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    GPU Clock Reduction On Battery

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by Kristofer, Oct 14, 2011.

  1. Kristofer

    Kristofer Notebook Guru

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    I noticed that, on battery, the m14x will not allow the nVidia GPU to surpass 202.5/405 mhz when I normally run it at 750/1500. Any ideas on how to disable this? At this rate, on battery, I get very low FPS in all of my games.


    I've also noticed the GPU voltage also changes from .862 V to .812 V when on battery.
     
    Kristofer, Oct 14, 2011
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  2. CGSDR

    CGSDR Alien Master Race

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    Try high performance or Balance on battery?
     
    CGSDR, Oct 15, 2011
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  3. Kristofer

    Kristofer Notebook Guru

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    I've tried this as well. Is this a normal issue? Has anyone else experienced this?
     
    Kristofer, Oct 15, 2011
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  4. nicholaslimck

    nicholaslimck Notebook Guru

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    The M14x's BIOS automatically limits the GPU on battery to reduce power draw as the GPU drains power too fast at full clocks for the battery to give. If you want to game on battery try flashing BIOS A02 or earlier, but you can't game for long as the M14x will automatically power down due to the excessive power draw.
     
    nicholaslimck, Oct 15, 2011
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  5. Kristofer

    Kristofer Notebook Guru

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    Thanks Nick. I just realized this soon after posting this and browsing some other forums. Many people who ordered the first wave of m14x's didn't have this issue but the newer bios limits the GPU voltage when on battery. I've decided that this feature is significant and I will probably not flash to bios to A01. Thanks again for your response.
     
    Kristofer, Oct 15, 2011
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  6. flybass

    flybass Notebook Consultant

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    i'd be careful flashing the older bios. when i first got my system, sometimes programs that switched on and used the gpu (not games) would shut the computer down and i could not start it up again until hooking up the power cord. it would have been a if i were traveling
     
    flybass, Oct 15, 2011
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  7. Kristofer

    Kristofer Notebook Guru

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    Yeah I'm not flashing the bios. This is my new main laptop. I use it for notetaking every day at my university. If it were just a gaming PC I might mess around with it but I'm not going to chance it. If I want to game, I'll plug it in.
     
    Kristofer, Oct 16, 2011
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