NVIDIA Optimus - Does it work at all or is it just a clever deceit by NVIDIA?

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gangsta4lives

gangsta4lives

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Apr 22, 2014
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So, this has been my situation till now,
These are my specs:
i5 4th gen 4200u clocked from 1.6GHz to 2.6GHz
4 GB RAM
NVIDIA GT 740m 64-bit 2GB DDR3
Windows 8.1
1TB HDD

I was running GTA EFLC the other day, it started out GREAT (with FPS 30-40) and it was really smooth, but all of a sudden, the FPS dropped to like 18 and then ultimately to 9 FPS. I was so bummed out and thought this is an one-time occurance and won't happen with other games. How wrong I was.

I started playing Black Ops 1 at high settings, again the same thing, it started out with 35 FPS and was smooth for like 5 minutes or something, and then FPS shot down tremendously to like 11 FPS. Same case with 007 Blood Stone (I was playing at ultra at 720p)

My screen resolution is 1366x768.
So, please help me solve this. I have the latest driver 337.88 (I think it supports Optimus technology).

I use NVIDIA Optimus tools too, just in case to calm myself that the dGPU is indeed utilized,
I always right-click on the games and run them by dGPU.
But, the tools say they utilize the NVIDIA GPU, but come on, I would know when a dGPU is utilized and when the friggin' Integrated GPU is utilized (in my case, Intel HD 4400)

So, the games start with high FPS, but gets dropped to lowest FPS possible, then again goes to high, and low, and high, like a freakin' see-saw.

All I'm left is with buyer's remorse. So, if anyone could gimme any pointers on how can I utilize ONLY THE NVIDIA GPU, that would be great.

Please, help a fellow gamer out.
 
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It didn't do anything, Disabled it. But just came back alive again. And my friend had this exact same problem, he even uninstalled the drivers and it screwed up his laptop. All now he can see is the black screen.
So, anything else I can do or am I forever lost in NVIDIA's cruel attempt to rip me off?
 
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I did those too, mate. I always right-click every .exe's icon and choose to run the game with my dGPU. Still, the FPS is so unstable.
So, can I do anything about the heat? I came across a software called ThrottleStop but was afraid it would have some kind of negative impact on my CPU.

And, for the record, my NVIDIA GPU is not overclocked.
 
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hwinfo is by far the best. You can download that and msi afterburner along with rivalstats tuner. Then you can have hwinfo communicate with rival stats and display any information you want in a corner of your screen during gaming. I have set up to show avg cpu core %, cpu temp, then avg gpu core % and gpu temp, then frames per second
 
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I used the HWiNFO software. And, I saw all the parameters except for the "Current Clocks (MHz)"column, When it was not lagging, the Current Clocks (MHz) parameters were GPU "901.5" and Memory "900.0"

And, when it lagged, I went to HWiNFO and saw that the parameters were now as follows:
GPU "405.0" and Memory "405.0"

So, the GPU clock rate got halved when lagging. Any solution?

And BTW, the FPS is so unstable. At first, for like 10 minutes, it was 45-50 FPS, but it shot down to like 20-25 FPS during heavy lag. And again, after 5 minutes, shoots up to 45 FPS. And this cycle continues.
 
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Does downclocking have any negative impact on my laptop? Because, it's a brand new laptop and it's been only 2 weeks. Will it affect in any way to the CPU and the GPU? And also, MSI Afterburner is used to downclock the CPU or the GPU? Sorry, I'm kind of a noob when it comes to technical details.

Also, software to find temperature data? Doesn't HWiNFO show the temperature in that picture?
 
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Downclock will make it slower and cooler, it won't jump up and down, it will stay ~25 judging by your current fps\, and no I can't see your GPU temps
 
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Here are the temperature parameters as you requested:

This one was BEFORE THE LAG:
https://imageshack.com/i/mvyc4fp

And, this one was DURING THE LAG
https://imageshack.com/i/nmtui1p

The average temperature went from 54C to 65C

Is this what causing the lag?
 
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Won't that be a bad factor for the lifetime of the GPU? Should I downclock or overclock the GPU now? Also, MSI Afterburner is used for downclocking and overclocking right.

EDIT:
I was playing the game in a cooler atmosphere (girlfriend's house), and the game didn't lag at all. We were playing for like an hour and a half and the FPS didn't drop that much at all.
 
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Use MSI afterburner, downclock won't do anything bad and even if you overclock the effects are negligible, make a few profiles, like 1: +200 MHz 2: +0 MHz 3: -200 MHz and use the first one that doesn't lag. you can also boost the Memory clocks for large textures (up until you see artifacts and down a bit) use a stress test to make sure they are stable (you may want to use smaller increments 200 MHz is just an example) also if you can set the temperature limit that should help too, maybe up to 75 degC
 
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This is weird. When I keep my laptop in a surface and play, it lags after a little while. BUT, when I game while keeping the laptop in my lap, it doesn't lag too much, maybe, the air outlet from the laptop was blocked and this caused it?

And also, does HP CoolSense have to do anything with the unstable FPS?
 
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And, after installing the RivaTuner Statistics, these are the following parameters:

THIS SCREENSHOT IS DURING THE START OF THE GAME. Note that the GPU core clock is at 930MHz
https://imageshack.com/i/ms9l0up

And, this screenshot is during somewhere in the middle of the game, notice that the GPU clock is down to 535MHz, and down from 50FPS to like 30FPS. But, was still playable.

https://imageshack.com/i/mswj83p

NOW, THIS IS WHERE THE BUTTHURT LAG OCCURS. It is down to a freaking 405MHz and was there for like 5 minutes. And down to a freaking 16 FPS

https://imageshack.com/i/msud9sp

After a few minutes, it is back to 535MHz and giving me 30FPS. And this keeps on continuing.

Please compare the parameters and please help me to sort it out soon. The more we solve this, the more I can enjoy and have less buyer's remorse.

And also, the game was Deadpool and I was playing it at 1366x768 and textures at ultra and vsync on. I tried medium settings and the same thing lag happened in medium too.

Also, does this have something to do with Power Management settings? And also, should I turn off the HP CoolSense?

EDIT: Tried High Performance setting in Power Management and tried turning the HP CoolSense off. Still the problem persists.
 
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Definitely turn Vsync off. Have you tried manually manage the clock speeds yet?
 
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Nope. Turning off Vsync doesn't do anything, because the problem still persists.
Also, I was thinking maybe I will not overclock or underclock the card yet. Because, this problem is only for me, the other owners of the same laptop have given very positive review about the laptop in terms of gaming. So, I'm thinking of solving this without modifying the core clock.

Is there any other solution? Please help me out. This is killing me.
 
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