LAPTOP: How do I use the NVIDIA graphics card while running on battery?

[hammy434]

hi everyone, im having a problem with my new laptop. Basically when you've got a laptop with a dedicated NVIDIA graphics card its got something called NVIDIA Optimus which automatically switches between Intel and NVIDIA graphics card (NVIDIA for gaming/graphics intensive, Intel for everything else) this is great for power saving. But for some reason, its only working when I've got my laptop charger plugged in. Like when im playing saints row the third (medium settings, 1080p) when the laptop is charging, i get 30-40fps, vs. 10-20 fps without the charger. you can tell from this that it's obviously automatically switching to intel graphics when on battery. How do i fix this? I can't just put my charger in whenever i play a game, or keep my charger in all the time because this will RUIN my battery (or at least thats what i heard). on all my laptops i unplug at 100% and wait until it gives a low battery warning before charging, and my 2 year old hp laptop still holds its charge for about 3 hours. i dont want to ruin the battery on this laptop. so basically in summary my laptop only uses nvidia graphics when charging, when on battery, it always uses nvidia. and i need help to enable nvidia graphics when on battery power. if anyone can help id be very grateful .


Here are the specs of my laptop:

ASUS N550JV
Intel Core i7 4700HQ
8GB RAM
1TB HDD
NVIDIA Geforce GT 750M (2GB) + Intel HD Graphics 4600
Windows 8.1 64-bit

thanks everyone!

 

[mironso]

I think, switching is done automatically and you can't force to use only nvidia. But what you can is, when you planning to play game, turn off, unplug battery, put on charger, switch on and play on charger. You won't destroy your battery and will play on nvidia card. When you done playing, turn off, unplug charger, put battery on....

 

[hammy434]

thanks but unfortunutely with this laptop they decided to put the battery inside the case. so if i wanted to remove the battery id have to remove loads of screws =(.

 

[lonewolf7]

I don't know if its true that to remove battery you have to unscrew many screws, but it could be if you are saying so.

What I think when you are playing with charger attached the Lappy (more specifically the GPU) is receiving proper power to run the GPU, and without charger its not getting the power to run the GPU perfectly, so you are getting low FPS, and I think its your misconception that without the charger the game is running on INTEL Graphics. I think iGPU (integrated graphics)is unable to run the game, so power is the only issue not iGPU/GPU.

And as far as I know the battery of your Lappy wont get damaged if you leave it as is. No need to remove it from time to time, leave it inside the Lappy and play the game with charger plugged in. Good luck.

 

[moktadir]

If you're really crazy about keeping your battery in, try Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Look at which Power Plan is selected, Change Plan Settings > Advanced Power Options > Have fun

 

[Noel C]

I know it's been a very long time, but if anyone still has this problem you can always try to disable the video card you are not using in the Device Manager (if you are using Windows.)

 

[tungleboomps]

I have been waiting for nearly three years for someone to come in on this thread. You mention to disable the video card that is not being used. Unfortunately for me then, I cannot do that since I only have one video card showing in the Device Manager. I've got everything to the max in the settings but when unplugged, the computer is slower. I wasn't even aware of this issue until lately. Now yo'all have a slick day now ya hear or even if yo'all don't hear so well.

 

[Evil Noodle]

Hi, I'vejust brought a gaming laptop and was curious to this question, but my understanding is, the Nvidia card is only used when charging, as for for extra power to run it. I believe its true and there is a sure noticeable difference when playing say GTA, of charger graphics look less tidy but running spot on when plugged in. Bye

 

[xr1]

This is an old topic but an easy hit on Google search so I thought I'd give you all a definite answer. YES, you can force the Nvidia GPU to be use even when on battery power. This is done within the Nvidia control panel and can be set so the GPU runs on certain applications, or all the time.

Here's a step by step https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-force-your-laptop-to-Run-with-Graphics-Processor-vs-the-default-Integrated-Graphics-for-InfraWorks.html