The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Inspiron 1720 performance on Battery ?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by janmik, Nov 13, 2007.

  1. janmik

    janmik Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Not sure if this has been covered or if it should be posted in the gaming section.

    I've noticed on my 1720 that while playing intense games such as Call to Duty 4, World in Conflict, Crysis, etc.......while the computer is operating on ac power everything works fine. But if I play these games while using battery power they perform very poorly with a lot of lag and low fps. I should note that I have the game settings on medium at a lower resolution while operating on ac power and/or battery.

    I've never noticed any performance difference with normal applications. Dell tech support couldn't give me a solid answer if this was normal and decided to replace my battery. However, I still have the same results with the replacement battery.

    I was wondering if this is a normal event with the new graphic cards or if I may have a problem that needs to be addressed with Dell.

    My computer:
    1720
    T7300
    2 gig ram, 667 Mhz
    256 mb Nvida 8600M GT
    1920 x 1200 resoltion (17 inch screen)
    standard 6 cell battery (56Whr)
     
    janmik, Nov 13, 2007
    #1
  2. Zoidberg

    Zoidberg Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I'm getting the same problem. Is there any fix for this?
     
    Zoidberg, Nov 13, 2007
    #2
  3. chelet

    chelet Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    170
    Messages:
    1,501
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Check your power settings. The "On battery" setting may be set so your CPU runs at a slower speed when you aren't plugged in. This is to save power and conserve battery life.
     
    chelet, Nov 13, 2007
    #3
  4. janmik

    janmik Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I should I have mentioned that I have my battery power management settings to "High performance" thinking that I wouldn't have this problem. Unfortunately, the problem still exists.
     
    janmik, Nov 13, 2007
    #4
  5. Zoidberg

    Zoidberg Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I think its the graphics card that is having lower speeds when the battery is in use.
     
    Zoidberg, Nov 13, 2007
    #5
  6. Zoidberg

    Zoidberg Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    OK I fixed the problem. Open your nVidia control panel and go to advanced settings. On the left will be 'Change PowerMizer Settings'. Click on that and on the right select 'Not manage my power consumption'. You can also untick the extend battery option if you want aswell.

    Hope it works for you.
     
    Zoidberg, Nov 13, 2007
    #6
  7. janmik

    janmik Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Your answer sounds logical and I had hopes, but I can not find any power miser or battery option on my Nvidia 8600 control panel. I guess I'll have to continue my search. Thanks for your help.
     
    janmik, Nov 13, 2007
    #7
  8. Zoidberg

    Zoidberg Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Zoidberg, Nov 13, 2007
    #8
  9. sinstoic

    sinstoic Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    214
    Messages:
    1,028
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    As said above, it is a software issue, which can be easily corrected!
     
    sinstoic, Nov 13, 2007
    #9
  10. janmik

    janmik Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    My Nvidia control panel doesn't have the "Mobile" folder with options...hummm. Here's a screen shot.
     

    Attached Files:

    janmik, Nov 13, 2007
    #10
  11. Zoidberg

    Zoidberg Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Thats pretty weird. Maybe you got to update the drivers. What are you on atm?
     
    Zoidberg, Nov 13, 2007
    #11
  12. janmik

    janmik Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    My current driver for the 8600m GT is:

    7.15.11.5669 (10/04/07)
     
    janmik, Nov 13, 2007
    #12
  13. Zoidberg

    Zoidberg Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Zoidberg, Nov 13, 2007
    #13