Integrated/Dedicated GFX issue

gwake

<div class="IPBDescription">NS2 forces integrated I think</div>Hi everyone,

Just wanted to see if anyone else is having this issue. I'm away from home on business and decided it was time to get NS2; unfortunatly all I have is my laptop, though it *should* run NS2 just fine. Install went fine but upon opening NS2 I could hear the background music though the screen was all black. I tried many things from adjusting resolution (both in the option cfg and my desktop), lowering the gfx settings to 0 in config, and droping steam UI ingame. None of these things helped though I stumbled upon a workaround. If I alt-tab out of the game or ctrl-alt-delete to open the task manager, the screen will usually show up and I can play.

Another issue is my framerate. Now I know this is an issue with most people, but I think mine is extremely low because NS2 is forceing my integrated gfx and not my dedicated. My laptop uses the "Optimus" driver so it switches from the dedicated to integrated chip when power/performance permits. In my settings though I have specified NS2 to "prefer" the dedicated card, which with all other games works fine. NS2 seems to be using just the integrated card even after I specified otherwise. I know this because my monitoring software shows my CPU's temp increase to around 90C when playing NS2 whereas my GPU will stay around idle (45C). It also shows my gpy frequency at around 450mhz, which would explain my ~25fps using r_mode unlit (removes all lighting features making the game look like crap). I noticed this issue with minecraft as well but after specifing the dedicated card the issue was resolved. It seems NS2 on the other hand is disregarding the windows setting and forceing the integrated gfx. Here are my specs.

Specs:
Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM Processor (2.00GHz), 6MB L3 Cache, FCPGA10/Socket G2
Core Logic 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Chipset HM65
4GB DDR3 1333MHz
BIOS 32MB SPI Flash ROM BIOS
Display 15.6" (16:9) Full HD (1920x1080) LED-BackLit Display featuring 95% NTSC Color Gamut in Matte Finished or Super Clear Glare Type Screen
Graphics Processor NVIDIA® GeForce™ GT 540M GPU
1GB GDDR3 Video RAM
Microsoft® DirectX® 11 Compatible
NVIDIA® PhysX® Technology
NVIDIA® CUDA™ Technology
NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology
HDMI 1.4
Support HDCP
Independent GPU button, support UMA and Optimus mode
Integrated 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN + Bluetoothâ„¢ V3.0 + HS Combo half mini card module
Windows® 7 x64

Thanks!

Garrett

TrC

All I can say is that NS2 is very CPU dependant and uses only one core so 2g maybe simply not enough at this level of optimization.

kingmob

Give more detail on the integrated graphics.
I think that would be the key if NS2 is really using it.

Some integrated graphics card and drivers are really bad.
Mostly because they will CLAIM a certain level of DX support and then bend or snap under pressure.

gwake

@ TRC,

I didnt know NS2 only used a single core right now, that may explain the issue. I only had my monitoring program looking at core 1, so I didnt realize that.

@kingmob,

I dont know much about the integrated gfx, its onboard the 2630QM processor. Dont get me wrong though, I dont want NS2 to use the integrated GFX, and it shouldnt. The dedicated card can handle the game fine, so the integrated gfx should be a non issue.

wacko

When you start the game you should see in the console(~) which video card the game is using...

gwake

Thanks!

It was using my dedicated card. It looks like its just a cpu issue, gonna have to wait for NS2 to use more cores:)

Garrett

Horseless Headman

<!--quoteo(post=1861387:date=Jul 18 2011, 01:00 PM:name=gwake)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gwake @ Jul 18 2011, 01:00 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1861387"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Install went fine but upon opening NS2 I could hear the background music though the screen was all black. I tried many things from adjusting resolution (both in the option cfg and my desktop), lowering the gfx settings to 0 in config, and droping steam UI ingame. None of these things helped though I stumbled upon a workaround. If I alt-tab out of the game or ctrl-alt-delete to open the task manager, the screen will usually show up and I can play.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

This sounds like the start of my day. Sometimes though, if I wait long enough, I don't even have to alt-tab or ctrl-alt-del for the menu to show up. It actually seems to get better over time. But whenever the game gets patched, I start from scratch :)