Nvidia Optimus for Fusion 360 not being used

[nkloski]

I have a Windows 8.1 laptop with Intel graphics as well as a Nvidia GTX 765M card.  There is a piece of software called Nvidia Optimus that either auto-switches a program from the slower card to the faster one, or you cn go in and specifically set a program to use one or the other.

Fusion 360 does not use the NVidia card, however, no matter what setting I use.  Technically, if I set the software to "always use the NVidia card for everything" then Fusion 360 does use that card, but that is not optimal for battery life.  I would like to be able to set Fusion 360 to use the Nvidia card specifically, but not have to foce the entire laptop to use that graphics card.

i have gone in and selected all ways I can think of for the application path in the NVidia control panel:

-selecting Fusion 360 from the applications list

-selecting the /users/MyName/Application Data/Local/Autodesk*   entire subfolder

...all of those to specifically use the Nvidia processor, but it never shows up in the application list as being used.....any ideas?

All software is updated to latest versions.

[nkloski · Accepted solution]

Ah...rebooting solved the problem...all working now!

[mikehines]

I have this exact same problem. I just got a message from Fusion 360 saying that my graphics card wasn't optimal. I also have a 765M in my Razer Blade laptop. When I checked the Graphics Diagnostics it only listed the integrated graphics, and I am unable to find Fusion 360 in NVIDIA's selection list.

I rebooted my laptop twice and that did not help. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[chengyun.yang]

Hi,

You can follow the steps below:

1. Go to your nVidia control panel; open the "manage 3D settings" page;

2. In the "global settings" tab, switch the option for "preferred graphics processor" from "Auto select" to "High performance nVidia processor"; this will force your computer to always use the nVidia processor.

3. If you only want Fusion to force use nVidia processor, then keep "Auto select" option for "preferred graphics processor" in the "global settings" tab; instead go to the "Program settings" tab. 

4. In the "Program settings" tab, click the Add button in the "Select a program to customize" section. Then in the popped up dialog, click the Browse button to locate the Fusion360.exe in your Fusion installation folder.(you can find Fusion installation folder by right clicking the Fusion short cut icon in the desktop and then click "properties" menu)

5. Then in the "Select the preferred graphics processor for this program" section, choose "high performance nVidia processor".

6. Click Apply button

Then you should be able to run Fusion on nVidia GPU. Probably you need to reboot the computer if it doesn't work immediately. 

Unfortunately since we change the Fusion installation folder each time when we release a new Fusion update, this means you may need to do this again each time your Fusion build is updated. But you can try to select the whole Local/Appdata/Autodesk/webdeploy in the step 4 to see if nVidia to allow us to customize the whole folder instead of a single app. It might work on some machines.

Thanks

Chengyun

Fusion Team

[nkloski]

Yes, as was stated in the previous comment, you have to go in and re-select it every tim ther is an update.

But, to anwer your question, if you are running any given appication, and go to add it in the control panel, all runnings applications tend to pop up to the top to make things easier to find. I started Fusion, then went to the control panel and added the program, then saved all changes and rebooted, and that did it for me.

Hope that helps!

[mikehines]

That worked perfectly.

Thank you both for taking the time to walk me through it!!!