Laptop graphics question (Nvidia Optimus)

Hi guys,

Question regarding FFXIV ARR on my laptop. I have switching graphics with an Intel HD4000, and a 2GB Nvidia GT740M. I know how to set Nvidia profiles to force an application/executable to use a particular GPU, as well as just right clicking on the executable and selecting 'Run with graphics processor' and selecting the GPU from there.

Whenever I run FFXIV, it's displaying my Intel HD 4000 as my primary display. I can play the game acceptably, but I know it's not using my GT740M. I have added all major FFXIV executables - ffxivboot.exe, ffxivlauncher.exe and ffxiv.exe to the Nvidia control panel and specified my 'High performance Nvidia processor' as the default GPU.

Yet every time I run the game and go to graphics settings, it only shows my primary display as my Intel HD 4000. The drop down box with the primary display only shows the Intel HD as well.

This seems to be an issue with any game that runs a launcher before the main application itself. I've had a similar issue with EVE Online as well. It runs a launcher that I log into, then hit 'Play' and the game itself launches. This also defaults to my Intel HD 4000. I can tell all related executables to use the Nvidia GPU, but they never seem to.

If it's any game I run direct from an executable, I can force the Nvidia GPU just fine.

Anyone had any experience with this? It's not a huge issue as I play on my desktop primarily, but would like to be able to utilise it on my Laptop as well.

Specs, out of interest are as follows:
Intel Core i7-3537U @ 2.00Ghz (2.50Ghz Turboboost)
16GB DDR3 1600Mhz RAM
Intel HD 4000 Graphics
2GB Nvidia GT740M GPU
Sandisk 480GB SSD
Windows 8 Professional x64

Thanks for any input in advance.

as a fellow laptop user, the primary display gpu of the system can be set, the only way i know if to change this, is to get into the bios, and disable the intel gpu. normally i advise others NOT to fiddle with the bios due to the fact one key stroke can change things and cause a whore mess of problems, if you're careless or clueless, but, in this case, it's the only way i know, or can think of to fix this.

again, usually NOT adived, but, only thing i can think of..

yeah.. it can get kind of tricky sometimes trying to find it in the BIOS too--some vendors like to hide the good settings. May want to contact the laptop maker to see if they have a guide or can walk you through it.

One thing to be mindful of when you do disable IntelGraphics. You will be altering the power profile of the system somewhat, so your battery life may shorten and the system may generate more heat. Make sure (and I can't stress this enough) that the laptop has adequate ventilation. Try to avoid things like flopping it down on the bed and such--give it a flat surface as best you can and make sure the air inlet/outlets on the sides are not obstructed--those cheap lapdesk things can go a long ways to extending the life of a laptop. Aside from the absurd things like dropping and dunking---heat is one of the WORST killers of a laptop. It builds slowly over time without you aware of it, and degrades very sensitive components.

Not trying to push Walmart on anyone, but I found a great lapdesk in their furniture section. They were over with the TV trays and it only cost me $10 (price may vary by markets). Many stores have these things...they're wide enough for a 17" laptop with a little room on the side for setting a portable drive or optical mouse. What's great about this one (aside from price) was that it uses velcro to hold the pad underneath. Take off the pad and it's a perfect platform for use on the bed. Should be able to find something similar at places like Target and such. If you don't find them over in the Electronics section with all the other cooling pads, laptop bags, and such-- check the furniture department around the card tables and TV trays.

Instead of doing it through the bios, how about trying to disable the Intel Graphics through the device manager first?

All good suggestions - thanks guys.
Disabling it from the BIOS is a no-go on most laptops with this setup, as the 'onboard' graphics is actually onboard the CPU, so it can't really be disabled. Also the hybrid/switching setup is often done at a hardware level, primarily for power saving.

I did try disabling it from device manager, which while a bit rudimentary, is actually not a bad idea. FFXIV crashes on startup with onboard GPU disabled, which means it's still trying to utilise it.

It's frustrating because I'm certain the issue is the layer the launcher creates between launching FFXIV for real. I can set all the FFXIV executables to use the Nvidia GPU, but it doesn't matter - once I hit 'play' on the launcher, it does it's own thing. I can't launch FFXIV directly myself.

The only thing I can say is that somewhere in your Windows settings, something is pointing to your Onboard GPU as the Primary GPU and not the Nvidia card. Can't really tell you where without having a computer in front of me, but that imo is the issue


Go to control Panel, click on the option for display settings, it should show monitor 1 and possibly monitor 2. For monitor 1 what is showing as the video card?

It all shows Intel HD across the board, unless I specify Nvidia for a specific executable, and then it uses it. But on the desktop, and unless I specify otherwise, everything is Intel HD. It's definitely the launcher layer that's a problem. Like I said, I have similar issues with EVE - and that uses a login launcher just like FFXIV, and despite what I do, it always runs off Intel HD.

That's your problem. You need to set your primary display adapter in WINDOWS to the Nvidia. When you pull up the display settings, on monitor 1 there should be a drop down. In that drop down you want to select the Nvidia card as your primary display adapter. It's not an issue with the launcher layer, it's an issue with how Windows chooses the display adapter. The specifying the executable is not what you think it is. That only works if Nvidia is the primary display adapter, which then forces the executable to use the settings that you set in the Nvidia control panel, rather than the in game options. It will never work if your primary display adapter is not set to the Nvidia Card. This is the case whether you have a desktop or a laptop.

So it appears I may have found my answer. The Nvidia switching technology is called Optimus, and I located a small Nvidia Optimus utility that will tell you when the Nvidia GPU is being used. Turns it it IS being used by FFXIV, despite FFXIV informing me it's running on the Intel HD 4000. As stated, the game runs fine, but I thought it might be able to run better - this isn't the case, apparently.

TL: DR - FFXIV is confused and doesn't know what it's talking about.

The problem with Intel-NVIDIA-Optimus on laptop is that, the Windows (or the system) will always and only report the primary graphics card which will always be Intel HD Graphics. Because of the Optimus technology, the integration is seamless to the application and the system (NVIDIA Control Panel) will decide which GPU is best used. You can overwrite this through the control panel, or set its global settings.

Took me a while to gather the understanding of Optimus, it is both a nice yet nasty thing. The same issue happens when one looking at WEI and it will only report Intel HD Graphics.