Hybrid Power Function: Is this Enabled in All Alienware Laptops while Gaming?

I tried a search and every topic here is over 10 years old so apologies in advance if I missed something.

Purchased (and have since returned back to Dell) an Alienware M15 R2 from Dell Outlet:

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
RAM 16GB (2x8GB) 2666MHz DDR4
Intel Core 9th Generation i7-9750H Processor (6 Core, Up to 4.50GHz, 12MB Cache, 45W)

My gaming is more data based processing than GPU intensive; Mostly Football Manager or older versions of OOTP.

After about 40 minutes of playing FM, the battery would start to drain. Apparently the game drawing more power than the 240W PSU could supply. Yes I did have the graphics settings maxed out, and the GPU & CPU power requirements had drained about 10% of the battery after roughly 90 minutes of gaming.

The "Hybrid Power" function was enabled:
https://www.dell.com/support/articl...y-drain-while-ac-adapter-is-connected?lang=en

My question is, is this common in ALL Alienware laptops? I know the M15 R2 is not top of the line, but with its specs, I thought it would be more than enough to handle my gaming needs.

I've owned an Inspiron 7559 for several years and am very happy with it, other than a busted hinge. Was looking forward to my first Alienware but am quite disappointed-so far. 21 day Dell Outlet return policy, so I had to make a decision and sent it back earlier this week.

Thanks in advance

 

The ridiculous hybrid power "feature" again. They should just provide appropriate power supplies. Have you tried undervolting both the CPU and GPU? It may be the only option short of power limiting the CPU or spending $$$ for the 330W power brick

 

No I did not. And based on what I have read elsewhere, the M15 R2 may not even be compatible or take advantage of the 330W power brick anyway. Not sure on that though.

 

OK. Any Intel gaming laptop must be undervolted. Use ThrottleStop for the CPU as the first order of business. Undervolting the GPU with MSI Afterburner will only increase performance, not reduce power draw. If ThrottleStop doesn't work, try downgrading the BIOS, and failing that I would return that particular laptop for a number of reasons (soldered RAM would be one of them).

 

Well I no longer have the M15 so it's not an issue, other than the fact I'm still in the market for a gaming laptop. I'm not familiar with Undervolting & Intel but will take note for my next purchase.

After your first post I checked at Amazon. An M15 R2 owner purchased a 330W power pack and confirmed it is NOT compatible, only the 240W power pack.

 

I believe all Alienware laptops manufactured after 2014 have this crap feature. It's meant to wear your battery down faster so they can sell you a new one, even if you keep it plugged in all the time, which would normally preserve the battery.

The "feature" is a giant scam. It's so they can ship laptops with inadequate power supplies, therefore saving costs. However, it's best to supply a computer with a power supply that can supply more power than the computer is capable of drawing. That's just good engineering practice. Limits should always be higher than what you're capable of touching.

I used to be a big Alienware fan, but all their laptops bar the Area 51M (which still has questionable quality) are crap nowadays. Dell just keeps making Alienware laptops worse with every passing year.

If you do get another Alienware, unplug the battery when the laptop is plugged in so it doesn't get unnecessarily worn out. The 240 watt PSU should've been enough for that M15 R2 when gaming though. Games aren't power viruses that fully stress all the parts in the system at once.

 

I tried to find out through Dell online chat what PSU comes with the newer R3 version of the M15. The agent had me on hold for quite a while to verify. I was told the PSU that comes with the R3 is 180W.

180W. You gotta be kidding me.

 

It's probably to feed the hybrid power scam. 180 watts is not enough at full load by a long shot on that machine. This will allow you to wear out your battery even faster! Woohoo!