Average Battery Life with High END video card

I think about upgrading but wonder about battery life I get about 3 hours to 3hours and 30 mins on the current.

Could I get with higher end video cards?
just wondering.

 

On an 8800m GTX you will go down to at least 2 hours. That is unless you get one of those laptops that can switch between the highend GPU and an integrated GPU for non-gaming (like the Alienware 15x or certain Viao laptops).

 

It also depends a lot on the other components of the system; to get a rough idea, I suggest you browse NBR's reviews of various gaming laptops.

StormEffect mentioned that some laptops can switch between an IGP and discrete card; the VAIO in question is the SZ.

 

Is it possible to underclock the gpu to get it to perform similarly to a lower end gpu when not in use (and have a similar power draw?)

 

You can reduce power consumption by underclocking, yes, but only to a certain extent; I've never heard of someone with a dedicated card matching the power draw of, say, an X3100.

 

Would you just use Rivatuner or Ntune to do it, or do you have to go about it some other way?

 

If you underclock it too far anyway you will burn out your chip. All dedicated GPUs in notebooks downclock to save power anyway when the laptop is unplugged.

-J.B.

 

I believe the Alienware M15x specializes in that kind of thing

 

On Power Saver, I got about 2 hours out of the P-FX, and about 2.5 hours out of the Vaio.

 

i got 2 hours with my 5793, 8800m downclocks itself when not gaming.

 

used to get about 2 hours but now 30 mins lol.

 

Look four about 4 - 6 hours battery

 

^^AW m15x with smart bay battery

 

smart bay battery? where?

 

As we all know... there is no way to adjust the powermizer setting under windows vista unless we go directly to the registry.

I am trying to get my 8600m GT (Asus G1S) to run full speed while on battery with high performance mode, but for some reason with high performance mode selected, the gpu clock is always set at 168/100.

PerfLevelSrc 3333 = automatic setting (managed by driver)
PerfLevelSrc 3322 = managed by user
PerfLevelSrc 2222 = disable the powermizer completelly

If I set it to 2222, the problem is "partially solved". I can game just fine while on battery mode, but when I don't the gpu stays at 475/700 (kills the battery pretty fast). Is there a setting that allows me (while on battery mode) to have 475/700 while gaming and 168/100 while on Windows (while on battery mode as well)? Thanks

 

Yeah, you can use those. I think some drivers support it, too. Someone else can offer details.

Also, someone said that you can damage the chip ("burning out") if you underclock; that doesn't happen.

 

Ok, so now we have one who says it happens and one who says it doesn't... can we have a tiebreaker vote? I'd love to somehow squeeze 3 hours out of my P-FX but not at the expense of burning out the mobo... I don't see why underclocking would burn it though.

 

My vote is worth 2.

Seriously, underclocking a GPU doesn't damage anything. At worst, it compromises system stability, in a similar manner to undervolting a CPU.