G sync does not activate in Advanced Optimus unless laptop is charging

[Jsarkhail]

Hi folks,
I need some help understanding why my laptop does not activate g sync in advanced optimus unless it is plugged in. It does however activate g sync on battery only if I have the display mode set to NVIDIA GPU only in the nvidia control panel.

[Gias]

Hi folks,
I need some help understanding why my laptop does not activate g sync in advanced optimus unless it is plugged in. It does however activate g sync on battery only if I have the display mode set to NVIDIA GPU only in the nvidia control panel.

basically gsync needs the use of the nvidia/discrete gpu, and nvidia is not allowing (or not choosing) an automatic switch to the discrete gpu when using the advanced optimus option while running in battery mode.

the advanced optimus option is basically an option that automatically switches between the integrated and the discrete gpu based on a specific criteria. it may choose to focus on battery life or on performance etc.

while you're running on battery, i believe it's choosing to focus on battery life by design.

see the following from nvidia:

NVIDIA Advanced Optimus improves upon the original by introducing a hardware-based dynamic display switch that allows GeForce GPUs to directly control the display, rather than routing via the IGP. Bypassing integrated graphics increases game performance, reduces system latency when gaming, and enables the use of G-SYNC variable refresh rate displays, improving users’ experiences.

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/ne ... d-optimus/

Advanced Optimus allows dynamically switching an internal VESA Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) laptop display panel across different display adapters and hence offering a great battery life, performance and benefits of Gsync and high refresh rate.

By default, a pre-qualified list of applications in allow list for Advanced Optimus will trigger an internal display switch. Users will have the option to change these settings using ‘Global Settings’ or ‘Program Settings’ under ‘Automatic Display Switching’ in the ‘Manage 3D settings’ page of the NVIDIA control panel.
The display will not switch to discrete GPU in the following scenarios -

The display will not switch to discrete GPU if the application in allow list is a DirectX9 application.
The display will not switch to discrete GPU if there is a DirectX9 application already running.
The display will not switch to discrete GPU if the system is running in battery mode (DC)
The display will not switch to discrete GPU if there are any external monitors connected to the system
The display will not switch to discrete GPU if an external-GPU (eGPU) is connected to the system.

If any DX9 application is running and a display switch is triggered using the NV Control Panel 'display mode' settings page, the DX9 app could crash or freeze.
Display switch between integrated and discrete GPUs can freeze the screen for few seconds

Upon closing the last application that is in allow list, the switch back to integrated GPU is triggered after a delay of few seconds. This would mean that the screen freeze associated with the GPU switch will occur few seconds after closing the last application that is in allow list for display switch.

If the user uses a docking station with external displays connected for charging purposes, they cannot take advantage of the Advanced Optimus feature until they switch to a power adapter for charging their notebook.
The display screen may appear to be frozen for a few seconds when the display is switched between integrated and discrete GPUs (may take longer on Windows 11).

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers ... s-overview

[Jsarkhail]

well my gpu is being utilized in battery mode for example in GTA but it will not activate g sync unless I plugged it into the charger before starting the application. It must be like you said a battery saving criteria.

[RealNC]

well my gpu is being utilized in battery mode for example in GTA but it will not activate g sync unless I plugged it into the charger before starting the application. It must be like you said a battery saving criteria.

Which is weird, because VRR is actually supposed to reduce power consumption. In fact, lowering power use on mobile devices was the actual reason it was invented. VRR was picked up in monitors for gaming only years later.