Photoshop detects high-end GPU, but doesn't use it

[martin_5700]

For the past year I have struggled with lag when using the zoom tool, brush tool and resizing my brush (GPU related actions) on my Windows 11 RTX 4090 Laptop. Disabling the GPU in Preferences fixed the brush tool issues, but obviously removed scrubby zoom, so even though I couldn't settle on using Photoshop like that, I could at least pinpoint that the issue was in fact related to the GPU.

Throughout multiple remote sessions with Adobe Customer Support agents, I have tried:

- Resetting all preferences, clean reinstalling Photoshop
- Reinstalling and trying different NVIDIA drivers
- Assigning Photoshop.exe and sniffer.exe to the NVIDIA GPU in the NVIDIA Control Panel
- Doing the same in the Windows Graphics Settings

The only solution I was provided with was to use Photoshop v22.2, as any version beyond that one had the above mentioned problem. This was obviously not an ideal solution, as I am paying for the current version of the software, not one from 3 years ago.

Recently I noticed in Windows Task Manager that the NVIDIA GPU is at 0% activity despite being apparently correctly detected in Photoshop. And after looking through the forums a bit more I came across the solution in another thread:
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/photoshop-is-extremely-laggy-on-high-...

SOLUTION: The problem was due to Remote Desktop applications having their own virtual display adapters. I was using both Parsec and SudoMaker (for Moonlight/Sunshine) and disabling those in Device Manager -> Display Adapters fixed my issue.

I am wording the title of this post in such a way that I would have found it when searching, since I wouldn't think to consider Parsec being related to the problem.

My goal with this post is to hopefully appeal for Customer Support Agents to be more informed of this issue when trying to help customers in a similar situation. Also maybe Adobe could look into why this is an issue only on Photoshop versions beyond v22.2.

[D Fosse]

Yes, the way to avoid this problem is to disable the integrated GPU completely. Dual GPUs is always a potential conflict.

The problem is that there is no way for Photoshop to control which GPU is being called. It is completely at the mercy of how the laptop manufacturer has configured the operating system and the two GPU drivers. This varies a lot. If it was possible to override, this would have ceased to be a problem long ago. Adobe engineering is acutely aware of this issue and they have been for a very long time.

Here's how to disable the integrated GPU (section 6 & 7): https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-gpu-graphics-card.html 

[martin_5700]

Well, actually, disabling the integrated GPU (Intel(R) UHD Graphics) Display Adapter made performance of Photoshop even worse than before, as well decreasing the whole laptop performance in general for some reason.

Apparently only disabling the Remote Desktop App display adapter while leaving both the Intel and NVIDIA ones on is what fixed the issue.

[D Fosse]

made performance of Photoshop even worse than before, as well decreasing the whole laptop performance in general

By @martin_5700

Well, that just points to a deeper problem in GPU configuration from the manufacturer. Obviously an RTX 4090 will run rings around an Intel UHD in every conceivable parameter.

And that's exactly the whole thing: you never know how the laptop manufacturer has put this together, and there is no way to get to it. No laptop runs plain Windows or use plain GPU drivers from Nvidia. Both are heavily modified and tweaked by the manufacturer. It's no mystery: this is how they put their brand stamp on the product. They can't sell a "Windows laptop". They have to make it an "Asus laptop" or a "Dell laptop" or whatever.

I fully sympathize with the problem. How can you get around this? It's virtually impenetrable. In your case, you were lucky enough to find something that actually works, even though you don't know why it works. That's about all you can do: try different things and see what happens.

But still, the most reliable way to avoid problems is to disable the integrated GPU.