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    6990m with 920/920xm 740qm 840qm battery life

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by Bele, Apr 5, 2013.

  1. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    I am curious, best way to maximize battery life on our laptop with the 6990m and the listed processors?

    Also most interested in knowing your battery life with both an xm processor and a 6990m. With the specs on my sig, I run at 1 hour max. Do XM processors drain battery faster?

    Thanks
     
  2. sasuke256

    sasuke256 Notebook Deity

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    I dont think it will be different with some tweaking on the max cpu state :)
    Else u game on battery ;) then....
     
  3. batfinks

    batfinks Notebook Consultant

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    even though I've only considered it but not actually done it as I require storage space over portability you can buy a extra battery to replace the rom device, in your case I know Bele you are running a extra 1TB hdd in place of your rom device. but I think that will be your only realistic option, if you require extra portability.

    Genuine Battery Dell Alienware M15X SQU-723 MOBL-M15X6CSECBAT M15X9CEXIBATLK | eBay
     
  4. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    ?! I didn't know you could do that with the rom device. Interesting. Wouldn't do it though. And I see it won't make much difference even on a different processor. Thanks!
     
  5. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    That is interesting. I get more than 1 hour. Maybe 1.5 hours and the battery has a good 30% wear.
    If you want to boost battery life then get an SSD and a more modern GPU.

    The 6990M isn't old by any measure. However having also used this card at idle the 7970M is MUCH more power efficient.

    I believe with a brand new 9 cell and the roughly 4 cell battery the rom option offers we could already squeeze a good 2.5 hours or longer out of our machines
     
  6. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    As long as MXM 3 is used by developers then new GPU cards will the only way to increase battery life in the M15x as they become increasingly efficient.
     
  7. baii

    baii Sone

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    Force the 6990m to lowest clock can help(disable powerplay), otherwise it jumps between idle and 2d clock if you have any hardware accelerated software.
     
  8. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    1. Use Ati Tray Tools to undervolt to 250/100 @ 0.8v. (0.8 is the lowest the driver will go, but the driver defaults to 0.9)

    2. Use Throttlestop to lock the CPU at the lowest multi when on battery.

    3. Use flashblock in your browser.


    My rig gets 3 hours for normal internet usage.
     
  9. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    Copy that. do you also watch movies with that setup jhonnyflash?
     
  10. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    Not really, usually use my netbook for that. But I do start/stop the UDK editor a lot to test code, and that maybe shaves 15 min off total.

    If you use VLC, undervolting the GPU should have a large effect on battery because most video is directx accelerated.
     
  11. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    Giving this a shot and see how it plays out. if the results are great, I might flash my bios. just to be perfectly sure, those are 250 core and 100 memory clocks respectively, right?
     
  12. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    Flashing doesn't work with these cards, the driver just overrides.
     
  13. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    is this not the same as OCing and undervolting? I flashed mine to undervolt and adjust clock rates to default. they were originally 715/900 core/mem and I was getting shut downs. I then flashed to 680/900 + under volted to 1v from 1.1v.

    Different thing?
     
  14. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    The vBIOS doesn't allow 0.8v as a setting, it just bumps it up to 0.9v. It can only be done manually.
     
  15. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    Little help. So I got throttle stop and so far, my lowest cpu multiplier is 7 on my 740qm.

    re: ATT

    I can't seem to get it to work without giving me massive flickers/display issues/distortions. it happens as soon as I install ATT it happens whenever I do anything at all from movies/surfing. I didn't even try gaming because of how distorted it gets. Like.. I move mouse to an area, that area gets torn/distorted/something visually WRONG. I don't know how else to put it. I've tried: reinstalling drivers and using older drivers. Nada.

    if it helps: it's a clevo card with a dell bios. currently running 13.1.


    any ideas on this? Google has given me only those two solutions. reinstall/use older drivers.
     
  16. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    I think this has something to do with the catalyst control centre and powerplay. Try removing CCC without removing the graphics drivers.
     
  17. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    Good suggestion, let us know how that works.
     
  18. DeltronZero

    DeltronZero Newbie

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    Is this even compatible with the m15x ? Or is it only a smart bay option for the area 51 models ?
    Alienware m15x SmartBay Walkthrough - YouTube

    But would be cool if you could stick this in an m15x. Maybe you can, correct me if i'm wrong.
     
  19. Mexic00ls

    Mexic00ls Notebook Deity

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    no thats for predell
     
  20. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    no dice. still flickers after removing CCC and installing ATT. welp?
     
  21. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    What voltage are you running at, have you modified the BIOS? Are you able to make any changes to ATT before it goes crazy?
    If so what voltage are you setting?
     
  22. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    I'm running at .95 with stock clocks on a bios mod. I've read around the net about modded bioses and that their setups work with a modded bios too.

    Simply installing ATT makes the whole distortion/flicker/tear/visually bad/disturbing stuff happen. that being said, I do nothing and try nothing with ATT until just having it makes the screen/display go bad.
     
  23. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    I had the exact same issue as you with my 6990m and removing CCC fixed it completely. Not sure what else to suggest other than trying stock BIOS with stock voltage?
    Despite the screen flickering are you able to go on the overclock tab and set a voltage on ATT?
     
  24. Bele

    Bele Notebook Consultant

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    I think I get it.

    So far: I am able to set clocks and the flickers/bad display stop as soon as I made various profiles. That's fine and dandy. profiles for battery/2d/3d have been made as well.

    Now, about voltages. Do I have to set these manually on each profile switch?

    on auto overclocking profiles: say I run sony vegas and render, does that count as a 3d application? I honestly don't know.

    Thanks~!



    Follow up: yeah max battery I get is 1:30 with either .9 100/150 or .8 100/150. Throttle stop is on of course.

    I suppose I won't be using ATT any further as that was all the reason I had for using it in the first place.

    Much thanks to all the help and suggestions in here.