Spectre Divide Isn't Utilizing My Preferred GPU

Kasta
Updated

If you have both a dedicated and integrated GPU, and you're experiencing crashing or performance issues in-game, then it's possible that your preferred GPU isn't being utilized in-game. This will most commonly happen on laptops as they attempt to be more power efficient to reduce battery usage, but can also happen on desktops in some cases.

How to check which GPU is being used in a specific application

Check Which GPU is Being Used Within the Windows Task Manager
  1. Open the Windows Task Manager by pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ESC
  2. Click on the Performance tab and take note of which GPU is GPU 0 and 1
    1. In the case that you only see 1 GPU listed here, that likely means that you only have 1 GPU within your system.
  3. Click on the Processes tab and make sure that GPU Engine is enabled (it should have a check next to it)
  4. Open Spectre Divide and while the game is open you will see the Spectre process show within your task manager. Look at which GPU engine shows in the same row as the Spectre process. This will tell you which GPU is being utilized while in-game. The GPU number should match up with one of the GPUs that we previously looked at within the Performance tab in Step 2.

If the correct GPU is being utilized, then any technical issues that you're experiencing likely aren't a result of the wrong GPU being used. You may consider going through the performance troubleshooting steps here. In the case that the wrong GPU is being utilized, then be sure to follow the below troubleshooting sections to see if any of them help resolve the issue.

Plug-in Your Laptop

If your laptop isn't plugged in while playing games, your laptop may end up utilizing integrated graphics in order to utilize less battery. This will result in lower in-game performance as a less powerful graphics processor is being used.

Plug Your Monitor Cable Into the Preferred GPU

If you have a desktop computer, make sure your monitor is plugged directly into your dedicated GPU and not your motherboard.

Select your preferred GPU within Windows

How to Select Your Preferred GPU in Windows
  1. Open the Windows Start menu > Settings Display
  2. Scroll down and click Graphics Settings
  3. You should see a list of applications at the bottom. If Spectre doesn't show then you can click the Browse button and find the Spectre executable within your Steam apps and add it to the list
  4. Click on Spectre and click Options
  5. You should see a list of available GPUs. Select the High Performance GPU

Windows Power Settings

Windows Power Settings

Some computers, especially laptops, will use power saving plans to use less battery power. Unfortunately this will likely limit the speed of your GPU and CPU. Set your computer's power plan to High Performance:

  1. Open your Windows Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options
  2. Here you will see power plans such as Balanced, Power saver, etc. You'll want to select High Performance
  3. If you don't see High Performance you may need to select the drop down for Show Additional Plans
  4. Additionally, laptop users should make sure their computer is plugged in and
    charging.

    Note:     Changing this setting will use more battery on laptops.