Minecraft + Optimus?

I read the following thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/585047-m14x-cant-run-minecraft.html

after white-listing three Java files (Java, JavaW, JavaSW) along with Minecraft.exe and am still having a problem with Minecraft freezing up. It will run fine (and noticeably quicker than if it were ran while using the Intel IGP), then it will freeze up for 5-10 seconds. Then it will un-freeze for a few seconds, and freeze for another 5-10 seconds. This happens a few times, then it goes away for a few minutes and runs fine, before having the exact same thing happening. This is cyclical.

I have power saving set to Max Performance on my M14x and no other games (much more demanding games) have any problems.

Any ideas?

 

I've heard the same problem uttered many times in many a forum. You could try whitelisting the files one at a time, running Minecraft again, and repeating the process, etc. and seeing what happens. As far as I know, there is no official solution. You could try emailing Minecraft themselves, they've gotten a lot of heat for m14x not being able to run Minecraft. They might have a workaround I'm missing. Sorry I'm so little help!

 

Thanks.

My solution is actually going to be to return this and get the M17x R3 I planned on getting a few weeks ago.

I've had tons of random issues with Optimus. I hate it, now.

 

I wondered why it played so bad even after whitelisting. Shockingly laggy like it was still on the IGP.

I just put it down to shoddy programming, then when I run it on my desktop..............really smooth. Hope this gets sorted as does seem good fun.

 

Saw a similar thread mentioning Optimus notebooks would only use the IGP on HL1 engine.
My opinion on this would be Optimus + OpenGL = Issues
If Nvidia cares then maybe this will be patched in a newer driver release.

 

I was so distraught to lose my beloved M14x, because this is the fifth or sixth game with that kind of problem, but I'll be looking forward to not having Optimus later this week when the new laptop arrives.

For a moment last night, in blind desperation, I honestly thought how I could buy a 17 or 19" LCD, ghetto-rig it by affixing it to my lap desk, getting a small keyboard and balancing that all on my lap desk while routing to a SFF desktop computer chassis... I've had bad luck with laptops lately.

 

In the Nvidia control panel enable the option to show an Nvidia icon in the system tray. With only Minecraft running, alt-tab out and mouse over that icon to make sure that Minecraft is using the IGP.

Also, hit Ctrl--Esc to bring up task manager. Right click on Minecraft and choose "Go to process". Right-click the process and choose "Open file location" to see where that process is. Make sure you force that file to run on the Nvidia card. For me the process was javaw.exe

Other than that, I don't know what to do. On my M14x Minecraft runs beautifully with all the settings cranked up, so it is possible. I have javaw.exe whitelisted, but not minecraft.exe or any other minecraft/java file.


Both of those tips may be old news to you. If so, sorry for wasting your time.

 

It seems these issues with OpenGL extend to any laptop that has automatic graphic switching. There's a big thread in the HP Pavilion forum relating to AMD's switching solution.