Potato Laptop

[LogicMage3]

It worked earlier today, but now 2.50 is throwing an error each time I load the game. It throws an error about bad graphics drivers. But there is only one graphics card, the little built in Intel one. There is no independent GPU that it could be selecting by mistake. I've already set the graphics to as low as it goes to get around the issue.

[alt3rn1ty]

It worked earlier today, but now 2.50 is throwing an error each time I load the game. It throws an error about bad graphics drivers. But there is only one graphics card, the little built in Intel one. There is no independent GPU that it could be selecting by mistake. I've already set the graphics to as low as it goes to get around the issue.

You need to read the games Minimum Specification Requirements before buying a game, your machine is not capable of running X4 because it only has an Intel Integrated GPU onboard the CPU (an iGPU), what you need is a machine that also has a Dedicated GPU (dGPU) as mentioned in the requirements for Graphics :

Minimum system requirements:
Processor: Intel i5-4590 3.3GHz or AMD equivalent
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 780/970 or AMD equivalent (Vulkan support required)
Storage: 12 GB available space
Other: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

Note also that with the X game series you are better off having a machine spec which is closer to Recommended Specifications.

Final note : Dont get a laptop with an NVidia GTX 780, that minimum specification means a full desktop NVidia GTX 780 or 970, not a cut down Mobile GPU with the same model number. I have a laptop with an NVidia GTX 1050 ti which has 4gb VRAM onboard the card, and find that this game even after I reduce a few graphics settings still gets the GPU up between 65% to 94% use (this game is very variable in its performance so I dont hit the 90s all the time, but it does prove this game needs a higher spec mobile GPU than the minimum spec desktop model number).

Your laptop is going to melt its chips solder trying to play X4, due to the heat it will generate trying to do everything with its CPUs auxilliary iGPU

[Alan Phipps]

It also helps us to help you if you tell us what you are running and what on.

[Imperial Good]

Restarting the computer (not shutdown) might help. Vulkan API is prone to allowing leaks to last longer than the application that produced them. Restarting the computer will reload the graphic driver and hence clear any Vulkan resource leaks.

[mr.WHO]

No hard feelings, but trying to play any modern game, especially X4, with integrated GPU is really definition of potato.
In my laptops, more often than than not, if I run the game with integrated GPU instead of main one I have huge performance drops, stability issues, crashesh or the game don't run at all.
Only the games that are 5-10 years old and were not demanding graphic wise, run well with integrated GPU.