Setup the preferred GPU with NVIDIA Control Panel

Laptops with an Intel CPU usually come with two integrated graphic cards. The default one the laptop starts up with would be one such as Intel HD graphics. OpendTect however will have the best performance when using the Nvidia GPU. Therefore that one should be used instead.

When OpendTect starts it will scan your graphics card. If it finds an Intel card there will be a warning message: 'Intel card found. If your computer has multiple graphics cards, consider switching from the integrated graphics.'

Figure: Warning message about the Intel card

On Windows 8.1 and 10 up to feature release 2004 the Nvidia GPU can be made the preferred GPU with the NVIDIA Control Panel. We assume that you have installed the latest Nvidia driver that is available for your GPU. If not then please go to the Nvidia website and download and install the latest driver for your type of GPU.

In case you are running Windows 10 feature release 20H2 or newer the preferred GPU has to be set with the Windows Settings.

Please do the following:

1. Search for NVIDIA Control Panel, then start it
   
   Figure: Starting NVIDIA Control Panel on Windows 10
   
   
2. In the toolbar on the left choose Manage 3D settings
   
   Figure: NVIDIA Control Panel: 3D Settings > Manage 3D settings
   
   
3. At Tab Program Settings click the Add button
   
   Figure: Add a program for customization of the 3D settings
   
   
4. In the new window it should show you OpendTect as a recently used program. Select it and click on Add Selected Program.
   
   Figure: List of recently used programs in NVIDIA Control Panel, add OpendTect
   
   
   
5. Select the preferred graphics processor: High-performance NVIDIA processor.
   
   Figure: Customize OpendTect to use the NVIDIA GPU
   
   
6. Click Apply to confirm the OpendTect program customization.
   
   
7. The next time you start OpendTect it should no longer show the Intel card found message popup. To check the graphics card used in OpendTect you might want to check Utilities > Installation > Graphics Information. It should now show the Nvidia card information and driver version.
   
   Figure: Check which graphics card OpendTect uses