How to run a game on a discrete graphics card. How to check which video card the game is running on (for example, NVIDIA)

User question

Hello.

I have two video cards on my laptop: integrated Intel HD and discrete NVIDIA. For some reason, many games slow down (and some of them are old), I suspect that they run on an integrated video card.

How can I find out on which card they work, and if not on a discrete one, then how to use it? Thank you in advance...

Good day!

In fact, many modern laptops are equipped with two video cards: one built-in (usually Intel HD) - used when working in Windows, viewing pictures, videos, not too resource-intensive games; the second is a discrete AMD or NVIDIA, which is required to run games and programs that require high performance from the video adapter.

According to the developers, the discrete video card should be activated automatically when the game starts. (the rest of the time, to save battery power, the built-in video card must be working) ... But this does not always happen, and some games are launched on the built-in one - as a result, you see brakes, lags, delays, etc. In this article I will show you several ways how to run games on a discrete graphics card.

Note: in my tutorial below, I will show you how to configure a discrete video card using NVIDIA as an example. If you have a video card from AMD, the menu will be somewhat different, but the principle of setting will not change (see screenshots in the comments).

Ways to run a game on a discrete graphics card

Important!

Before proceeding to the methods and fine-tuning, you must have the current video drivers installed (at least not the ones that are installed by default with Windows). I recommend using one of the driver managers to automatically update and install new "firewood" (link below).

Updating drivers in Windows 10 - an overview of the 5 best programs (in Russian) - //ocomp.info/obnovlenie-drayverov-v-windows-10-obzor-5-luchshih-programm-na-russkom.html

How to update the driver for an AMD, nVidia and Intel HD graphics card: from A to Z - //ocomp.info/kak-obnovit-drayver-na-videokartu.html

Method number 1: using the video driver settings menu

If you have the drivers installed, then by clicking the right mouse button anywhere on the desktop, in the pop-up context menu, you should see a link to their settings (in my case, this is a link to "NVIDIA Control Panel" ). Go to the discrete graphics card driver settings.

NVIDIA Control Panel // how to open

Next, in the menu on the left, you must select "Manage 3D Settings" , then in the graph "Preferred graphics adapter" choose "High-performance NVIDIA processor" , then save the settings.

Preferred graphics adapter

After that, you can try to start the game - it should run on a discrete video card.

By the way, in the NVIDIA settings, you can also specify the specific video card used for a specific game. To do this, you need to do the following:

open the video card settings, then the tab "Manage 3D Settings" ;
then open the tab "Software settings" ;
add the required program (in my case I added the game Civilization 4);
and set the preferred graphics processor for this application (see screenshot below);
save settings!

Setting the adapter for a specific game

Method number 2: through the conductor

If you set certain settings in the NVIDIA settings, then you can run any games and programs on the adapter you need in manual mode.

To do this, open NVIDIA settings, then under "Desktop "(top menu) put a couple of checkboxes:

Add to the desktop context menu;
Add item "Run with GPU" to the context menu.

Adding a video card selection to the context menu

If you have enabled the previous couple of checkboxes, then the most obvious and simple way to start the game on the desired video adapter is to open the explorer, that is, the desired folder containing the executable file with the game, and right-click on the game file (by the way, you can do this and by the icon on the desktop).

Then select from the context menu: "Run with GPU -> High Performance NVIDIA Processor" ... See screenshot below.

Selecting a video adapter to run the game

Actually, the game should run on the adapter of your choice. Now, below I will consider a way to check if this is so ...

How to check if a game is running on a discrete graphics card

First, go to the settings of the NVIDIA video card and open the menu "Desktop" ... In this menu, you need to enable one parameter "Display GPU activity icon in notification area" ... This icon will allow you to see when the NVIDIA adapter is loaded, in fact, what we are looking for ...

Turn on the NVIDIA GPU activity icon

By the way, please note that after enabling this option, a corresponding icon will appear in your tray, next to the clock (see screenshot below).

GPU activity icon - next to the clock

Now we start the game. If the game is in full screen mode, minimize it using the buttons WIN or Alt + TAB .

Please note that the NVIDIA GPU icon has become colored (in the screenshot below). Those. NVIDIA adapter started working after launching your game - it means it is involved!

The icon became colored after starting the game (bottom)

Also, by clicking on this icon, you can see which games (applications) are currently using this adapter (see the screen below).

What applications use NVIDIA GPU

In general, this is the most relevant and reliable way to determine if a discrete graphics card is involved.

Using FPS analysis

It is also possible to indirectly determine whether you have a discrete video card by the number of FPS (the number of frames in the game). For a discrete video card, it is usually higher.

To see the number of FPS in games, install one of several applications: Fraps, PlayClaw, Overwolf. Then deliberately run a game on the integrated and discrete graphics cards, and you will see the difference (see the screenshot below)!

You can find out programs for viewing FPS, as well as how to increase it, in this article: //ocomp.info/kak-uznat-fps-v-igre-i-povyisit-fps.html

If necessary, turn up the graphics settings to the maximum in order to fully use the resources (for a more obvious difference).

FPS difference between discrete and integrated graphics

One more thing!

Pay attention to the noise and temperature of your laptop. If a discrete graphics card is used, many laptop models start to make a lot of noise. Also, the temperature of the video adapter begins to rise (you can find it using special utilities, for example, Speccy, screen below).

Temperature of the processor and video card // Speccy

Why the game might not run on a discrete graphics card

Some games stubbornly refuse to run on a discrete graphics card. You set everything in the driver settings, manually specify how to start, but all the same - the game runs on the built-in one, lags and slows down. In this case, I recommend a few things (I came across it myself, more than once)!

1. Try another OS like Windows 7

The story is simple. On one laptop, for a long time I could not understand why one old game stubbornly did not run on a discrete video card (by the way, it had Windows 10 installed on it). Then I decided to create another partition on the hard disk and install a second OS - Windows 7. Surprisingly, in Windows 7 the game started without problems on a discrete video card.

Conclusion: Windows 10 does not work correctly with two video cards (built-in and discrete) and old games. It is also possible that this is due to the drivers, which are not yet fully optimized for the "new" Windows 10.

Update 3.08.2018: Windows 10 introduced an option that controls how video adapters will work: in energy saving mode or in high performance. How to set it up - see here: //ocomp.info/win10-rejim-perekl-grafiki.html

High performance!

2. Try to enable compatibility mode and disable scaling

To do this, simply open the properties of the desired EXE file. Next, in the "Compatibility" section, check the box "Run the program in compatibility mode with such and such Windows" (example below).

Launch the game in compatibility mode for Windiows XP SP 2

3. Try to install an older version of the driver (on a video card)

And the last one. The newest driver is not always the best. It is possible that some error occurs in the new driver and the discrete card is not activated when the game starts. Therefore, you should try an older version of the driver, which has already been worked out for many months (years).

To help!