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    Power Issues

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by Eaglebomber, Mar 7, 2011.

  1. Eaglebomber

    Eaglebomber Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok, so recently I've learned just how much OCing the CPU and GPU take out of your battery...

    So, I decided to turn the OC off on both things in order to conserve power. I turned on power saver mode, and.... Nothing. Like a half hour in time gain on the battery... What's going on?
     
    Eaglebomber, Mar 7, 2011
    #1
  2. frescagod

    frescagod Notebook Consultant

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    given exact same usage, 30 extra minutes is pretty significant if you ask me.

    that begs the question: did you actually do the exact same tasks with performance mode vs. power saving mode? i'm guessing you didn't. was it 100% gaming? also, have you changed any of the settings within the different modes? you can set it to the general power saving mode, and then override settings to keep your GPU on max performance, even in power saving mode.

    there are a multitude of factors that will go into how long your battery lasts. not just the amount of web browsing, but exactly what you're browsing can make a big difference (for example, lots of videos will task the wireless and graphics cards significantly more than just browsing these M11x forums).

    without knowing the answers to those questions, i still maintain that 30 extra minutes is a decent savings, all things equal, and 30 extra minutes in 100% gaming would be huge (i'm guessing that isn't the case here).
     
    frescagod, Mar 7, 2011
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  3. solrac3

    solrac3 Newbie

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    I average between 4.5 and 5.5 hours of battery life on PowerSaver mode... I have seen 6and 7 hours but it is not usual. Anyway, for a performance Netbook it is just good enough...
     
    solrac3, Mar 7, 2011
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  4. Eaglebomber

    Eaglebomber Notebook Enthusiast

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    No, it isn't the case. The most system taxing application I ran would have been MS Word.
     
    Eaglebomber, Mar 7, 2011
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  5. unclewebb

    unclewebb ThrottleStop Author

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    Modern Intel Core i processors are extremely efficient when lightly loaded so changing the power profile in Windows makes very little difference to CPU power consumption. Reducing screen brightness usually makes the biggest difference.

    An idle, Core i CPUs will enter the C6 sleep state where the voltage to that core goes to zero so power consumption also goes to zero. There's not much room for any software, including Windows, to significantly improve upon CPU power consumption when the hardware is designed to shut itself down at idle automatically.
     
    unclewebb, Mar 7, 2011
    #5