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    M15x downclocking when not running on A/c Power

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by yankeesbaseball, Oct 20, 2008.

  1. yankeesbaseball

    yankeesbaseball Notebook Enthusiast

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    In addition to the touch controls not working properly when running off battery power, I have noticed that my framerates are drastically lower when running off of battery power. Is this normal for the m15x to do, even though I am running on high performance with batteries fully charged?
     
    yankeesbaseball, Oct 20, 2008
    #1
  2. Svarto

    Svarto Notebook Consultant

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    Yes it is normal.
     
    Svarto, Oct 20, 2008
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  3. Oceanus

    Oceanus Ambassador

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    Like Svarto says, it's normal. I think you can stop this from happening if you disable NVIDIA's powermizer. I'm not too sure though, but I suppose it's worth a shot.
     
    Oceanus, Oct 20, 2008
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  4. RFrancis

    RFrancis Notebook Consultant

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    God **** It, I hate the genetic "yes its normal response"! I've been so mad at the issue of buying this laptop and not being to game without plug-in it in and everyone just seems to conform to the fact that It just does it. BTW in b4 "Why would you want to play without being connected to the ac!"
     
    RFrancis, Oct 20, 2008
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  5. bhattsan

    bhattsan Notebook Deity

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    The problem is that the battery simply doesn't provide enough enough watts of power to sustain the system at full load, so the 8800 downclocks itself so 3d apps can run on battery. Plus, we are still getting about the performance of an 8700 while on battery ;).
     
    bhattsan, Oct 20, 2008
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  6. RFrancis

    RFrancis Notebook Consultant

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    What do you tell me about the 8700M GT that things get the performance of an Intel integrated graphics when not connected to the power!!!

    Even my hp 17 inch laptop would be able to play games more decently with an 8600 and no power...
     
    RFrancis, Oct 20, 2008
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  7. findvikas

    findvikas Notebook Deity

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    Ain't you over reacting ??? It has nothing to do with the laptop but it's a 'feature' (yes that's what they call) to conserve more power when you are not on AC power source. Its a feature of nVidia and nothing to do with m15x in general. If you want you can control it using nvidia control panel.
     
    findvikas, Oct 20, 2008
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  8. RFrancis

    RFrancis Notebook Consultant

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    Yes, powermizer is a slap on the face...
     
    RFrancis, Oct 20, 2008
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  9. MAG

    MAG Notebook Deity

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    All gaming laptops downclock on battery (with 8700's and up). As findvikas said, it's something from NVIDIA not Alienware or any other company.
     
    MAG, Oct 20, 2008
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  10. Oceanus

    Oceanus Ambassador

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    ..and thus the reason why I gave this response.

     
    Oceanus, Oct 20, 2008
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  11. rigor

    rigor Notebook Enthusiast

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    There are two ways to avoid this from happening:

    one - use nibitor and nvflash to change your video card bios and make the 3D frequencies the same as throttle frequencies

    two - there is a registry change but that is OS specific I think and you did not mention what OS you are using

    both have been described on the forum if you look up "nvidia downclocking" or something
     
    rigor, Oct 21, 2008
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  12. DeadLy

    DeadLy Notebook Consultant

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    can't you stop this from happening in your power management?
     
    DeadLy, Oct 21, 2008
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  13. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    @yankeesbaseball

    It's not an Alienware issue, it's an Nvidia graphics "feature".

    I'd personally like the option to turn it off, especially when I'm still on high performance battery.
     
    Kevin, Oct 21, 2008
    #13