's for the game if it is 32 bit or 64 bit it should default all the sudden tell you it is running in directx 11 you can also let it run in 12 if you change output api in dgvoodoocpl.exe

basically anyone with dual graphics laptops were the videocard passes through the chipset should have these programs because for a game to run with the videocard it has to pass microsoft's approval

[andreasaspenberg575]

a compatibility layer will not fix the underlying issues with optimus.

[emoticorpse]

What cpu do you have? Is it an AMD processor? If so How does Intel fit into this? I guess if it's Intel it'd be using it's own igpu thing, but are those on laptops usually?.

Just trying to get this cleared up because I don't get it. Not sure why.

[[RNGR|x|GORO]]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

So select the NVIDIA GPU.

How are you seeing the Intel GPU doing all the work. If you getting above 10-15 fps in most games then it's more then likely the NVIDIA GPU doing the work. Use GPUZ app and click the gpu at bottom drop down box. Then click Sensors tab.

The Intel GPU does have to act as frame buffer though in order to output to the Laptop Display

I will use that and will tell you how it goes. The frames of my games start dropping after a few. Ah and to see which GPU is being used, I open the task manager > performance.

Originally posted by andreasaspenberg575:

updating your drivers might have been a mistake. i did that twice. nvidia optimus might stop working if you use the wrong drivers. on the other end of the scale you have optimus incompatible games. if a game is incompatible with optimus, it will always run on your integrated gpu. what would really help is if you posted your dxdiag.

I updated the drivers using the Nvidia Geforce Experience app. It automatically detected updates and I installed them; I thought I could solve the issue but nothing.

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

DDU wipe all the Intel and NVIDIA GPU related stuff then reboot and install latest Chipset and GPU driver from Intel Driver Assist website. Reboot when done then download and install latest nvidia driver for Notebook from nvidia website. Reboot when done. Configure nvidia control panel properly.

If a game is not using correct gpu, click Graphics Settings in WinOS and add game exe to the list then change its options to high performance gpu

I haven't tried DDU, but I already tried to change the GPU from the graphics settings in Windows the way you tell me, but it didn't work. I kept trying this for a couple of times but the game still runs on the Intel one.

Originally posted by andreasaspenberg575:

rebooting is a waste of time when installing graphics drivers. turning the gpu off and on in device manager works just as well. of course, if you update the drivers of your dedicated gpu when your system is running on the integrated one, then the driver simply updates, as the gpu is not running anyway.

So then can I solve the issue if I switch off the integrated graphics? Will my laptop detect automatically the Nvidia GPU? (Sorry I don't know much about computers xD)

Originally posted by Rexali_:

It's because your laptop has an on-board video card aside from your video card. To use your video card by default, you have two ways:

1. Inside the game graphic settings >> you should find "Display Adapter" option >> Now choose your video card.

2. Go to Windows Settings >> Gaming >> Game Mode >> Graphics >> Choose the game, then choose your video card.

I tried the 2nd one and it didn't work. I don't know how to do the 1st because I can't find any option regarding that.

Originally posted by andreasaspenberg575:

it does not always work. several newer unreal engine 4 games for example is incompatible with optimus and will run on the integrated gpu no matter what. tales of arise even crash if my dedicated gpu is active when i try to start it. crisis core -final fantasy 7 reunion just fails to render with the good gpu active. both games work perfectly on my pc but, only with my gtx 770m disabled.

Is it okay if you disable the graphic card tho? I just found an option of disabling my Intel card but I'm unsure about doing it.

Originally posted by Midnight Aurais:

if it is a older game use dgvoodoo2 this is a compatibility layer which can fix issues and mimic videocards but also you can force your videocard to be used instead so directx 9 or lower

https://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2/

note even while virustotal says it is suspicious it is a false positive i don't know when they updated their scanning but before it said it was 100% clean so i looked into it and apparently now programs that do api calls or any type of call are automatically deemed malicious great love how much confusion that is going to give people

also you can try dxvk it might trigger the videocard on newer titles due to it being a directx to vulkan translation layer
https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases

installation :
- put dgvoodoocpl.exe and dgvoodoo.conf in the main directory of the game were the executable is for the game most of the times this is the bin folder

- now pick what api it should emulate for majority that is directx so you go to ms then you have to pick if the game is coded for 32 bit(x86) or 64 bit(x64) or if you want to run it on a arm device 64 bit and drop the files in the same directory from the previous step

launch dgvoodoo.cpl to configure it basically you want to change the adapter to use to your nvidia 770m then go to directx and either "disable and passthru to real directx" or change the vram to whatever your card has then make sure dgvoodoo watermark is unticked and press ok and start your game

if you did it correct and picked the correct dll's for the game if it is 32 bit or 64 bit it should default all the sudden tell you it is running in directx 11 you can also let it run in 12 if you change output api in dgvoodoocpl.exe

basically anyone with dual graphics laptops were the videocard passes through the chipset should have these programs because for a game to run with the videocard it has to pass microsoft's approval

I will try this, thanks.

Originally posted by Lion:

Contact Lenova and show them a Screenshot. They better to help you.

Yep, if nothing works I will contact them.

[andreasaspenberg575]

when using nvidia optimus, it connects through the integrated gpu, meaning that to work, both gpus needs to be active.

[Midnight Aurais]

Originally posted by andreasaspenberg575:

a compatibility layer will not fix the underlying issues with optimus.

no and in this case it ain't used as a compatibility layer it is used to force the gpu you want to use i used it myself on a dual graphics laptop that refused to use the nvidia card in games like dreamfall chapters

also while dxvk is a translation layer the reason why it is mentioned because dxvk might trigger the high performance mode in windows

[Azza ☠]

There is multiple places where the laptop can pick between power saving internal GPU vs high powered GPU.

Under Windows settings itself (power settings)... You can set the power saving/performance here. It will also check if the laptop is plugged in to the wall (to trigger high usage) vs running off battery (power saving mode).

An app which came with the Laptop, depending on brand...

However, under the Nvidia Control Panel (right-click on your desktop) > Manage 3D settings. You have the global settings > power management mode. Or more ideally, go under each Program Settings, pick the game(s)/app(s) and individually select it's power mode to be high performance.

Some games like Dota 2 will use the internal graphic card, but setting it via the Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D settings > Program Settings > Power Management Mode. It will force pick what you want...

Set to:
Power Management Mode = Prefer Maximum Performance
OpenGL rendering GPU (or similar GPU) = set to your main GPU

Sometimes you want to save power with minor apps or basic games on a laptop, so setting them individually is best.

[andreasaspenberg575]

some games will not run on the dedicated gpu no matter what. dark reign 2 for example. i unfortunately do not have a full list. dark reign 2, tales of arise(requires dedicated gpu disabled) crisis core final fantasy 7 reuinioh(fails to render). those are the game i know that does not support optimus.

[Midnight Aurais]

yeah but it doesn't mather what optimus wants if the dll suplied in dgvoodoo wants the gpu to run it will run it is their customized api dll not windows

if your not willing to try alternative ways to get what you want in windows then that is totally upon you

the original stubbs the zombie wil not run on modern pc's not the rerelease fix is

1 download a new nvidia.dll or amd.dll from dll-files congratz your ingame but only stubbs shows but not the characters

2. download 3DAnalyzer and let it emulate the pixel shaders regardless if your gpu has them tada characters show such a rare case of a game to use a specific pixel shader build because back then you had pixel shader 2.0/2.0a/2.0b and it just made a mess

today you just fix it by just using dgvodoo2 and the game runs fine without needing to use 2 fixes

another example in this case the game works however the mouse and sound is fked up in soul reaver 2 you put dgvoodoo2 in and the game plays completely fine again

those are just examples of just troubleshooting things and like i mentioned dreamfall chapters only worked on the gpu if dgvoodoo2 was used otherwise it uses the chipset and no mather how much i change the settings even in regedit it refuses to use the gpu unless i force it through the program