Laptop - Forcing Dedicated GPU

[t_smith5]

Hi. I have a bit of an issue with Max on my laptop when I'm not plugged in at the mains, such as on my train journey. I can't say I've noticed this before, and I have yet to try re-installing the drivers, but is there a full-proof way of forcing Max to use my dedicated GPU instead of my onboard graphics? I've tried right clicking on the icon and setting it to use my NVIDIA graphics that way, but it hasn't worked, and I've tried adding it through the NVIDIA Control Panel as well, but no luck. All the options are pretty much greyed out as well. 😕

Thanks

[brentscannell]

Hmm, those would have been the first places I tried too. Is there perhaps a power saving mode enabled when you're on battery that is overriding those preferences?

Short of flat out disabling your onboard graphics device through BIOS, I'm not sure if there is a reliable and consistent way of forcing the app to use your performance GPU other than that you've already tried...

[dgorsman · Accepted solution]

+1 on checking the power settings in the operating system.  Every laptop I've seen comes default set to the "power saver" mode which which disables power hungry components like the GPU unless plugged in to the wall.  This will reduce battery life but if you're not running one of the high end GPU models it won't be too bad.

[t_smith5]

It's an MSI laptop with a GTX 1060, so it's pretty power hungry and runs flat quickly. Admittedly, when I'm on the train, I don't use it for long, and I do set it to power saving mode, which is what makes it revert to the onboard graphics.