First, you should make sure you're using the most up-to-date drivers available from nvidia.com (not Windows Update). I don't have a technical answer as to why, but everyone I've ever helped with GPU-related issues who had used a laptop have had much better results after their drivers were up-to-date when dealing with the weird nVidia Optimus technology that switches between the integrated chip and the dedicated card.
Before anyone chimes in and says that you should
always make sure your drivers are up-to-date
all the time, that isn't always true in the realm of custom-built desktops. I'll agree it's good practice, but sometimes older drivers work much better than newer drivers depending on your hardware and the games that you primarily play.
Originally Posted by Seyn
Is there a way to monitor this at all? Can I somehow stop the Intel driver being active so my laptop solely runs off of the NVIDIA?
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You can use a program like GPU-Z to monitor your GPU usage, but to force the game to use the dedicated card you'll need to go into your nVidia Control Panel (Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings Tab) and set World of Warcraft to
Prefer Maximum Performance under
Power Management Mode. You can do this for your other games as well, but I wouldn't recommend changing it globally or else your GPU will be running at its full clock all the time -- That just creates unnecessary heat and power draw when your computer is idle.
I don't own, nor have I ever played games on, a laptop, but I'm relaying this information from personal experience when helping others.