• HardwareLaptop

  • G-SYNC laptop. ZERO eye strain from gaming. TONS - from regular use. Help??

balthazar If a game truly engages the full screen mode (and isn’t just a borderless window), then some of Windows 10 mischief may be disabled. So it may be OS related.

If that were the case unfortunately the only solution is to downgrade to Windows 7 or an old version of Windows 10 from 2015, which I’m sure won’t be possible on a brand new laptop. Is the discrete mode something you set in the BIOS or do you need to use an application?

By the way, what is the model number of your Acer.

Might be worth it to try Linux as well.

      Is there any kind of activity monitor program for Windows that could tell you what graphics mode you're currently using? I'm a mac user, so I have no experience with that kind of thing. Would be interesting to see what it would say while in full-screen Witcher 3.

        degen If a game truly engages the full screen mode (and isn’t just a borderless window), then some of Windows 10 mischief may be disabled. So it may be OS related.

        Idea going from here is comparing the pixel data of a "good" screen versus a "bad" screen displaying what should be identical data, but the problem with laptops is grabbing raw frames from the GPU output of a laptop LCD is very nontrivial.

          degen Zero problems in the full screen mode AND in the borderless window mode.

          The discrete mode is set in-app. E.g. https://www.acer.com/ac/en/CA/content/predatorsense

          The model # is PT515-52-73L3.
          Bought it here: https://www.amazon.ca/Acer-Predator-PT515-52-73L3-i7-10750H-Dual-Channel/dp/B08CNLPDXV/

          I might be lacking the technical skills needed to install linux and figure out how to switch to discrete mode in linux.....but I'm not opposed to trying to figure it out if there's a high chance of success

            bkdo I don't know. I've followed @si_edgey 's advice though (see his post si_edgey ), and under Display Adapters it only shows Nvidia RTX 2070. No mention of Intel. So I'm presuming that proves that Intel graphics chip is no-longer active. Is that the case?

            JUST double checking. If intel graphics could still be running somehow in the background, but not showing up, and I need to switch it off in-Bios or whatever, please do advise as to what steps I should take.

            I'm barely computer literate. But if you tell me where to click and what to do, I'd love to do that and report back on my findings.

                  I'm just here to say I know that phenomenon, too. A graphics card (MSI GT710 first rev.), which was not eye-friendly for me even on the Windows 10 LTSB 2015 desktop, was painless when I started a game (AM2R). I think it ran in full-screen OpenGL. LTSB 2015 still has true fullscreen mode.

                  Something about Chrome & Zoom that's worse than other pieces of software also.

                  7 months later

                  I have tried two laptops now (HP Omen 15 and Lenovo Legion 5) with a MUX switch, allowing me to theoretically switch between the output of the Intel integrated (Hybrid mode) and Nvidia graphics (Discrete mode) on both laptops.

                  I have found that in this small sample size, Nvidia graphics is worse for me than Intel. I rapidly get migraine symptoms with eye drooping on Discrete mode, which feels distinct to and is significantly worse than my usual OS-related discomfort.

                  In my case, modern Nvidia notebook adapters are modulating the display output in a way that produces a severe negative reaction.

                  More subjectively, I find the output of the Nvidia adapter to be cleaner looking and more still, which, based on my symptoms, is the opposite I expected.

                    a month later

                    degen I’m finding with my Alienware M15 r6 gsync laptop that it’s actually easier on my eyes if I run in nvidia mode only, turn gsync off and reduce refresh rate to 60hz.
                    Perhaps g-sync is helpful for gaming but is unhelpful/causing issues when not gaming? I find the high refresh rate immediately causes more eye effort if that makes sense. It’s hard to know for sure!

                        4 days later

                        JonnyT Interesting…..I might just have to order another another G-SYNC laptop and fiddle with the settings. THANKS for the heads-up! How much easier are we talking about. btw? Can use for hours with no problem?

                        I might have to get a g-sync laptop again and do some experimenting.

                            balthazar don’t buy it on my account. I’m sending mine back. I didn’t find much improvement compared to other laptops. I’m trying MacBook Pro 2021 which I’m actually finding usable even though I’d written off MacBooks! It’s early days…

                              This is interesting. Have you played any other games?

                              2 years later
                              a month later

                              anyone I haven't found a NEW, modern laptop that works for me. I have an ancient dell laptop that runs Windows 7 and is perfectly usable when running Iris (screen dimming software), it just doesn't run new software and is very slow.

                              Having said that, see my other post re: probiotics - I can't yet fully tolerate new computer screens, but I can tolerate them to a greater extent now.

                                dev