Can't run SimCity 4 on separate NVIDIA 940M graphics card.

[RosaParx 0]

Hello,

I'm trying to get SimCity 4 to run on my second GPU -- NVIDIA GeForce 940M graphics card. The game runs on an Intel HD Graphics 520 card and it makes SimCity lag (I would think it wouldn't since this computer model is about 3 years old). I went through other posts regarding changing graphics drivers, but I can't find anything on it for this specific card.

I've tried this (changed properties to -d:OpenGL) and it didn't work or force the game to switch from Intel HD Graphics cards to NVIDIA card.

& this:

& this:

 

(when I look up the system info for the graphic card specs I can't find the 0x0000 number that's mentioned in the link above to attach to Video Cards.sgr)

Still can't really find anything that relates to the NVIDIA 940M graphics card and putting in the correct on the Video Cards.sgr or the Graphics Rule.sgr files.

I've also changed my computer to only run on NVIDIA when I open programmes from the NVIDIA control panel; that didn't work either.

Maybe my computer is playing games with me since I'm playing games on it? 

These are the computer specs:

Product Name	m7-n109dx
Product Number	M1W11UA
Microprocessor	6th generation Intel® Core™ i7-6500U (2.5GHz with turbo boost up to 3.1GHz, 4MB L3 Cache) Dual Core
Memory	16GB DDR3L SDRAM (2 DIMM)
Video Graphics	NVIDIA® GeForce® 940M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory with up 4096MB total graphics memory
Display	17.3" diagonal FHD (33) IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit touch screen (1920x1080)
Hard Drive	1TB 5400RPM hard drive
Multimedia Drive	SuperMulti DVD burner
Network Card	Integrated 10/100/1000 GbE LAN
Wireless Connectivity	2x2 802.11ac WLAN and Bluetooth
External Ports	Multi-Format Digital Media Card Reader 4 SuperSpeed USB 3.0, 1 supporting USB Boost 1 HDMI 1 RJ-45 (LAN) 1 Headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack
Sound	Bang & Olufsen with dual speakers
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with numeric keypad
Pointing Device	HP Imagepad with multi-touch gesture support
Dimensions	1.21 in (H) x 16.34 in (H) x 11.07 in (D)
Weight	6.97 lb
Power	65W AC adapter 4-cell 41WHr 2.8Ah lithium-ion battery
Camera	Intel® RealSense™ 3D Camera (front-facing) 1920 x 1080, 2 MP, with integrated dual array digital microphones

 

 

[rsc204 21,866]

Such dual-GPU computers are pretty much the norm these days, however SC4 was designed long before such things existed, so there is no manual way of telling the game which GPU to use. Your GPU drivers are supposed to be intelligent and decide what's best for a given application, saving power or utilising the better GPU. The problem is, until a point, it may look to them like the Intel GPU will run fine, but when you get to the point it no longer does, you can't switch GPUs dynamically. The solution is simply to tell your system to always run SC4 in "Performance Mode", i.e. using the dedicated GPU. A full set of instructions on that can be found here:

 

[RosaParx 0]

8 hours ago, rsc204 said:

Such dual-GPU computers are pretty much the norm these days, however SC4 was designed long before such things existed, so there is no manual way of telling the game which GPU to use. Your GPU drivers are supposed to be intelligent and decide what's best for a given application, saving power or utilising the better GPU. The problem is, until a point, it may look to them like the Intel GPU will run fine, but when you get to the point it no longer does, you can't switch GPUs dynamically. The solution is simply to tell your system to always run SC4 in "Performance Mode", i.e. using the dedicated GPU. A full set of instructions on that can be found here:

I don't know how to tell my system to run SC4 in "Performance Mode" on the Intel graphics card. I tried through the Intel control panel and couldn't find anything. I used the link that you gave me, but I can't find anything on there either.

I have SC4 manually set to NVIDIA high performance on the NVIDIA control panel and that isn't switching it to the NVIDIA GPU (as mentioned in the guide).

[rsc204 21,866]

18 minutes ago, RosaParx said:

I have SC4 manually set to NVIDIA high performance on the NVIDIA control panel and that isn't switching it to the NVIDIA GPU (as mentioned in the guide).

There is no option in the Intel configurations, since it will happily run on its own, many cheaper machines don't have a dedicated card.

If you can't set this in the NVidia control panel, or it isn't working, that's something that's discussed in the linked tutorial, with potential solutions. But, some machines may not allow you to override this setting, some info on this here:

Beyond that, this isn't an SC4 problem, it's a Hardware/Driver issue and you may want to consider asking HP for assistance to get your expensive GPU to do the thing it's supposed to.

[RosaParx 0]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I followed everything mentioned on the guide (seriously). I'm running on Windows 10 so that may be the problem. It always runs on Intel. The GPU doesn't even run on 100% it stays at a stagnant 30-35%, but it lags so much. I can only play zoomed in all the way. I've seen NVIDIA comparisons to Intel graphics on YouTube and SimCity 4 runs smooth (as it should). I don't understand why it won't switch. I tried the openGL option, that doesn't work. I changed the security settings to allow me to override the card and play on NVIDIA. I changed everything on the NVIDIA control panel to run on NVIDIA -- still, nothing. I went on graphics rules.sgr and video card.sgr and followed the instructions -- still, nothing. As I posted above, the NVIDIA graphics card description doesn't provide me with a "0x0000" number to copy and paste to the video cards.sgr file. So, I guess the game doesn't recognise the card. I checked the log as well and it's always running on Intel graphics. You'd think that in these new computers you'd be able to play anything from the early 2000s with no problems. 

[rsc204 21,866]

It sounds like the problem is simply due to the NVidia software not allowing (or ignoring) your choice to use it. As mentioned in the guide, it may require you to disable UAC (User Account Control) in order for you to have sufficient rights to perform this operation. I'm really not sure if this is even an option on Windows 10 any more, since the O/S is locked down to prevent mishaps and potential security issues. The other potential problem is that you'd need a higher version of Windows (more expensive), in order to have access to the O/S. Usually only a problem for Win10 Basic, the regular edition you'd think would work, but it may be it needs the Professional edition. This is why you might need to speak to HP support, because they should know if this operation is possible or how to override it. Bear in mind here too, HP is one of a few vendors who modify the default Intel drivers. Try and install the generic ones from Intel, you'll get an error. So they are doing some custom functions that only work with HP systems, again this could be a factor. Yes in theory you should be able to tell the system to use the NVidia card for any application, so if that isn't the case, outside of disabling UAC, I simply have no experience with this specific setup to advise you further.

Bear in mind, to run the Dedicated GPU, you'll need to have the laptop plugged in to a power source. If you are attempting to do this off the battery, that might be the problem. Similarly, the settings for your systems power plan might be preventing use of the dedicated card. Setting that to High Performance, may also prove helpful. Do you have any applications that are successfully using the NVidia GPU?

Actually the Intel chip is more than capable of playing SC4 just fine, I've a Intel 4600 GPU on my system, paired with a NVidia GTX750ti. Being a desktop, the chip in use is dictated by the card the default monitor is plugged into, but with Laptops, everything is shared, so it becomes more complicated. You might need to turn shadows down to medium to get SC4 running well on it, but it's not the worst thing in the world. Granted you've a mobile variant of the Intel chip, but it's a couple generations newer, so theoretically should outperform the 4600.

[RosaParx 0]

2 hours ago, rsc204 said:

Bear in mind, to run the Dedicated GPU, you'll need to have the laptop plugged in to a power source. If you are attempting to do this off the battery, that might be the problem. Similarly, the settings for your systems power plan might be preventing use of the dedicated card. Setting that to High Performance, may also prove helpful. Do you have any applications that are successfully using the NVidia GPU?

Yep, all other games (SimCity 4 is the only one that runs on Intel). I set settings to low, but it's still pretty laggy. I guess it's because I have too many buildings.