ASUS N56vj
This page is a set of instructions, known issues, tips and workarounds for installing and configuring Arch Linux on the ASUS N56-VJ/VZ and ASUS N76-VJ/VZ Laptops
Installation
Escape
after machine starts and then choose the suitable installation source e.g. USB Installation Media.An installation process is quite common. Please refer to the Installation guide regarding installation on machines with UEFI motherboards. Please be advised that you do not need to create/format EFI partition in case you want to keep Windows 8 installed.
Configuration
Video
Disabling a discrete GPU is well-written described in Bumblebee article.
However, there is a poorly explored issue with
$ optirun command1
as well as with
$ primus command1
An Nvidia card with nvidia or xf86-video-nouveau driver shows lower performance results than an integrated Intel HD4000 in both syntetic tests and real world applications (e.g. FPS in games).
You can check it by comparing (of course, you can use glxgears or any other benchmark instead of glxspheres)
$ vblank_mode=0 primusrun glxspheres $ vblank_mode=0 optirun glxspheres $ vblank_mode=0 glxspheres
The latter which is an integrated Intel GPU shows the best results (as of primus-20131226-1), which is not intended by the very basic idea of dual graphics.
The nature of the issue is described in this article. Some ideas and a patch is here, thus no reliable workaround is known yet. The issue is proven to exist at least in Arch Linux and OpenSUSE.
Arch users on the Russian Arch Linux forum are also trying to come up with the solution. You may want to check this page.
Since the issue is not resoloved, you will help the community if you post your workaround.
Desktop Environment
However you should keep in mind that ASUS N56-VJ laptops have a high pixel density for a 15,6" displays. In this case you may want to consider DE's supporting such density, e.g. GNOME 3.10.x or later.