Arch Linux

momokrono

Member

Registered: 2016-10-27

Posts: 54

[SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

hi there,
i've got my new 1050ti recently, i installed it and downloaded nvidia drivers from the official repos, i configured it in the xorg.conf and decided to test it.
i've been using since now the integrated graphics card in my cpu, an intel i7 6700, and while playing league of legends (lol from now on) i had something around 50-60 fps.
lol has been installed via lutris.
i tried my new card and at the beginning i saw, in a private match for testing, 200 fps, that actually is the correct number for this card, but then, trying in a pvp game, the fps were around 50, like if i've been using my IGC.
looking online i saw that arch, by default, uses the IGC and not the discrete one, and to select one of those i have to use bumblebee.
the problem is that bumblebee uses optimus tech, for laptops with nvidia cards, and it's not my case.
so, my question is:
i don't care about power consumption, how can i totally disable my IGC and use only the 1050ti?
do i have to use bumblebee anyway?
thanks!

Last edited by momokrono (2018-01-14 18:26:22)

Slithery

Administrator

From: Norfolk, UK

Registered: 2013-12-01

Posts: 5,776

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

There may be an option in your motherboards firmware menu to disable the integrated GPU.

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ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,789

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

Please fix your shift key.  https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Co … ow_to_post bullets two and three.  Sorry I can't actually help with your problem, I know nothing of nVidia GPUs.

Last edited by ewaller (2018-01-12 16:25:02)

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V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,728

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

No don't think about bumblebee on a desktop. Where did you "look online" to see that you are using the IGP? Most desktop firmwares will automatically disable the IGPU when a dedicated card is installed automatically, if not check your UEFI/BIOS for such an option.

Be aware that FPS in LoL are tied to a few other things than raw GPU power and some drops are to be expected depending on a few factors.

What's your output of

glxinfo | grep OpenGL

and a xorg log would help in verifying what happens.  Also what did you "configure in xorg.conf" ? If you ran nvidia-xconfig remove that, you don't have to manually configure xorg.confs and running that will often disable a few relevant things.

Last edited by V1del (2018-01-12 16:31:37)

momokrono

Member

Registered: 2016-10-27

Posts: 54

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

I've checked into my uefi menu and found that the primary GPU is set to be on PCI, and not onboard.

What i found online about bumblebee was posted here in the arch forum, but anyway i've decided to ask just to be safe, thanks!

The output of

 glxinfo | grep OpenGL 

is

OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 387.34
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.50 NVIDIA
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 387.34
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60 NVIDIA
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: (none)
OpenGL extensions:
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 NVIDIA 387.34
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20
OpenGL ES profile extensions:

For the configuration yes, i used nvidia-xconfig, is it safe to remove the .conf file or I have to configure it manually?

Also, i've tried to use cuda acceleration to render with my gpu in blender, but i can't select gpu. I then tried to run

nvidia-modprobe

to enable cuda but it seems it didn't work.

Last edited by momokrono (2018-01-12 16:44:45)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,728

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

Yes remove the .conf file, it's unlikely to benefit you and might lead to issues.

As we can see, the nvidia driver is active and being used. As for blender, did you actually install the cuda package? It's only an optional dep. There are as far as i understand quite a few gotchas and potential pitfalls with differing CUDA versions, however I'm not all that versed in the topic.

momokrono

Member

Registered: 2016-10-27

Posts: 54

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

I've tried to install the cuda package but i've seen that also tried to install gcc6, while i want gcc7 as compiler. I've aborted the installation when I've seen it, I was scared it would have asked me to choose between the 2 versions of gcc, in conflict, but I will try and see if I'm wrong.

At this point, any advice to increase my FPS?

EDIT:
I've installed cuda, and gcc6, without problems, and now cuda shows up as option to render in blender.

Last edited by momokrono (2018-01-12 17:12:02)

Lone_Wolf

Member

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 11,920

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

latest cuda doesn't support gcc 7, but the gcc6 it pulls in has had some changes so it can coexist with the gcc7 installation.

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momokrono

Member

Registered: 2016-10-27

Posts: 54

Re: [SOLVED] how to select a gpu for games

Ok, thanks everyone!

At this point it seems that the low fps are determined by the wine environment, so probably with un update i'll get better results.

Marking as solved.