tboerc Anticipated. I am actually inclined to write down details in my mother tongue, German, here because I could describe it as best or more excellently. My english from the wrist is a bit rusty and not very good. But what should it be. I beat then the text here by an online translator and hope that it fits and still understandable comes over.
On the hardware side, AFAIK are most laptops called clevos, which are then branded and slightly modified depending on the manufacturer. Most chipset, cpu and gpu are therefore identical. Some manufacturers like asus and acer, for example, mostly build themselves and are not clevos.
You hear and often reads that you should simply turn off the intel gpu in bios, and then only the nvidia is running. That can go well. But mostly it does not. Because the intel gpu loops through the nvidia. It can happen then that when you turn off in bios, then the screen remains black. Therefore, the option of switching off is often not available. Some very clever force then the extended bios mode to get to this switch-off option. But then stand or sit in front of a dark screen. Remedy is then always the hardware-reset, or the panic call in support.
Bbswitch, bumblebee, optimus and primus are AFAIR old stuff that is little or no longer developed, or always costs performance. On top of that, I find this method (not just me) stale and ineffective. One does not reach the full potential of nvidia gpu.
This results because the nvidia is switched on according to load. When the intel gpu reach their limits, the nvidia turns on and takes over. And that is IMHO unreliable.
I do not know how it works with windows, because I have consistently been using linux for about 15 years. So on my computer is not running windows.
The proposed method 'optimus-switch' works for me as I said excellent.
Here, the linux is forced to quasi just and alone to use the nvidia gpu.
Accordingly is the performance. Unlike bbswitch, the full 100% performance of nvidia is available. The slower negotiation of performance is completely eliminated.
In everyday use, I only use the Intel® HD Graphics 630 (Kaby Lake GT2). That's enough for most things. Such as to watch in Amazon movies in HD, or youtube.
My laptop is a gaming laptop.
If I want to play, I switch over the terminal, log out and back in, and then only the nvidia runs.
This can be recognized by 4 things.
Under the DE budgie and gnome, you can see in the settings under info, which gpu grade is active. Or just about the query in the terminal.
The nvidia settings can then be opened and work as it should or as it should. And, you can tell by the fans.
In intel mode eg. Only the cpu fan turns up. The gpu fan of the nvidia barely audibly runs idle.
I switch to nvidia mode, run or turn both fans fully on. My laptop has 2 fans. An extra for the nvidia, and just one for the cpu.
In bumblebee, optimus or primus mode the performance is a lot worse. And that measurably or noticeably.
For example, I had to start steam with 'primusrun steam', or 'optirun steam' so that the games all run with the nvidia power. The performance I found grudging compared to the switch method. However, there was another known linux on my laptop. But the principle or the method is the same.
The switch method gives me full control and the best performance ever. So 100% nvidia power, without the disturbing negotiate.
A good friend has practically the same computer (laptop) as me. Hardware is identical. However he uses windows.
At the games rise of tomb raider and dying light eg. , I have a lot of FPS more than him. ;-)
And partly noticeable.
With the bbswitch or bumblebee method that was a lot different or worse. In fact, he was traveling faster with his windows system.
Bbswitch or bumblebee decides, if you use it, what you get in performance.
However, with the optimus-switch method, I have full control and decide for myself.
