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    Alienware 17 Battery Drain Issue

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Hackintoshihope, Sep 10, 2013.

  1. Hackintoshihope

    Hackintoshihope AlienMeetsApple

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    Hey my new Alienware 17 just landed and I have a few concerns. First off in discrete only mode the nvidia 780M downlclocks to 135mhz as it should, to conserve power. However once switching to optimus, the nvidia card stays at 324mhz on the core clock. This affects battery life dramatically. Anyone experience this at well. And yes I monitor the card with several programs such as msi afterburner and hwinfo.
     
    Hackintoshihope, Sep 10, 2013
    #1
  2. Hackintoshihope

    Hackintoshihope AlienMeetsApple

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    With Optimus.jpg Without Optimus.jpg

    With and Without Optimus
     
    Hackintoshihope, Sep 10, 2013
    #2
  3. Voltran

    Voltran Notebook Geek

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    Same with me, I have no idea why.
     
    Voltran, Sep 10, 2013
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  4. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

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    Perhaps you are causing it with the monitoring apps. Do you have the box checked in HWiNFO64 to "Wake GPUs disabled by nVidia Optimus" in the configuration window as shown below? If you do, try unchecking the box and see if that helps.

    wakeup.JPG
     
    Mr. Fox, Sep 10, 2013
    #4
    Alienware-L_Porras likes this.
  5. juliant

    juliant Notebook Deity

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    In my situation there are no such issues... Strange!
     
    juliant, Sep 10, 2013
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  6. juliant

    juliant Notebook Deity

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    I tried to add the picture in the previous post, unfortunately didn't work. Please see below my clocks at idle. For all that I know, anything that monitors your temperature (aida64, hwinfo, GPU-Z etc.) when you have a system with optimus will keep wakening the dGPU and make the clocks arise. This could also be a reason (it also affects the temperature while at idle).
     

    Attached Files:

    juliant, Sep 11, 2013
    #6
  7. Hackintoshihope

    Hackintoshihope AlienMeetsApple

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    Mr. Fox I posted those pictures to show exactly that I have those options enabled but when I turn off the intel card my gpu idles correctly. Why is this.
     
    Hackintoshihope, Sep 11, 2013
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  8. Hackintoshihope

    Hackintoshihope AlienMeetsApple

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    Anyone have any ideas?
     
    Hackintoshihope, Sep 11, 2013
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  9. j95

    j95 Notebook Deity

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    Uncheck Wake GPUs disabled by nVidia Optimus as Mr. Fox suggested.
     
    j95, Sep 11, 2013
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  10. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    Exactly that, if not then the VC will be working as normal :p
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Sep 13, 2013
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  11. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

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    Did this work for you?
     
    Mr. Fox, Sep 13, 2013
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  12. llelitell

    llelitell Notebook Guru

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    my alienware 17 while gaming on Battery. Screen auto dim after 10 mins and all usb power off by itself. Only when i plug in the power adapter. USB power device eg: mouse will work again...

    Currently running on Bio a04 with nvidia 770m with dell nvidia driver..

    Anyone having this issue too ?
     
    llelitell, Sep 13, 2013
    #12
  13. amitvig22

    amitvig22 Notebook Consultant

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    what battery power plan are you on ?? if its high performance then this is expected behavior !
     
    amitvig22, Sep 13, 2013
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  14. Hackintoshihope

    Hackintoshihope AlienMeetsApple

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    No I've been on balanced, and yes, I've disabled that option no change. Also I was forced to return the computer it turned out the video card was DOA. It had a bunch of errors as well as the cpu fan didnt work half the time. Optical drive was in the process of being replaced, and a technician replaced its screen because of dead pixel issues. I said good bye to the worst alienware 17 on the planet.
     
    Hackintoshihope, Sep 15, 2013
    #14
  15. amitvig22

    amitvig22 Notebook Consultant

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    Good to know that your troubles are taken care of.
     
    amitvig22, Sep 17, 2013
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  16. Hackintoshihope

    Hackintoshihope AlienMeetsApple

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    Yeah I'm getting a replacement.
     
    Hackintoshihope, Sep 17, 2013
    #16