Nvidia 1050 (Laptop) GPU activity shows 0% in Overwatch
Nvidia 1050 (Laptop) GPU activity shows 0% in Overwatch
Hey there! I’m facing a pretty bothersome issue with Overwatch. Some might roll their eyes, but let me explain what’s going on. I got a new laptop about half a week ago, and although it has solid specs, Overwatch still can’t utilize the dedicated Nvidia GPU. People have reported performance drops, and fixing it usually involved updating drivers or switching to the dedicated GPU. But my experience was different.
I configured the game to use the Nvidia Control Panel, adjusted every power plan and setting I could find to High Performance, installed the latest updates for Windows, Intel, and Nvidia. I even tried everything possible. Below is a list of what I did.
My machine is a Lenovo Yoga 730 15-inch with these details: Intel Core i5 8th gen 1.6 GHz, 16 GB DDR4 RAM, 256 GB SSD, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 4GB, running Windows 10 Home. I also added the DxDiag and MSInfo files for reference.
Despite these efforts, the GPU usage stays at 0% in Overwatch. The Intel GPU takes over but struggles heavily—there’s massive lag and annoying audio issues. Sometimes the audio cuts out entirely. I considered it might be hardware-related, but it works fine in other games like SimCity, City Skyline, Planet Coaster (with a large park), MTG Arena, and even BattleNet when using the Nvidia GPU instead of Intel.
In Overwatch, the game recognizes the graphics card and shows it in the video settings. Even BattleNet uses it during video playback. I’m frustrated because I expected it to run smoothly at 120 fps or higher, but not at all. I bought this laptop not just for gaming, but for general use—work, design, art. Still, I wanted to enjoy a few games with my boyfriend.
I reached out to Blizzard Support, but their solutions didn’t help. They kept suggesting there’s a power setting that limits GPU usage, but I set it to High Performance. They even mentioned needing the laptop plugged in, which is confusing.
Other troubleshooting steps I tried included:
- Setting all Overwatch and Battlenet executables to use the Nvidia GPU.
- Updating drivers for Intel and Nvidia.
- Reinstalling the Nvidia driver.
- Disabling the integrated GPU (though I wasn’t sure why).
- Turning off background processes and optimizing settings.
- Scanning and repairing game files.
- Changing resolutions, graphics settings, and power plans.
- Enabling Vsync and setting performance modes.
- Adjusting display options in Windows.
- Reinstalling the driver without GeForce Experience.
I also experimented with other games using the Nvidia GPU as the preferred processor, which ran smoothly. Still, Overwatch remains a total disappointment. I’m starting to wonder if this laptop is truly up to the task.
If anyone can clarify why it doesn’t work in Overwatch, or share more details, that would really help. I’d love to try again, but right now, I’m pretty much giving up on enjoying this game.
Uncertain about the power configurations. All settings are high performance with no option to switch to power saver. Both Battlenet and Overwatch utilize Nvidia via the Nvidia Control Panel. Battlenet displays this, while Overwatch does not.