Gaming On Battery

After being one of the m15x early adopters I can say it has been decent so far, but I can't tolerate my single problem any longer. At first I couldn't play games on the battery because my NVIDIA 8700 graphics card would dowclock and the FPS would be horrible, but after solving that problem, now I can play games on battery at full FPS for like 5 minutes or less and then it shutdown instantly. However, there is no problem at all when i play connected to the AC and the laptop doesn't shutdown. I don't think it's a heat problem, anyone have an idea?

BTW After talking to what seemed thousand of technical support people one recommended replacing the battery... should I?

 

5minutes of gaming on max performance sounds abit low...

for a single 6cell main battery u should get abit more i think. is your battery fully charge

if im not mistaken... i think u should be getting like a hour or so ... on max performance with a single 6cell.

 

5 minutes is terribly LOW, I'm running on XP (check profile for specs.) and it should at least run 30 - 45 min. I don't know what to do anymore! What is the point of having a gaming laptop if i can't game on battery for a little while.

PLEASE HELP...

 

Also, you have the 8700, not the 8800 so you should have even better battery life.

 

Can Everyone else play games on battery alone?

 

I can't as my FPS and my graphics fall!! I think the video card downclocks when its running games on a battery alone.

 

I'm just curious as to why you'd want to play on battery.

 

Mostly AutoCad and occasional gaming on a short flight, oh yeah and if someone wants to see a game on the laptop I would like not to have to take my brick out...

So anyone can game on battery, anyone?

 

because its a laptop?

 

Meh, I was really hoping some someone to have an answer... It's probably kind of late.

BTW Anyone with a stable overclock for the 8700 GPU

 

I can't recommend OCing the 8700M-GT... the card is thermally stressed as is.

the only reason the 8800M-GTX can go in this computer is because it's a die-shrink. so the GPU itself takes up less power overall and produces less heat at the same clocks. hense, you can push it higher, getting more power, and with the same thermal envilope.

as for battery gaming, when it shuts down after the 5 mins, can you turn it back on?

at full clocks, the GPU might just be pulling more power than the battery can deliver, and it shuts down the system... might be solved with a smart-bay battery... two sources means more power to pull from, less stress on any one battery and more stable gaming.

Plus, gaming on battery... you should have the extra power to help support the system, so you can play longer.

P.S. for most people. the 1Hr thing I think is an estimate, since not many know (or can) keep their GPUs going at full-speed while on battery.

 

I agree die-shrink is a valid point.

 

maybe the notebook doesn't like what ever app you have controlling the card to keep the clocks running at full speed while under battery. I never really understood why people always want to game on battery I don't know of any other notebook that you can do it with, without using apps to modify the system.

 

I've seen in several posts here that the really powerful gaming laptops tend to have trouble gaming on battery - XPS 1730, apparently mx15, and the like. My guess is it's one of two things:

*The battery isn't able to provide enough power. In wI've seen in several posts here that the really powerful gaming laptops tend to have trouble gaming on battery - XPS 1730, apparently mx15, and the like. My guess is it's one of two things:

*The battery isn't able to provide enough power. In which case the GPU has to downclock so that it uses sufficiently little power that the battery can provide it - hence the poor performance.
*The video card BIOS forces it to downclock while on battery.

In the latter case, laptopvideo2go drivers should help. However, it's quite likely someone with this problem has already tried that. Thus, it's probably the first case. In which case, turning off unnecessary power-consuming devices (i.e., wireless card, bluetooth, and stuff like that) should allow for better graphics performance. So that's what I'd try if you haven't tried it yet. It might not conserve enough power to allow full GPU power, but it does consume a noticeable amount of power, so it's possible that it will.

At least with less powerful notebooks, it is possible to get full performance on battery. I have an 8600M GT, all other factors equal power-consumption-wise to what RFrancis has listed in his profile, and have several times not even realized my laptop was unplugged and gamed on it happily for over an hour before it would unexpectedly hibernate (i.e. run out of power). I do have a 9-cell battery, however, which may signficantly increase it's power-delivering capacity. Yet otherwise I'm only using 7 Watts less power.

The other thing this makes me wonder is, if the 8600M GT seems to be the upper limit for full-speed battery gaming, or very near it, what happens when you try to run a laptop with a desktop Core 2 Quad on battery? That's a whole lot more power-drawing than an 8700M GT at full power.

 

Yeah well, the best solution I've heard so far is getting another battery for the smart bay? Would that deliver the extra power? My frames don't decrease anymore during battery gaming it just cant go any longer than a couple of minutes.

 

It really sounds like your battery isn't holding the charge very well. Bad battery. Call AW TS.

 

I noticed the same thing on both my m15x and my current np5793. Regardless of my power settings, if I unplug the system, my gaming frame rates drop about 50%. I'm not sure if there's anything that can be done about this...but it doesn't bother me much. I bought this as a DTR. I can still take it anywhere and then just plug it in. It's enough mobility for me.

 

Hi guys i have my M15X since Febuary i got 2.4 GhZ 4 ram and 8800 GTX , i also got the smart bay battery, i travel a lot since my univirsity is very far away from where i live, my flights are 3 hours and i can play gears of war maxed ut the whole flight witch is around 2:30 hours os playng time never had the chance to see how far it lasted but a least 2 and a half hours for sure!! the only thing that pisses me off is that i have to start the stupid game with the cd then o have to swithc the battery, no way to start from hard drive without crack. anybody nows how?

 

i do turn off alien fx while playing on the battery.... but i dont dim the screen

 

yay azuriak thanks for the info thats what i was hoping... 230 playing a game on full on battery is exactly what i want out of the m15x.. its what makes it a truly unique gaming laptop.. no Sager or Dell could even come close to that..

 

So, if I understood correctly Azuriak can game at full FPS on battery for 2:30? Called technical support, they said they would trade my battery... I really hope that solves the problem. And for all those who are experiencing low framerates while gaming on battery and are using Vista you might want to take a look at this. NVIDIA Powermizer

 

Sorry For errors in my english but yes that is correct RFrancis at full for 2:30 and i didn´t finish the battery. I can test how long it lastest al the way if you like. I never thoght about it realy since i never used for more than the 2:30 hours usualy im pluged in all the time. ill charge the smart bay battery and ill post the results

 

please share how you got the m15x's GPU to run full speeds while on battery? mine auto downclock to 1/2 speeds the second you remove AC and does not change.

Please share, this is killing me!

 

isn't it like two posts up...

 

yes it is only 2 post up. click that link and read the guide on how to disable powermizer in the registry.

 

Ok, so I most likely do have a defective battery since there is people that can game at full FPS on battery without shutdown... Can anybody do the same but without the smart bay battery? (I'm just trying to isolate my problem)

BTW thanks for all the comments they are a great help!

 

I don't really get one thing...

On batteries both your GPU and CPU will downclock (and there is no way around this... unless you go and mess around with 3rd party programs and stuff). So... the fact that your laptop switches off after 5 minutes, that is an issue.
Now... that you should want to play on batteries (and expect it to behave like if it was plugged in) I can also see it, but I can only understand it as something you do when you don't have any other alternative (this is, when you are not close to a electricity sock or whatever those are called). And... you should expect a DRASTIC reduction in gameplay (unless, of course, you are playing an old game.).

 

I don't think the battery can provide enough wattage to the 8800 at full clocks on battery. I thought thats why it downclocked on battery (happens to all 8800 laptops)

 

thanks guys. Ya, i already did that. it disables powermizer on AC, but not battery. even if you change it to 2222. (on the m15x, i see it works on others)

Or does someone else have proven success disabling powermizer on battery on the m15x? as far as i can tell its hardware based. Need to find some offline GPU clock testing software..

 

if it still downclocks on battery after messing with the registry then its basically the battery unable to provide enough power for the components to run at full clocks. battery technology has always been falling behind performance. we just have to wait until those new lithium ion batteries come out with the nano wires in them.

 

I’d love to believe that, TRUST ME! But no one seem to be able to back that up with any facts. Nvidia says nothing about their mobile GPU’s requiring AC power to run full force. It’s unlikely a company like nvidia would make and release a notebook GPU that does not perform in a notebook. Furthermore I owned an Alienware m7700 with the 7800GTX. That GPU did not behave this way and power consumption has decreased with technology…

However, Nvidia does say it allows the PC vendors to adjust GPU clock setting to whatever they want. I think the reason AW (or really the ODM) does this is it’s not practical to have a system that only runs on battery for :30 min. I completely understand this and that’s why there is an integrated intel GPU in the m15x. I even understand if the default it to dowclock the Nvidia GPU on battery, but there needs to be an option to shut it off…

If the system “requires” external AC power (outside of charging the battery) then by definition its not a notebook PC. It also has more similarities to a desktop then a notebook, and you can get a much more powerful desktop of this price.

 

I love my m15x, don’t get me wrong, but if I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to game on the go with the battery power alone I would have probably reconsidered getting a much more powerful desktop for the same price.

Please make a quick reply stating whether you can game at full FPS on battery.
-Thank You

 

RFrancis, i thought you said you had it running full force on battery but it was crashing after 5 min right?

I would load ntune and from the Nvidia control panle click the "launch NVMonitor"

in the middle of the monitor it should say your current GPU core/memeory speeds. I'm not sure what they are on the 8700GT but the icon should be red if it is running full force.

Is that what you get just for those 5min on battery? if so what did you do to unlock it? was it just that reg fix? that may only work with the 8700/8600 so idk.

If you did something else please let me know and i'll do the same to mine and see if i can different results then you.

I'm in the same boat as you, i really love this m15x, all the "bad" stuf i've read i pretty much disproven (i.e. who the hell said the security lock dosn't work? noob...). but i have a hard time accepting the fact it has more properties to a desktop PC then a notebook due to the GPU downclock on battery. why the heck would they even put Binary GFX in this if they are just going to downclock the Nvidia GPU lol.

 

Whatever people might be discussing here and stating... the truth is:

On battery, your CPU will downclock (this I find really pathetic) and your GPU... will downclock (to the same clocks as when you put the laptop on Stealth mode). And that's that... People can go around and say, "I don't believe it and blah blah!", but that's all there is to know about it.
You can still play... Just that your laptop won't be the fastest gaming notebook in the world anymore.

 

Me (amongst several more) actually tested several different kind of locks and observed they were not working. Maybe we are all... "noobs" and don't really know how to turn a key on a lock... or something like that.
Maybe even AW is noob as they sent me an email saying that kensington locks were not compatible with the "security lock" installed on the M15x.

Hey... now that I think of it... I think all the world is noob... Except you, of course!

 

My M15X does not down clock on battery what are u talking about milcs, gears maxed out on stealth mode is unplayable, i have the same performance on battery.. i use 2 though, try ajusting the settings in alien fusion put every setting on battery to max.

 

What do you mean it doesn't downclock? Have you looked at the clocks at which your laptop is working?

If you will get Rivatuner and RMclock you will be able to see what happens to the clocks of both your CPU and GPU when you disconnect your laptop from the plug. Please post some screens of the clocks plugged, on Stealth Mode and on batteries. You will see what I am talking about "downclocking". But... I think it's completely normal with all of the Laptops.

 

downclocking when on battery is normal for all laptops. this is just something you will have to accept when you decide to use a laptop on battery.

@Azuriak
i dont think its possible for your 8800 not to downclock when on battery. i think it goes to performance level 2 when its on battery.

 

So some are really having a problem using the security lock? i really didn't mean to call anyone out sry . The only lock I have is at work. I brought my m15x in today and the lock I normally used for the work notebook was fine. I’ll be dammed if I can remember which one it is… company provided but < 6 months old.
I’ll tape it on my phone tomorrow and youtube it I will say it does take a firm grip and a tight twist to get it locked, but it’s not that bad.

Sorry my friend my I must disagree. Over the past few years I’ve owned quite a few laptops, most of them Alienware. The AW Aurora m7700(7800GTX, AMD X2): did not downclock GPU on battery but did downclock CPU to ½ speed. AW m9700(7900 SLI, AMD Turion): no GPU downclocking in this SLI rig, CPU would force AMD power now when on battery which scaled CPU frequencies according to demand. AW m5550(7600GT, C2D): no CPU or GPU downclocking.

If you meant that most laptops force some type of CPU downclock (which like the m15x, can be fixed with RMClock) I’d agree. But GPU downclocking is absolutely unacceptable, especially in a system configured with BinaryGFX. The whole point to that is so you can disable this high powered GPU when needed.

You should not accept this behavior as it is not normal if you look at other recent notebook PC’s.

I’ve only had the m15x for 3 weeks now so I’m still testing stuff out Disabling powernow in the registry was a nice find, so the system will at least stop downclocking the GPU when on AC power.

I’m still not convinced the battery downclocking is hardware based. Has anyone tried checking GPU clock speeds outside of windows? Some form of bootable CD that can monitor clock speeds.
I say this because one time, on full battery(sure of that), I started to reload Vista by booting to the DVD. 25min later I noticed the low battery light.
Now loading the OS will be CPU, Disk I/O, and DVD intensive. But outside of Disk I/O so is gaming but you have to add the GPU, and I’ve pulled an easy 1:30 gaming on battery on this guy with the GPU downclock. And that’s with RMClock keeping the CPU at 100%.

So in an offline environment it appears the GPU is running 100%. (any suggestion on that offline GPU clock monitoring tool would be most appreciated)

Anyone who would say that would be dead on so this is what I found.
Here is Nvidia’s NVCPL.dll (that’s the nivida control panel) API manual.

If I’m right, and the battery downclocking is software, page 63 explains how to fix it.

So it appears, like exiled said, that on battery the m15x powermizer is set to level 2 (Balanced) where we want 1(maximum performance)

So it looks like the following would change the powermizer setting on battery to level 1 (max performance)

nvGetPwrMzrLevel(OUT DWORD* pdwBatteryLevel 1


Here’s my problem. I’m a Windows Active Directory / Exchange Administrator, not a programmer. I wouldn’t even know where to start when it comes to API functions. I got as far as downloading Nvidia SDK and I’m lost…

If anyone if familiar with this, but weary about doing it to their own system, well you and I have to talk because I’m anything but weary and would be happy to go for it, i just need to know how to send these commands using Nvidia's API.

 

im guessing that the higher end laptops will downclock then. i know the dell xps m1730 downclocks on battery.

the only solution i can think of is to ask Nvidia to create a driver that would let the GPU run at full clocks on battery.

 

Nvidia does, but the manufacture is free to set whatever clock speeds they want. this is why when it comes to notebooks you always (by default) have to download the GPU drivers directly from them, and the ones on nvidia.com don’t work (and there is always laptopvideo2go, but not for the m15x *yet*)

AW has made some major improvements with the m15x drivers and BIOS settings. When it was new, when the GPU hit X degrees (idk what, did not have one then and no old BIOS to check) it downclocked the GPU to cool it down. If you have every closely monitored your GPU temps you’ll see downclocking the GPU will drastically lower temps and fast. Of course this was viewed as unaccepatable so they fixed it.

AW fix was to allow the GPU fan to spin at (much) higher RPM’s when needed. With the latest BIOS and any of the drivers they provide the GPU now:
- Sets AC power “powermizer off” to 2(balanced) setting (383/300 core/mem for the GTX)
- Forces powermizer ON after each reboot (you can fix that). Powermizer will scale anywhere from 100/200 to 500/800 (max) GPU clocks.
- GPU powermizer settings for battery are set to 2 (balanced) and cannot be changed with the driver software
- The GPU fan will run at normal RPM’s until the GPU reaches 85C. at 85C it sounds just like the Xbox360 starting up, a rocket lol. The GPU fans RPM are drastically increased. For me it droped the temp from 85C to 73-75 in a matter of seconds. At this point the GPU fans throttle back until you reach 85C again.
(i did all that testing using Nvidia supported Ntune and their GPU stress test to increase GPU temp and monitor behavior. i had the same results multiple times, just get your system up to 85C and you’ll hear what I’m talking about )

PS: i just listed a bunch of high performance notebook PC's no more then 2 years old that do not downclock the GPU... But it does not surprise me that the dells also do this...

Anyone familiar with API functions? Please

 

Well for some reason I had only been focusing on the GPU aspect of battery dowclocking, but after having an epiphany yesterday I ran some CPU tests and the decrease in performance when only running on battery is dramatic. I know I must be complaining too much, but at least I would like to really reach the true "Gaming Notebook" side of this computer that was really the main factor that led me to buy it.

 

RFrancis... you can... Plug it and there you go.
Playing on batteries is something that never really made much sense to me and should only be used occasionally when on the move.

I think most of the laptops do exactly the same. Obviously it would be good to go around it... but maybe the battery can't really deliver the power needed for the GPU+CPU at full clocks.