Laptop running games poorly

[Astonien]

I bought a laptop that I planned on using for PC gaming, but I can't even run xcom enemy within at 1080p with out horrible frame drops. I checked the recommended specs-for the game, and my laptop meets them easily. I also checked the drivers for my graphics card, and those are all up to date. Is there anything I can do?

Here's my specs
OPERATING SYSTEM
Name: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Architecture: 64-bit
DirectX version: 9.0c or better


MEMORY
Total memory: 8 GB


HARD DRIVES
C:
- Free space: 192 GB
- Total space: 254 GB


PROCESSORS
1
- Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710MQ CPU @ 2.50GHz
- Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
- Description: Intel64 Family 6 Model 60 Stepping 3
- Number of cores: 4


VIDEO CONTROLLERS
1
- Name: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
- Adapter compatibility: Intel Corporation
2
- Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
- Adapter compatibility: NVIDIA

 

[James Mason]

It might be using the wrong GPU. You shouldn't have problems running XCOM on that.
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/pc-components/how-set-default-graphics-card-3612668/

 

[Astonien]

I tried this already, but it didn't change anything. I changed the global setting to my high performance Nvidia processor, and it didn't work. And I also changed it for the individual game.

 

[tinynja98]

What i would do to see which gpu the computer is using while running any game is:
1) Install something to check your gpu stats (like MSi Afterburner)
2) Run the said software you installed in the 1st step (let's say you took MSi Afterburner). You should be able to see both your nvidia and intel gpus.
3) Select the graphics card you want to test in MSi Afterburner
4) Run any game
5) Check in MSi Afterburner which gpu's usage gets higher. That should tell you which gpu the game you are running is using.

If you find out the game is using the intel graphics, then you need to find a way to change that, like James Mason said.

Hope this helps!