I finally got Bumblebee to work, meaning I can now start up this Lenovo W520 with the power saving Intel video and have selected programs like Google Earth run on the nVidia card.
I did a regular install as explained on the github pages:
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project...ding-on-Ubuntu
When starting up with optirun this resulted in an error
The following page recommended setting AutoAddDevices to true in /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia:
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project...ebee/issues/88
Yes it does slow down the 3D stuff, glxspheres now runs at ~170 frames while it does ~200 when booted in native nVidia mode on battery (and on ~700 on mains supply).
Having Google Earth and glxspheres running simultaneous brings the frame rate down to ~125.
But frame rates are not very important for Google Earth and glxspheres gets quickly boring
.
Powertop reports with Firefox on Intel and Google Earth on nVidia around 18 Watts and it comes down to 14 Watts with Firefox only on Intel.
Running Firefox on Intel and both Google Earth and glxspheres on nVidia consumes up to 28 Watts.
An almost idle computer with just Dolphin and Powertop running on Intel comes down to 11 Watts.
For some perspective numbers when booted into nVidia:
Idling with Powertop and Dolphin 21 Watts.
Google Earth and Firefox running 23 Watts.
Google Earth, Firefox and glxspheres running 31 Watts.
PS, this is with drivers from the regular repo's.
I did a regular install as explained on the github pages:
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project...ding-on-Ubuntu
When starting up with optirun this resulted in an error
Code:
[ERROR]Cannot access secondary GPU - error: X did not start properly
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project...ebee/issues/88
Yes it does slow down the 3D stuff, glxspheres now runs at ~170 frames while it does ~200 when booted in native nVidia mode on battery (and on ~700 on mains supply).
Having Google Earth and glxspheres running simultaneous brings the frame rate down to ~125.
But frame rates are not very important for Google Earth and glxspheres gets quickly boring
.Powertop reports with Firefox on Intel and Google Earth on nVidia around 18 Watts and it comes down to 14 Watts with Firefox only on Intel.
Running Firefox on Intel and both Google Earth and glxspheres on nVidia consumes up to 28 Watts.
An almost idle computer with just Dolphin and Powertop running on Intel comes down to 11 Watts.
For some perspective numbers when booted into nVidia:
Idling with Powertop and Dolphin 21 Watts.
Google Earth and Firefox running 23 Watts.
Google Earth, Firefox and glxspheres running 31 Watts.
PS, this is with drivers from the regular repo's.