Game won't use my Nvidia GPU no matter what I do

[Tsigaro]

Hello,

 

I discovered this game like a month ago and so far I LOVE it !

 

I got an odd setup : a Macbook Pro running Windows 10 which has an Intel iGPU, an AMD Radeon 5500M dGPU and I use a Nvidia 2070 S (in a Razer Core X case) as an external GPU.

I now use my Nvidia graphic card to play whatever game I'm playing. Usually, Windows automatically runs it on the Nvidia one but when it doesn't, I just set it manually in Windows' graphic settings.

 

But for Project Zomboid it doesn't work. It only uses my AMD graphic card but doesn't want to run on the Nvidia one.

I've set manually for java and projectzomboid .exes to use Nvidia GPU, even in Nvidia Control Panel but no effect. This is the only game that has this behaviour.

 

My computer runs quite hot running the AMD GPU and fans gets loud. It's better when I use the Nvidia one so that's why I need to make it switch. (also I want to see if it gets less laggy while driving).

 

Does anyone have a solution please? Or hints?

 

--

Latest Nvidia Drivers according to GeForce Experience : 472.12 (released 09/20/2021)

Latest Windows Update : 21H2 19044.1466

 

Thanks and have a nice day

[Beard]

Can you share your logs.zip file found in C:\Users\YourUserName\Zomboid?

[Slicer]

I've got the exact same problem over here on my daughter's laptop.

 

It has the AMD Vega integrated graphics but also a Radeon RX 560X in a hybrid configuration. Other apps can be configured to use the RX 560X but PZ never does.

 

Another trick you can do on this type of laptop is open the device manager and disable the Vega card completely. When I do this, any external HDMI device stops working but the laptop panel still works and PZ cannot launch at all.

 

Here's the twist: this laptop is dual boot Windows 10 and Arch Linux. I just realized this was a problem last night and haven't had a chance to test it on Linux yet. I'll be doing that as soon as I can and report back.

[Tsigaro]

Of course !

logs.zip

[Beard]

The game itself seems to recognize the GPU existing but doesnt use it. As far as I know there is no way for the game itself or any java parameters to choose a specific GPU. I can only recommend to check out any other apps to force the GPU usage, perhaps some Steam parameters? Or disabling the other GPU and having the monitor / game run only on the external one if that would be possible.

[Tsigaro]

Even though I asked on the official discord I'll answer here in case of future problem solving if it can help other people.

 

But for now I didn't found Steam parameters to force using a specific GPU.
When I disable the AMD GPU, my second monitor turns off and the laptop display go back to like 800x600 resolution. Until now I used the AMD GPU for everything like discord/firefox, second monitor etc and the Nvidia for the games running on the laptop display.

But if I don't find any software related solution I think I'll buy cables to connect everything to my Nvidia GPU and try to disable the AMD one and see what happens.

If new suggestions come up please share. If I find something I'll update this topic, thanks.

[Slicer]

Well this result was going to be surprising either way I guess, but it successfully uses the dedicated graphics card on Linux! And, again, I must say that this is on the exact same laptop that is dual-booting either OS. The method of selecting dedicated graphics on Linux by the way with Radeon hybrid graphics at least, is to put this in the Steam launch options for any game:

DRI_PRIME=1 %command%

 

We tried to play split-screen on Linux just a few minutes ago and shortly after we got out the door, it filled all the available RAM and crashed :(. This was the first time we were ever going to get to play on this TV at 1080p using the full RX 560X graphics card. I'm going to try again at lower resolution and see if that lowers the RAM usage. The laptop has 8GB of physical RAM but the BIOS locks out 2GB of it for the integrated graphics card and there is no option anywhere to adjust this. Some other laptop brands have a BIOS option to tweak this but not this one.

 

I'll also try again to make Zomboid on Windows use the dedicated graphics. I'm pretty sure that windows settings dialog is just plugging in some registry keys somewhere to set the behavior so I'll try to find them and plug them myself.

[Tsigaro]

Hello,

 

After your answer I searched for another OpenGL game that I already own to test and see which GPU it uses. I tried with Slay the Spire and you're right. It seems to be related to the fact that it is an OpenGL game because it also runs via the AMD GPU and not the external Nvidia one.

 

So I've done more research and here is what I learned (if it can help other users) :

- Windows graphics settings work only for DirectX apps

- OpenGL and Vulkan based games won't run on the eGPU if it is running on the internal display (this is actually my case as I play on my laptop)

- To make it work I have to display the game on my second monitor (which has to be directly connected to the eGPU) or manually select the GPU used in-game when available

 

In my case I'll just use the AMD GPU, it's not that bad.

 

Thanks for your help !

[Tsigaro]

Hello,

 

So I have modified my setup to connect everything to the Nvidia GPU. Disabled the AMD one so everything seems fine EXCEPT for Project Zomboid not starting. I looked at the console.txt and apparently it "failed to create a display window". Any idea?

 

Thanks

 

 

console.txt

[Beard]

Try installing the Intel drivers from here?
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/191045/intel-core-i79750h-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-50-ghz.html

[Tsigaro]

Thanks for your reply.

So I downloaded the drivers but when I try to install them it says :

[Tsigaro]

Here is the intel error log if interested

IntelGFX.log

[Slicer]

I've found something interesting for AMD hybrid GPU on Windows 10. It probably can't help with nVidia or external GPU though.

 

I turned off (paused) windows updates so that it won't immediately replace my GPU driver, then installed AMD's full driver and control center, Zomboid then claims to be using the dedicated GPU. By that I mean the GPU usage and VRAM usage show activity in the AMD software when Zomboid is rendering. But sadly the framerate still drops down to as low as 20 everytime I zoom out. I've tried tweaking every setting I could find in AMD's software and turning off all of their extra features but the problem persists. I've booted back to Linux and confirmed that zooming out on 1080p is fine still hovering right close to 60 fps.

 

By the way, the reason I didn't have AMD's software installed before is that as soon as windows updates run it replaces the GPU driver with the one it prefers and then trying to launch AMD software just shows an error that driver and software versions mismatch. But L4D2, TF2, Sims4, Roblox all run fantastic on that setup with no AMD software so I left it at that. Now I'm thinking of starting a new thread specifically for AMD hybrid laptops.

[Beard]

That is unusual, I am not sure what to suggest in that case, because based on your processor that should be the correct driver, though I am not sure if Macbooks somehow handle the graphics cards differently, perhaps any external cards have to first go through the integrated card which is why PZ cannot find it. Additionally, PZ is an OpenGL game and not a Direct X one so that might have something to do with it. I would probably recommend looking up if any other people have similar issues with external cards not being recognized by games.