Use a dedicated GPU

NVIDIA

32-bit Driver

It is recommended to install the 32-bit NVIDIA drivers alongside your usual 64-bit NVIDIA drivers for the best experience.

To install the 32-bit NVIDIA driver on Ubuntu, run:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libnvidia-gl-<YOUR_DRIVER_VERSION>:i386

Replace <YOUR_DRIVER_VERSION> with your NVIDIA driver version. This can be found by running a command like glxinfo -B, or via the NVIDIA System Management Interface by running nvidia-smi.

Enable a graphics card

Switch between graphics modes with the command sudo prime-select <mode> and reboot.

For games to use your graphics card, prime-select should be set to nvidia or on-demand.

Show your current graphics mode with the command sudo prime-select query.

Note

Exclusively using a discrete graphics card (nvidia option) will use more power than normal.

View GPU stats

To view programs using your GPU as well as power usage and other information, run nvidia-smi.

If a game is correctly using your GPU, a listing should appear in nvidia-smi after it has started running.

Configure launch options

If a game is not using your NVIDIA GPU by default, then it may be worth trying to pass NVIDIA’s environment variables in as launch options for the game. For example:

__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia %command%