My laptop is rocking a dual hybrid GPU with an Intel chip:
For hybrid GPU laptops with Intel and Nvidia the best solution usually is to have switchable graphics: Intel for normal, everyday usage (uses less power and saves battery) and NVIDIA for games or more graphic intense programs (uses more battery). (Source)
Installing the correct Nvidia driver and setting up the dual mode was surprisingly tricky on my Manjaro machine.
Here’s a reference that worked with an Acer Nitro 5 and a Nvidia GTX 1050 Mobile (GP107M).
Install Graphics Drivers
Manjaro has an inbuilt settings manager which allows you to install hardware drivers for your spec.
Per default, my machine was running the video-hybrid-intel-nvidia-prime. That sounds like the correct driver, but it didn’t load.
Run this command in your terminal for more information:
inxi -G
The Manjaro wiki recommends an automatic installation like this:
sudo mhwd -a pci nonfree 300
The above command installs the recommended proprietary drivers for your graphic cards.
The recommended settings did not work for me. I settled on optimus-switch for managing my graphic cards.
optimus-switch allows you to change between running in Intel standalone mode or in hybrid mode with Nvidia.
First, we need to install the correct driver for this setup.
Install video-nvidia-xxxxx with the manjaro settings manager, in my case that’s video-nvidia-390xx. Make sure it’s NOT video-nvidia without the extra number.
Optimus-Switch
Choose the correct version of optimus-switch for your login manager. The program supports LightDM, GDM and SDDM.
As LightDM always gave me trouble when upgrading my system, I’ve chosen SDDM as my display manager.
If you don’t know how to install a display manager, check the Manjaro wiki.
Follow the instructions in the GitHub repository, here is the example for SDDM:
git clone https://github.com/dglt1/optimus-switch-sddm.git
cd ~/optimus-switch-sddm
chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh
The installation script will also remove any settings that will interfere with optimus-switch.
If you encounter any problems, make sure to manually remove the files:
sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-mhwd.conf
sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/mhwd-gpu.conf
sudo rm /etc/modules-load.d/mhwd-gpu.conf
Make sure to read the Usage section of the optimus-switch documentation. You’ll need to adjust a few settings to disable the Nvidia GPU if you run in Intel-only mode.
Reboot.