Is your game not detecting a dedicated graphics card?

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brettjv wrote:

I have this same problem, and no offense but this problem is kinda the 'fault' of GGG, although it's not a problem with 'game detecting the dedicated graphics card'.

The problem is Optimus (nV Driver) not recognizing the game, and switching over to the dedicated card to run it.

Complicating that issue is that they've decided to make the .exe for the client named 'client.exe', and the launcher insists that you use this file name (that's the only file it'll patch properly IOW).

However, the filename 'client.exe' is already 'taken' by Phantasy Star Online and Dragon MMORPG apps in the nV driver, and nVCP (and nVInspector) will not allow you to create a new profile that points to a file called 'client.exe' because that file name is 'taken'/associated with another game.

BUT...Optimus technology REQUIRES that in order to use the nV graphics card, there must be a profile for the game. Otherwise, it won't switch over.

As for why the driver doesn't just 'see' the PoE client as being Phantasy Star, and switch to the nV card on that basis ... I'm actually kinda baffled on that question. But it doesn't, at least not for me and apparently others as well. Some kind of incompatibility between what's in the profile and the PoE is the only thing I can reckon.

So here's the most permanent workaround I know of for Optimus users until such time as GGG decides to rename the .exe to something that's not 'taken already', or gets nV to add a profile for PoE to it's driver:

Using nVInspector, DELETE the profiles for Phantasy Star Online, and Dragon MMORPG ... accept the warning it throws up. If you need these back, you have to reinstall the driver. No biggie. Then close nVInspector and fire up NVCP>3d Settings, and add a new profile for PoE, point the profile at your PoE install folder/client.exe file. This time, you'll be able to succeed in creating the profile, because those other two profiles are deleted. Select 'Prefer nvidia GPU' in the dropdown, and run the game (client.exe as usual). You'll now find it runs on your nV card, patches will happen properly, etc.

This will work at LEAST until you reinstall/update drivers (in which case, if it fails after a driver install, you just do the same stuff again I listed above), and you'll get all the patches and not have hassles with renaming .exes and crud like that, plus you can play around with settings in the nVCP and actually maybe have some of them work to improve IQ :)

Hopefully we get a proper driver profile from nV soon (this will also make it so SLI will work in this game).

And for those of you who have way over-powered GPU's (like 660ti/7950 or above), you should look into downsampling the image. It works great in this game, I'm running it at 2880x1800 resolution on my 1920x1200 screen via downsampling, and it REALLY improves the look of the game, and my FPS still never even THINKS about dipping below 60fps w/everything maxed in the game.

Enjoy!

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Rory wrote:

This is usually because you're using a laptop with both an integrated and dedicated graphics card, and the laptop is switching between these as it needs to. If this is the case, the "Adapter" dropdown in your Options menu will only show the integrated card, even if the game is using the dedicated card at the time.

You may need to set the game to start with the dedicated card if your minimap is not displayed correctly. You can make sure the game always uses the dedicated card by doing one of two things:

• Right click on your Path of Exile shortcut, and find an option to use the dedicated card

or

• In the Display Driver settings for your graphics card, located in the hidden icons menu beside your system clock, you can create a profile for Path of Exile that will tell it to always uses the Dedicated card.

Note: Even if you have set the game to always use the dedicated card, the "Adapter" option will only ever show the integrated card, and the only way to tell if it is using the dedicated card is by watching the dedicated card's activity when the game is running.