Latitude E6400 Owner's Lounge

Goodbytes,

you seem to be the resident nvidia expert so I'm addressing this question to you.

Do you know of any comparison tests with the different driver versions with regards to the power consumption? I'm currently using 185.85 from nvidia and I have feeling that the power consumption has increased as compared to 179.48. But it's just a feeling and I can't substantiate it as I don't have the time to do a methodical test on battery discharge rate.

I'm currently getting nearly 5 hours on the battery with the "Dell extended battery life" activated. I was actually expected more with all the power saving options active (16 bit colour, optical drive deactivated, etc.) but with wifi on and almost minimum brightness.

I don't play any 3D games so absolute performance isn't a priority. Good performance overall with 3D rendering apps like CAD software and Adobe CS, is what I'm looking for.

Do you have any information on this?

Thanks.

 

Nearly 5 hours with a dedicated card? You should be pleased instead of disappointed! With the intel GPU, you'll gain maybe an extra 30-40 minutes or something like that.

 

No I don't have such information. But I felt the same thing from jumping from Dell to Nvidia drivers. However, I felt I lost about 30min of battery life (rounding number). And when I put back the Dell divers after several weeks later (where newer ones were released at that time), I did not gain that 30min back. So I assume the original drivers of the laptop offered better battery life, OR it's just the battery aging. If you have a new system, your are in best situation in testing that. If you do, I'll be glad to hear what you get. Remember that when you do this comparision test that the system is EXACTLY the same state as before. This means, you did not remove applications from startup, you not using any application, that the fan is not turning, and that the HDD doesn't spin or is at work, and that the Aero configuration (transparency on/off ) is the same, AND the settings set in the Nvidia control panel.

Consider that drivers where updated as they were released on what I am saying now:
-I have the 9 cell battery and with "Dell extended battery life" mode, with wifi turn ON, Backlit keyboard OFF and screen brightness at minimum, and close it every time I don't use it (Fn+D). I got 9 hours and a half. When the battery was brand spanking new (ie: first day, but never was able to reproduce this the days that follows). Within the first month (let's call it with a new battery state), it was a steady 9 hours at best.
Without "Dell extended battery life" mode, I got about 8 hours'ish (I kinda forgot the exact time).
- When recording classes, I got (still with a new 9-cell battery) about 7 hours and half, with the same conditions as above.

But now the battery aged quiet a bit (every day, full university days) since November (using the laptop EVERY day, with no special battery care).
- Now I get 7 hours 15min normally, and at best a little over 7 hours and half when "Dell extended battery life" mode enabled.
- If I record classes I get about 5 hours of battery life, and now 5 hours and a half when I have "Dell extended battery life" mode enabled.

Of course if you add a mouse, headphones or other devices the battery life diminishes accordingly.

If you see my previous post on this thread you will see my "current battery life" diminish. It seams stable now at these rates that I have.

As mentioned above, based on comparison from people with Intel GPU's with a new system (new battery), they get about 30-45min more than people with the Nvidia GPU.

If you do CAD rather than gaming, then don't use the Geforce drivers, but rather the Quadro one. Perhaps the Dell drivers might be best for you.

 

Hi All,

I flashed BIOS, HDD, and ODD firmware; switched to AHCI; and clean installed latest software including Vista64 SP2. I skipped all DCP stuff and any other unrequired drivers and apps. I slipped the Intel SATA ICH9M AHCI driver into the OS install... actually Ctrl-selected both AHCI and RAID drivers but I suspect the RAID driver was ignored since IRRT was not active in BIOS... haven't bothered booting IRRT to see if it BSODs.

Install was flawless. Windows Update offered no hardware updates. WEI 3.4; CPU 5.4; RAM 5.9; GPU: 3.4 (4.6 gaming); HDD 5.8. DPC Latency Checker is green under 1000us with the rare yellow spike under 1400us.

We'll see how it handles.

GK

 

Well I based that statement on what others, from this forum, this thread in fact, said. If they all lied, I can't do anything about it. But I trust them they, and I trust the community.
Probably you are saying it wrong.

You can't really say "Oh I want Vista 64-bit" approach, that doesn't work. If you are not talking at tech support, they consider Vista 64-bit like if I would request Win7 when it comes out with my system. In others words, a new OS, and not the same OS with the same product key for different CPU. If you think you should explain that, they might think you try and trick them, and end up say "no". Especially that, to say the truth, OEM license doesn't allow this.

You must say: "I just found out that my system is broken, I can't use my 4GB of RAM" approach. Not promptly like this, but a nice way. Remember to stay calm, respect the other one on the phone no mater what, and keep your cool.

 

You might want the basic DCP for on screen notification, and Dell extended battery mode. That is what I did, but I removed the DCP actual pane to startup when windows start, as I rarely use it, and can be started either way by doing Fn+F7.

Also, you don't need RAID drivers. RAID is to have several internal (minimum 2) HDD working together for a purpose (backup and/or performance, depending on the number of HDD you have. If you want both and reliability you need RAID 5 setup (so 5 internal HDD).
Your laptop only has 1 internal HDD, so you cannot do any RAID setup.

 

I will live without the DCP system module for now to see if i miss it.

And yes, don't intend to use IRRT nor eRAID, but I wanted to enable it if easily done, if only so the sytem does not BSOD if ever the BIOS is switched to IRRT. I found it curious that the OS install allowed Ctrl-selecting multiple SATA drivers, but again, I doubt the install actually included the extra RAID driver if no matching device was actually active. Still, I'll boot IRRT when I'm less busy and mentally prepared for a BSOD experience... not now on my clean fresh install!

GK

 

I'm glad to hear that you and maybe others too have felt or noticed a difference in batter life with the new drivers.

I think I'll give the Dell drivers another try but I still won't be able test anything methodically. Maybe I'll notice a difference...

The 185.85 I'm using is meant for the Quadro NVS series but I've a feeling there's little or no difference between it and the Geforce drivers, maybe a few tweaks to account for the different target user for the NVS GPU.

I'll post my observations once I've tested the Dell driver too.

 

Considering I and others used to get 8 hours or so before with a 9 cell battery, 5 hours is too much of a difference to ignore. Espcially when you need to use the computer for extended sessions without access to mains power, for example, during conferences or classes.

 

Oh, I see. I thought you meant using the 6 cell. Sorry, 5 hours on the 6 cell with the dedicated GPU isn't that bad at all.