[Mars]

FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.

[TwoCables]

FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.

I don't want to be rude, but why say this when we don't know anything about his computer?

[BirdofPrey]

The thing is since the mediaVPs are mostly graphics, they will mostly hit your GPU (though other assets like the animations and higher quality music  take up more memory).  Most of the CPU load is going to come from actually running the program, tracking what's going on in game and such.  Thus, if it's a problem withgraphics overload, disabling the MVPs should be helpful, but if it's a CPU bottleneck, I can't see raking off the graphical features having a huge effect on performance.

but, yes without knowing what the system is (or even the specifics of the problem), it's hard to say where any problem might be.

[jr2]

See, the reason is, the FSOpen engine has had bug fixes / enhancements to the collision code (that takes the most from the CPU, and causes most of the lag if you have a decent GFX card).  Plus, support for SSE2, and other things.  So, it would seem like FSO ran lighter, unless your system is in the < 500 MHz range and / or < 1GB RAM range, then you might start having problems, but even then, just turn the detail settings down (the same way you would have to with retail running that setup).

Probably safe to say FSO runs lighter than Retail.

just like 7 (and now 10) run lighter than Vista IIRC.

[-Sara-]

The boyfriend has a new Asus laptop with NVIDIA Optimus in it. We spent a week figuring out why some of his games lagged like hell, while other games refused to play. Apparently the Optimus system controls when to use the mainboard chipset and when to use the actual GFX card, with the intent of saving power. It unfortunately made the GFX card non-selectable for games, literally disconnecting it when it isn't needed, which was whenever he wasn't running a game executable, making the card non-existent as far as the option menu was aware. We managed to shut that option down and he could use his GFX card normally, all games working.

[TwoCables]

See, the reason is, the FSOpen engine has had bug fixes / enhancements to the collision code (that takes the most from the CPU, and causes most of the lag if you have a decent GFX card).  Plus, support for SSE2, and other things.  So, it would seem like FSO ran lighter, unless your system is in the < 500 MHz range and / or < 1GB RAM range, then you might start having problems, but even then, just turn the detail settings down (the same way you would have to with retail running that setup).

Probably safe to say FSO runs lighter than Retail.

just like 7 (and now 10) run lighter than Vista IIRC.

You're right: 7 is closer to XP in performance. I don't know about 10 yet... (and I probably never will, hehe).

The boyfriend has a new Asus laptop with NVIDIA Optimus in it. We spent a week figuring out why some of his games lagged like hell, while other games refused to play. Apparently the Optimus system controls when to use the mainboard chipset and when to use the actual GFX card, with the intent of saving power. It unfortunately made the GFX card non-selectable for games, literally disconnecting it when it isn't needed, which was whenever he wasn't running a game executable, making the card non-existent as far as the option menu was aware. We managed to shut that option down and he could use his GFX card normally, all games working.

It's not really a card; it's a chip that's soldered to the motherboard. Also, try to avoid thinking of it as being "disconnected", but instead, it's just a matter of which chip is being used: the NVIDIA Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or the Intel GPU. So, it's not disconnecting it; it's just not using it.

Do you or does your boyfriend know how to uninstall drivers? If not, then please allow me to show you how (it's very easy). Do you or does he know how to download and install drivers directly from a manufacturer's website (such as NVIDIA)? I mean, the only way to have a chance of making Windows stop using the Intel GPU and to only use the NVIDIA GPU is to uninstall both drivers for the Intel and NVIDIA GPUs. After that, go here:

http://www.geforce.com/drivers

On this page, click the green button labeled "AUTO DETECT YOUR GPU". Or, if you know exactly which one it is, then select it from the list above in the "Manual Driver Search" section.

Either way, after you've downloaded the installation package to your computer, double-click it to begin the installation process. Note: please be careful with this installer because it contains things that you won't want. To avoid these unwanted things, please do this (after you open the installer, of course):

1. Click "AGREE AND CONTINUE"
2. Click "Custom (Advanced)"
3. Click  "NEXT"
4. Deselect "3D Vision Controller Driver"
5. Deselect "3D Vision Driver"
6. Deselect "HD Audio Driver" (if, for some reason, you end up not having audio for certain things, then you can always re-run this installer in this manner that I'm describing here in order to ONLY install this driver)
7. Deselect "NVIDIA GeForce Experience"

I think some people here will disagree about not installing NVIDIA's GeForce Experience software, but I see that software as completely unnecessary, and it can even be irritating kinda like how Windows Update can be irritating.

So yeah, after you do this, restart your computer and then try to see if Windows is now only using the NVIDIA GPU. If so, then I will be very happy that we succeeded!!! If not, then we will find a way.

If you end up with display problems after doing this (because you will no longer have a driver installed for the Intel GPU), then I would like to believe that installing a NORMAL driver for the Intel GPU would be safe. Let's not worry about that right now though because we might not have to.

[jr2]

Odd.  Normally you can go to nVidia Control Panel and manually specify which GPU to use.  Is this a new... "feature"?   

[-Sara-]

See, the reason is, the FSOpen engine has had bug fixes / enhancements to the collision code (that takes the most from the CPU, and causes most of the lag if you have a decent GFX card).  Plus, support for SSE2, and other things.  So, it would seem like FSO ran lighter, unless your system is in the < 500 MHz range and / or < 1GB RAM range, then you might start having problems, but even then, just turn the detail settings down (the same way you would have to with retail running that setup).

Probably safe to say FSO runs lighter than Retail.

just like 7 (and now 10) run lighter than Vista IIRC.

You're right: 7 is closer to XP in performance. I don't know about 10 yet... (and I probably never will, hehe).

The boyfriend has a new Asus laptop with NVIDIA Optimus in it. We spent a week figuring out why some of his games lagged like hell, while other games refused to play. Apparently the Optimus system controls when to use the mainboard chipset and when to use the actual GFX card, with the intent of saving power. It unfortunately made the GFX card non-selectable for games, literally disconnecting it when it isn't needed, which was whenever he wasn't running a game executable, making the card non-existent as far as the option menu was aware. We managed to shut that option down and he could use his GFX card normally, all games working.

It's not really a card; it's a chip that's soldered to the motherboard. Also, try to avoid thinking of it as being "disconnected", but instead, it's just a matter of which chip is being used: the NVIDIA Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or the Intel GPU. So, it's not disconnecting it; it's just not using it.

Do you or does your boyfriend know how to uninstall drivers? If not, then please allow me to show you how (it's very easy). Do you or does he know how to download and install drivers directly from a manufacturer's website (such as NVIDIA)? I mean, the only way to have a chance of making Windows stop using the Intel GPU and to only use the NVIDIA GPU is to uninstall both drivers for the Intel and NVIDIA GPUs. After that, go here:

http://www.geforce.com/drivers

On this page, click the green button labeled "AUTO DETECT YOUR GPU". Or, if you know exactly which one it is, then select it from the list above in the "Manual Driver Search" section.

Either way, after you've downloaded the installation package to your computer, double-click it to begin the installation process. Note: please be careful with this installer because it contains things that you won't want. To avoid these unwanted things, please do this (after you open the installer, of course):

1. Click "AGREE AND CONTINUE"
2. Click "Custom (Advanced)"
3. Click  "NEXT"
4. Deselect "3D Vision Controller Driver"
5. Deselect "3D Vision Driver"
6. Deselect "HD Audio Driver" (if, for some reason, you end up not having audio for certain things, then you can always re-run this installer in this manner that I'm describing here in order to ONLY install this driver)
7. Deselect "NVIDIA GeForce Experience"

I think some people here will disagree about not installing NVIDIA's GeForce Experience software, but I see that software as completely unnecessary, and it can even be irritating kinda like how Windows Update can be irritating.

So yeah, after you do this, restart your computer and then try to see if Windows is now only using the NVIDIA GPU. If so, then I will be very happy that we succeeded!!! If not, then we will find a way.

If you end up with display problems after doing this (because you will no longer have a driver installed for the Intel GPU), then I would like to believe that installing a NORMAL driver for the Intel GPU would be safe. Let's not worry about that right now though because we might not have to.

My reply was meant to the OP in case he happens to run a laptop with Optimus also. As I said we fixed the problem, turning the feature off entirely. I didn't know what other word to use besides disconnect, in dutch it's the same word for both 'not using' and 'removing' (afschakelen/ontkoppelen), I should have said disable but the word didn't come to mind at the time when I wrote it, as it ofcourse doesn't physically disconnect in any manner.

It was a drag anyhow for the bf and me as we are living a long-distance from eachother and I mostly had to do it with screenshots and telling him what to change. It also doesn't help that the dutch interface has entirely different words for the NVIDIA features and he tends to get impatient jumping back to console gaming if he fails to get it going after a few attempts. If he's a geek at all, he's certainly no computer geek. No, I'm well aware how to handle drivers, the post was meant as an example to the OP, in case he'd have an "OMG I use Optimus, could that be it" moment. But thanks.

[Mars]

FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.

I don't want to be rude, but why say this when we don't know anything about his computer?

Because if base FSO uses fewer resources in terms of CPU, memory, and GPU on my machine than there is no good reason it should use more of these resources on his machine. IIRC base FSO doesn't require any recent shader models, executables without SSE are available, there's just nothing obvious that FSO would require that would mean that it would suddenly start requiring more of a given resource on any system, even a particularly old one. This leaves the probable cause of any problems as something being wrong with the setup in general, such as having a bugged build, or having mods or features inadvertently on or off. All it would take is accidentally having post processing flagged on, or not turning off GLSL, and the game will start doing things that Vanilla did not.

I would recommend that he run with "-nospec -noglow -noenv -nonormal -no_vsync -no_glsl -old_collision" flags only, and see how his performance is.

[TwoCables]

Odd.  Normally you can go to nVidia Control Panel and manually specify which GPU to use.  Is this a new... "feature"?   

I did a little bit of Googling before I posted, and I found no one saying that there was an easier way to make it only use the NVIDIA GPU.

My reply was meant to the OP in case he happens to run a laptop with Optimus also. As I said we fixed the problem, turning the feature off entirely. I didn't know what other word to use besides disconnect, in dutch it's the same word for both 'not using' and 'removing' (afschakelen/ontkoppelen), I should have said disable but the word didn't come to mind at the time when I wrote it, as it ofcourse doesn't physically disconnect in any manner.

It was a drag anyhow for the bf and me as we are living a long-distance from eachother and I mostly had to do it with screenshots and telling him what to change. It also doesn't help that the dutch interface has entirely different words for the NVIDIA features and he tends to get impatient jumping back to console gaming if he fails to get it going after a few attempts. If he's a geek at all, he's certainly no computer geek. No, I'm well aware how to handle drivers, the post was meant as an example to the OP, in case he'd have an "OMG I use Optimus, could that be it" moment. But thanks.

Oh, that explains everything. Thank you, and I apologize for missing that!

FSOpen with no graphical enhancements or complex mods seems to run a bit lighter than stock FS2 on my system. Something is probably off with your setup.

I don't want to be rude, but why say this when we don't know anything about his computer?

Because if base FSO uses fewer resources in terms of CPU, memory, and GPU on my machine than there is no good reason it should use more of these resources on his machine. IIRC base FSO doesn't require any recent shader models, executables without SSE are available, there's just nothing obvious that FSO would require that would mean that it would suddenly start requiring more of a given resource on any system, even a particularly old one. This leaves the probable cause of any problems as something being wrong with the setup in general, such as having a bugged build, or having mods or features inadvertently on or off. All it would take is accidentally having post processing flagged on, or not turning off GLSL, and the game will start doing things that Vanilla did not.

I would recommend that he run with "-nospec -noglow -noenv -nonormal -no_vsync -no_glsl -old_collision" flags only, and see how his performance is.

I still say that we need to find out what his computer's specs are. They could very well be low enough that there's nothing he can really do about it without upgrading. Once we learn what his computer's specs are, we can go from there. That way, he wouldn't have to read anything that he might not HAVE to read.

[Phantom Hoover]

If you think Optimus is bad already, just try getting it to work with Linux.