Fixing Lag & Performance Issues on Dual-GPU Laptops (Fresco, Photoshop, etc.)

If you're using a Windows laptop with both an integrated GPU (iGPU) and a discrete GPU (like an NVIDIA RTX card) and experiencing lag or input delays in creative apps like Adobe Fresco, Photoshop, or Krita — this guide is for you.

I ran into pen lag in Fresco, and after testing, found that GPU switching behavior on hybrid systems was the root cause. Here's how to fix it:

🛠️️ GPU Assignment & Tuning

Force Fresco to Use NVIDIA RTX:

1. Go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics settings

2. Add Fresco manually:

   • If installed from the Microsoft Store, you may need to create a shortcut to its .exe to add it.

3. Set Fresco to High performance (NVIDIA GPU)

NVIDIA Control Panel Settings:

• Open NVIDIA Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings

• Add Adobe Fresco

• Apply these settings:

  • Preferred GPU: High-performance NVIDIA processor

  • Power management mode: Prefer maximum performance

  • Low Latency Mode: Off or On (experiment)

  • Vertical Sync: Off

  • Threaded Optimization: On

Note: I kept the global GPU set to the integrated GPU and only assigned RTX for Fresco. This helped balance performance and thermal load.

🖌️️ In-App Tips for Smoother Drawing

• Avoid Live Brushes and Vector Layers on large canvases

• Try to keep canvas sizes under 2500 × 2500 px

• Use Brush Smoothing only when necessary

• 🔥 Critical tip: Keep Fresco windowed — not maximized

  • Maximizing the window caused GPU handoff issues and input lag on hybrid GPU systems

⚙️ System Optimizations

• Enable Ultimate Performance mode:

  • Open PowerShell as admin and run:

    powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61

  • Then select Ultimate Performance in Power Settings

• Close background apps that use GPU (browsers, media players, Discord overlays)

• Make sure you’re running the latest NVIDIA Studio drivers

This setup completely resolved my lag — pen input is now super responsive, even with detailed work. Hope this helps someone else dealing with the same thing