Panasonic ToughBook: Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus

Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus
This is a buggy thing found with source engine with nvidia optimus technology. Many of us knows that source engine is used in games to deliver better graphic output. I have a laptop which has nvidia optimus technology gpu. This is a dedicated hardware which is responsible to give better graphics while playing the game and handle all 3d operation. Now when I run any high graphic game the gpu start working. What happen here the source engine is not able to identify the entire ability of gpu used. Because of which some of the features are not available at all in the game. Some of graphic abilities are disabled and this can noticed clearly. The same game when run in my desktop it gives a different output.

#2
29-03-2012
Irene-I
Member

Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,491
Re: Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus
I agree with the same. It can be a big buggy or due to driver compatibility. The best thing to get rid of this is to use the manufacturers driver. Even if you have updated that to new one you can downgrade the driver version and then test the performance.

#3
29-03-2012
MinkaM
Member

Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 900
Re: Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus
I had noticed this in my friend laptop where I cannot pick the highest settings to play the game. It showed me error and does not work. I had tried to read information on the same on several sites but there is no exact information available. To make the thing work I had tested a number of settings. Even from bios and tried to see the effect after enabling and disabling onboard graphics. That did not helped out much. Now you can hope for nvidia to release some better drives that can sort this issue out. Till yet there are no patches or updates released which can fix the source engine.

#4
29-03-2012
GaganGang
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,532
Re: Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus
The actual issue is not really related to the gpu. Nvidia optimus works nicely but the source engine is not able to identify the gpu. Because of which you cannot get access to the full feature. This is common with many mobile gpus while desktop versions works nicely.

#5
29-03-2012
Chakradevroy
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,587
Re: Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus
Do you really think Nvidia is going to release any driver update for the same. This issue exist from long time and nvidia does not looks caring about this. There is no response on the same yet. So what can we do. Stick to your current settings. Anyhow nor nvidia nor valve looks interested in troubleshooting is option. Because either optimus or source needs a fix for the error to be eradicated. You might not enjoy full graphics support on your laptop. It is better that the games are not crashing at all. So in simple word it means that there is no use of having a good config card as you cannot benefit from it while playing games. Source engine is used in many games and we cannot simply avoid those games.

#6
29-03-2012
Daksha90
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,483
Re: Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus
You do not need to worry about the same. It basically lies with the process of hardware detection where the game uses the dedicated device to improve performance. While on the other hand optimus works finely with the games. There are some games where you might be disappointment.

#7
29-03-2012
Halle
Member

Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,605
Re: Source Engine detects wrong card with nVidia Optimus
Try to play with optimal settings only. I will not recommended to push the game settings to maximum. Anyhow the laptop gpu will be able to manage to give you a mid performance with optimal settings and many things can be ignored while playing games. What matter that you should get good fps and less artifacts.