Optimus made easy

👁‍🗨 EnvyControl

EnvyControl is a CLI tool that provides an easy way to switch between GPU modes on Nvidia Optimus systems (i.e laptops with hybrid Intel + Nvidia or AMD + Nvidia graphics configurations) under Linux.

📖 License

EnvyControl is free and open-source software released under the MIT license.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This software is provided 'as-is' without any express or implied warranty.

Keep it mind any custom X.org configuration may get deleted or overwritten when switching modes.

✨ Features

• 🐍 Written in Python 3+ for portability and compatibility
• 🐧 Works across all major Linux distros (tested distros)
• 🖥️ Supports GDM, SDDM and LightDM display managers (manual setup instructions also available)
• 🔋 Save battery with integrated graphics mode
• 💻 PCI-Express Runtime D3 (RTD3) Power Management support for Turing and later
• 🎮 Coolbits support for GPU overclocking
• 🔥 Fix screen tearing with ForceCompositionPipeline

📖 Graphics modes

Integrated

• The integrated Intel or AMD iGPU is used exclusively
• Nvidia dGPU is turned off to reduce power consumption
• External screens cannot be used if the video ports are wired to the dGPU

Hybrid

• Enables PRIME render offloading
• RTD3 allows the dGPU to be dynamically turned off when not in use
  • Available choices for the --rtd3 flag (based on the official documentation)
    • 0 disabled
    • 1 coarse-grained
    • 2 fine-grained (default value if you don't provide one)
    • 3 fine-grained for Ampere and later
  • Only works in Turing and later
• Performance on external screens might be reduced

Nvidia

• The Nvidia dGPU is used exclusively
• Higher graphical performance and higher power consumption
• Recommended when working with external screens
  • If facing screen tearing enable ForceCompositionPipeline with the --force-comp flag
• Allows overlocking (not recommended) with the --coolbits flag
  • The default value is 28 bits however it can be manually adjusted according to this guide
• Wayland sessions default to hybrid mode

⚡️ Usage

usage: envycontrol.py [-h] [-v] [-q] [-s MODE] [--dm DISPLAY_MANAGER] [--force-comp] [--coolbits [VALUE]] [--rtd3 [VALUE]] [--reset-sddm] [--reset] [--verbose]

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -v, --version         Output the current version
  -q, --query           Query the current graphics mode
  -s MODE, --switch MODE
                        Switch the graphics mode. Available choices: integrated, hybrid, nvidia
  --dm DISPLAY_MANAGER  Manually specify your Display Manager for Nvidia mode. Available choices: gdm, gdm3, sddm, lightdm
  --force-comp          Enable ForceCompositionPipeline on Nvidia mode
  --coolbits [VALUE]    Enable Coolbits on Nvidia mode. Default if specified: 28
  --rtd3 [VALUE]        Setup PCI-Express Runtime D3 (RTD3) Power Management on Hybrid mode. Available choices: 0, 1, 2, 3. Default if specified: 2
  --reset-sddm          Restore default Xsetup file
  --reset               Revert changes made by EnvyControl
  --verbose             Enable verbose mode

Some examples

Set graphics mode to integrated:

sudo envycontrol -s integrated

Set graphics mode to hybrid and enable fine-grained power control:

sudo envycontrol -s hybrid --rtd3

Set graphics mode to nvidia, enable ForceCompositionPipeline and Coolbits with a value of 24:

sudo envycontrol -s nvidia --force-comp --coolbits 24

Set current graphics mode to nvidia and specify to setup LightDM display manager

sudo envycontrol -s nvidia --dm lightdm

Query the current graphics mode:

envycontrol --query

Revert all changes made by EnvyControl:

sudo envycontrol --reset

⬇️ Getting EnvyControl

Arch Linux (AUR)

1. yay -S envycontrol
2. Run sudo envycontrol -s <MODE> to switch graphics modes

Fedora

Use the COPR maintained by @sunwire

1. Enable the repository with sudo dnf copr enable sunwire/envycontrol
2. sudo dnf install python3-envycontrol
3. Run sudo envycontrol -s <MODE> to switch graphics modes

Ubuntu / Debian

Since PEP668 adoption is no longer possible to install pip packages outside a virtual environment, instead use the provided deb package:

1. Go to the latest release page
2. Download the attached python3-envycontrol_version.deb package
3. Install it with sudo apt -y install ./python3-envycontrol_version.deb
4. Run sudo envycontrol -s <MODE> to switch graphics modes

From source

1. Clone this repository with git clone https://github.com/bayasdev/envycontrol.git or download the latest tarball from the releases page
2. Run the script from the root of the repository like this python ./envycontrol.py -s <MODE>

💡 Replace python with python3 on Ubuntu/Debian

Install globally as a pip package

• From the root of the cloned repository run sudo pip install .
• Now you can run sudo envycontrol -s <MODE> from any directory to switch graphics modes.

📦 Gnome Extension

The GPU profile selector extension provides a simple way to switch between graphics modes in a few clicks, you can get it from here.

Make sure to have EnvyControl installed globally!

💡 Tips

Wayland session is missing on Gnome 43+

GDM now requires NVreg_PreserveVideoMemoryAllocations kernel parameter which is set automatically by EnvyControl however you might need to enable the nvidia-suspend services:

sudo systemctl enable nvidia-{suspend,resume,hibernate}

The /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup file is missing on my system

If this ever happens please run sudo envycontrol --reset-sddm.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Read here

🐞 I have a problem

Open an issue and don't forget to complete all the requested fields!