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Hosting Parsec on a Laptop With Multiple Graphics Cards

If you're hosting in the Computers tab, for technical reasons, Parsec needs to use whichever GPU is directly plugged into the display you want to capture. Laptops are usually built such that the display it comes with is attached to the integrated GPU instead of the dedicated one. In those cases, Parsec needs to be set to use the integrated GPU with the instructions below to be able to host, otherwise it will fail with error -14003. Your integrated GPU must support hosting for this to work, so check the list of supported GPUs beforehand.

Note that if you use your laptop with an external display, that usually routes into the dedicated GPU, avoiding the issue altogether when hosting via desktop sharing.

If you're hosting on Arcade, it just uses the GPU the game is using, and doesn't have the same technicalities with the display and GPU connectivity like the Computers tab. If you're getting error -15000 because the card the game is using is unsupported, you can attempt to switch the GPU the game is using to the other GPU, however games often do not switch to the integrated GPU and this may not work.

NVIDIA control panel (If you have an NVIDIA graphics card)

You must set Parsec (or your game if hosting via Arcade) to use integrated graphics instead of the NVIDIA card, and restart your computer. Follow these instructions for more details:

  • Right click the desktop of your laptop and select NVIDIA Control Panel

    nvidia_controlpanel_1.png

  • Select Manage 3D Settings and keep Preferred graphics processor as Auto-Select.

    nvidia_controlpanel_2.png

  • Select Program Settings and click Add to add a new program

    nvidia_controlpanel_3.png

  • Select the correct program based on where you're hosting. If you don't find it in the list, manually find it clicking Browse...

    • Desktop sharing: Select Parsec (Manual path is C:/Program Files/Parsec/parsecd.exe)
    • Arcade: Select the game you want to host

    nvidia_controlpanel_4.png

  • Click Add Selected Program

  • Change the preferred graphics processor to Integrated graphics

  • Click Apply

    nvidia_controlpanel_5.png

  • Lastly, restart the computer to ensure these settings are properly applied

restart.png

AMD control panel (If you have an AMD graphics card)

AMD has recently stopped providing an option of its own to switch the graphics processor. You may want to use Windows 10's graphics settings, for which there's a guide at the bottom of this article.

You must set a program to power saving on AMD's control panel, then restart the computer.

  • Hosting on desktop sharing: Set Parsec to power saving
  • Hosting on Arcade: Set the game you will host to power saving

amd_controlpanel.png

Windows 10 graphics settings

Do this if other methods fail:

  • Open the Settings app
  • Go to System > Display
  • In "Multiple displays", open Graphics settings
  • In "Graphics performance preference", select Desktop app
  • Click Browse and select the correct program depending on where you're hosting
    • Desktop sharing: Select Parsec (Manual path is C:/Program Files/Parsec/parsecd.exe)
    • Arcade: Select the game you want to host
  • Change to Power Saving
  • Click Save
  • Restart your computer to ensure these settings are applied

Your computer may in some cases still force Parsec to use the dedicated card because of power plan settings on your system being set to maximum performance. Some laptops for instance will go into maximum performance while charging. You can change out of maximum performance in the Windows settings.

Intel has a graphics power plan hidden in the advanced power options. To access it:

  • Press Windows key + R
  • Type control.exe powercfg.cpl,,3
  • Press Enter
  • Expand Intel(R) Graphics Settings and tweak plugged in to Balanced
  • Click OK
  • Restart your computer to ensure these settings are applied

power_plan.png