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How about Optimus today?

Anonymous
Not applicable
I've had my Asus ROG since before CV1. It had Optimus and thank god for the mini DisplayPort and a good HDMI adapter or my CV1 would be dark.

But now I really need to upgrade. Don't get me wrong, I can play HL: Alyx on this laptop with no problem. The hinges however, are starting to give a little.

So I'm still going for a laptop - Asus ROG I thought, but they still pack the Optimus crap. Why? I don't have a laptop for gaming on the go. I've never used it without the power connected - except a few times when I forgot it wasn't plugged in 🙂

Anyway, there are many laptops that don't have Optimus. But do Optimus work with VR, or is it still a killer and I should keep a great distance from it when VR in mind? I still do have a CV1 if that matter. I would really like to have the option for an Asus ROG, but if no Optimus, then they are completely excluded and I have to go for something else. I just cannot believe that Asus still use Optimus if it doesn't work with VR.
5 REPLIES 5

Anonymous
Not applicable
He was always my favourite Transformer. ?

Anonymous
Not applicable
I now see that the ROG doesn't even have any type of DisplayPort - at least not on the one I was thinking about (Strix G712). So I'll just give up Asus altogether. They seem to have missed the point at least to VR as DisplayPort now is a requirement for the current headsets.

TomCgcmfc
MVP
MVP
I think as long as you have both a hdmi and mini DP wired to your dedicated nvidia graphics card Optimus is not that much of a problem.  You mainly just need to make sure your nvidia control panel settings have prefer high performance nvidia gpu on the top option.  Since you are always going to be plugged into power while gaming you might as well select prefer max performance.  Also on the physx tab select your nvidia gpu. Again, since you are gaming with power you should go with Ultimate power plans while plugged in and maybe balanced when on battery (at least that way you will quickly know if you are plugged in or not, lol!  The only thing with this is that you need to monitor your temps since most laptops do not have a lot of cooling.  A cooling mat might be a good idea.

Another tip to get around Optimus is to use an external gaming monitor.  You can get good inexpensive 24-27in 144Hz, low latency (1-3ms) gaming monitors with both DP and Hdmi ports now days.  If you connect the monitor to either your unused mini DP or Hdmi port, go to Win10 display settings and select to only project to your external monitor (not your laptop monitor) this will completely bypass your integrated Intel igpu.  Believe it or not, this can improve your VR performance by ~10%.  Plus, it's much nicer to work/play with a decent sized monitor instead of a puny 13-17in laptop monitor imho.

The bottom line is if you really want a gaming laptop in 2020 I would wait until top-end laptop makers introduce them with the rtx3000 series gpu's and the latest Intel 10000 series cpu's.  If you want your gaming laptop to last you a few years you are best to spend as much as possible and go for the highest specs possible imho.  Probably best to keep an eye out for offerings from Alienware, MSI, and Razer.  All these are still going to be nicer to use at home with an external gaming monitor (and maybe external keyboard/mouse as well).

Bottom line is that if you want a good VR gaming laptop you need to be prepared to spend accordingly.  Unfortunately this is going to end up costing ~2x more than a similar spec'd Desktop gaming pc, but that's the price you pay for mobility.  Hope this helps.
i9 13900K water cooled, RTX4090, Z790 MB w/wifi6e, 32Gb 6400 ram, 2x2TB SSD, 1000W PSU, Win 11, QPro, Q3, w/Link and Air Link, Vive Pro1 with Etsy lens mod and Index Controllers

Anonymous
Not applicable
Also noticed that the ROG might have DisplayPort using the USB-C plug. Do anyone have any experience in this? Is this connected to the GPU or purely software?

TomCgcmfc
MVP
MVP
You need to check with your pc maker for this imho.
i9 13900K water cooled, RTX4090, Z790 MB w/wifi6e, 32Gb 6400 ram, 2x2TB SSD, 1000W PSU, Win 11, QPro, Q3, w/Link and Air Link, Vive Pro1 with Etsy lens mod and Index Controllers