Using current drivers, Optimus defaults this game to your integrated graphics. Create a profile which force switches it back to your dedicated GPU.
I guess I'll give the longer explanation here, too, for those not savvy about this:
Most modern gaming laptops come with an integrated graphics chipset whether you ask for one or not. It's simply standard on Intel-based mobile MB's nowadays. If you look under Display Adapters in your Device Manger, you should see something like Intel HD Graphics 1500/3000 (i5) or 2500/4000 (i7). So NVidia came up with a technology called Optimus, which is deployed on almost all Intel-NVidia-powered laptops. What Optimus does is automatically switch between your integrated graphics and dedicated GPU, depending on what you're doing. This is actually very useful because your integrated graphics chip generates less heat and uses less battery power, and it's perfectly sufficient for most desktop tasks or video viewing.
It's supposed to switch to your dedicated GPU for modern games. Occasionally, though, with very new games where NVidia hasn't added a profile themselves, Optimus will default a game to your integrated graphics, and you'll get terrible performance. Happened to me, at least, at least before I fixed it.
To fix it, do the following (assuming Windows 7, nfi about 8). Go to Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->NVidia Control Panel. Once opened, on the menu to your left, click Manage 3D settings. In the menu in the center which appears, click the Program Settings tab. Now click the Add button. A list of recent programs may appear, in which case you can simply select RO2 (assuming you've recently launched it). If not, navigate to and select /Shipping/rag2.exe under your RO2 directory. Now that the profile is added, click the topmost dropbox labelled "2. Select the preferred graphics processor for this program:" and change the value from "Use global setting (Auto-Select: Integrated)" to "High-performance NVidia processor". You can mess with the other stuff if you're knowledgeable, but if you're not, I'd just leave it alone. The bottom line is that even a relatively crappy mobile GPU will have more horsepower than your dedicated Intel chip, so you should see a big performance bump.
Oh, and a little addendum: this game seems to have a very poorly-optimized ambient occlusion effect (listed in System Settings as Shadow Effect) which dramatically lowers framerate. Disabling it is probably the easiest way to get a quick boost to your FPS. If you really want it, you should simply force it on the driver level. It'll both look and perform better.
Edited by Kurushy, 18 April 2013 - 03:46 PM.
