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Jiří Doubravský
Asked: 2015-04-05 22:28:06 +0800 CST

STEAM games crashes on LENOVO Z50 70 with DUAL GRAPHICS (intel+nvidia)

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Problem

Lot of steam games doesnt work at all on my notebook or simply crashes. Propably graphics driver problem ... thank you for any advice.

Note 1: What is bumblebee, does it help in my situation?? Should I use it instead of nvidia-edgers/ppa drivers on my notebook?

Specs

My notebook: Lenovo Z50 70 Dual graphics: Intel + Nvidia Installed binary drivers: using standard proprietary drivers dialoog, Nvidia 349.12 from ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa, because clean installation of ubuntu does not give me any option of nvidia binary drivers ... OS: Ubuntu 14.10

$ lspci -vnn | grep VGA -A 12
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0a16] (rev 0b) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:380d]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 63
    Memory at c3000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
    Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    I/O ports at 5000 [size=64]
    Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: i915

00:03.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT HD Audio Controller [8086:0a0c] (rev 0b)
    Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:3978]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 65
jirka@hani-Lenovo-Z50-70:~$ lspci -vnn | grep VGA -A 12
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0a16] (rev 0b) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:380d]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 63
    Memory at c3000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
    Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    I/O ports at 5000 [size=64]
    Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: i915

00:03.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT HD Audio Controller [8086:0a0c] (rev 0b)
    Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:3978]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 65

and nvidia

$ lspci -vnn | grep NVIDIA -A 12
03:00.0 3D controller [0302]: NVIDIA Corporation GM108M [GeForce 840M] [10de:1341] (rev a2)
    Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:380d]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 67
    Memory at c2000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
    Memory at b0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
    I/O ports at 3000 [size=128]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: nvidia
nvidia

2 Answers

  1. BUMBLEBEE is solution. Now all steam games I have work perfecly (inc. performance-intensive War for Overworld). Thank you again.

    sudo apt-get install bumblebee-nvidia
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  2. In my personal 20 years experience setting up gaming computers for fun and sometimes profit, I've setup a few "gaming laptops", and recurrently learned the same lesson; Laptop/notbook PCs tend to have overheating problems when their graphics chipsets are pushed to their limits.

    One of the features of STEAM is the efforts the operators go to to help ensure STEAM users are advised of any drivers that might extract better performance out of the graphics chips. However, pushing chips harder also makes them run hotter.

    So, if you are experiencing instability issues while running steam, the problem could well be related to overheating. I have a couple of recommendations:

    1. Backflush your heatsink: You can do this with compressed air, canned air, or my personal favorite, your own breath. With the notebook turned off and closed, simply place your mouth over the exhaust port such that your lips seal around the edges and blow hard and fast, like you are trying to disturb the hair of an annoying co-worker six feet away.
    2. Use a more effective cooling stand: This is assuming you are using a cooling stand. If you are not using a cooling stand... there's your answer and so anything is better than nothing. Having purchased many for my associates over the years, one of my favorite cooling stands is also among the least expensive, and still available on Amazon.
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