Questions re power management plans, AlienFusion

Hello everyone, I previously had a Dell Precision M6600 - Quadro 3000M before upgrading to the Alienware M17x R3 - GTX580M that I have now. I use it for computation-intensive simulations rather than gaming by exploiting the GPU using CUDA/OpenCL. One thing I miss about the M6600 relative to the M17x was the amazing battery life I got using the Dell-customized "Max Battery Life" power plan for periods of undemanding use. After all, the spec sheets between the two computers are not all that different - 2820QM in the Dell vs. 2760QM in the M17x (especially when the discrete GPU is out of the picture using Optimus - gotta love it!). I also noticed that using the low-latency plan in the Dell gave noticeable improvements in smoothness while watching HD video. My question is, has anyone played around customizing the power plans with AlienwareFusion and got noticeable improvements in battery life, and if so, can you share your recipe? I asked on the M6600 board whether it might be possible to get the power plans as a standalone download from support.dell.com or if I could install the Dell System Software for the M6600 without deleterious effects. Thanks very much for any help you can offer.

 

The settings in AlienFusion are not more different than the settings you can customise yourself in Windows.
Right click Computer > Properties > Performance Information and Tools > Adjust Power Settings.

From there choose Power Saver and click Change plan settings and customise it the way you want.

 

Thanks, I've made a customized profile. Anyone else has a recipe that works well?

 

I just have a Hybrid plan and on battery I set everything to power save modes where available. I turn off the lighting, lower the screen brightness to 2 bars (using the brightness control keys) and I can easily get 5+ hours of general use. If I turn off the wifi when I am not actually using it I have hit upwards of 7 hours of battery life. My M17x gets very similar battery life to my old M11x, which is somewhat mind blowing.

 

That's a great idea - a hybrid plan. Why didn't I think of that?!

 

yoda...mind telling us how have you made a hybrid-plan?

if its possible could you screenshot the options enabled...i am still trying to find out how much life can i eke out on battery

 

Just create a new power plan, Hybrid, which you will always use. Then go into the Windows power settings and change the advanced power settings, a window will pop up with lots of categories and options. Go down the list and for "On Battery" set every option to max power saving or whatever similar option. For "Plugged In" set every option to max performance.

It isn't really possible to get a good screen shot, since there are tons of options, but just go down the list.

Also, if you have a 580m you can go into the Nvidia control panel and enable the status icon down on the toolbar. This will show when the 580m is powered up. You might find while on battery that it sometimes powers on for some program, just go into the Nvidia control panel, find that program, and set it to integrated.

Once you get it all set and if the Nvidia GPU doesn't power on you can expect 5+ hours easy.

 

Yup, exactly what I've done. Thanks again for the tip!