Broken Optimus; most bizarre issue I've ever come across

I have a Y740 laptop with a mobile RTX 2060 GPU. The y740 is one of the rare laptops that allows GPU switching in the BIOS level between discrete gfx (where the dGPU drives display alone) and switchable gfx (where optimus is enabled and the iGPU drives the display with the dGPU kicking in when needed)

Now, with Optimus on, I got 3.5-4 hours of battery life and with it on about 1.5 hours. Those number make sense. Now, here's where I am at a loss. Somehow, things got inverted! Optimus on gives me 1.5 hours vs 3.5-4 if I have Optimus off. I also have the indicator icon that is black and white when dGPU is in use which confirms that theoretically, the dGPU is off when in Optimus. WTF

Here is some battery info:

Hybrid mode on/optimus enabled: Idle power consumption 34000mW, no G-Sync option in NCP, about 1.5-2 hours battery
Hybrid mode off/optimus disabled: Idle power consumption 16000mW, G-Sync option in NCP, about 3.5 hours battery

I am at a loss, could it be that somehow the settings got reversed? Is there anyway to check if Optimus is enabled or if I am running off dGPU directly.

 

I would start with a BIOS reset/clearing. As to determine which mode you're in, simply go to the Nvidia control panel and look at the options available. If you're in Optimus mode, you will have limited options available including; Adjust image settings, Manage 3d settings, and Configure Surrond,PhysX. If you're in dGPU you will have a full desktop experience/look to the Nv Control Panel including G-Sync, Change Resolutions, etc.

 

I actually did check that and it is consistent to my issue. With optimus on, I have a limited NCP as expected,(massive battery drain) with optimus off I have the full NCP with G-Sync & other settings.(minimal battery drain).

I was going to reflash the BIOS but the Lenovo tool won't let me as it gives an error that the BIOS I have is the same as the one I am trying to flash

EDIT

Things are getting even weirder... So I have Optimus on, GPU icon is black/white and NCP is limited. But massive idle power draw(~30,000mW) and 1.5 hours of battery. Then, I launch furmark (Just launch app, not run any stress tests) which "wakes" the dGPU (icon turns colored from black/white). You would expect power draw to increase as the dGPU is awakened but NOPE, my power draw DECREASES. Waking the dGPU decreases power draw to around 16,000mW and EXTENDS battery life to 3.h hours.

 

Man thats screwy....sorry I cant offer any insight

 

Anyone have any ideas?
Seems like I am not fully alone
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforc...ain/?cjevent=470314265e2711ea816101bd0a24060d

 

Ok, just wanted to update in case anyone ever runs into this or does a google search and comes across this thread. My issue has been resolved! Spent about 2 days troubleshooting and even probing the mainboard with a multimeter to try to figure out the power draw. In the end, resetting the power plan is what fixed my issue!

Now, in optimus on and at idle, I have under 10,000mW power draw vs the 35,000 before. Battery life is now back where it was before. Here’s a screenshot of doing nothing at idle/desktop after 5 mins or so


https://i.imgur.com/yhr28Q3.png

 

I dont know many people that buy a gaming laptop for battery life but kudos...I personally buy a tablet and 2 in 1 ultrabook for battery life and a gaming laptop to leave by an outlet...but bizzare what happened sorry can't offer insight except its software related and a error in reporting

 

That's why I bought the Y740, excellent gaming performance equivalent to a desktop 980 GPU and enough battery life of 4 hours on campus. But I do also have a cheap samsung tablet for pdf's that I use.
I'm just happy I was able to resolve the issue and everything is back to normal.

 

If an RTX 2060 is performing like a GTX 980, something is seriously wrong.

 

This is my 3D mark score, I thought a GTX 980 desktop is right around there, isn't it?

https://www.3dmark.com/fs/21519489

 

GTX 980 = GTX 1060. It gets about 13K in Fire Strike Graphics.

 

My issue has come back out of the blue!
Resetting power plan won't do anything. Reinstalled all gfx drivers, still nothing. Incredibly frustrating

 

Try disabling HDR, might be some bug that makes Optimus turn the dGPU on.

 

HDR is disabled. When the dGPU comes on, my idle power draw DROPS (see third post)

 

I saw that, seems like the dGPU gets stuck in some random power state, and using it and then closing the program that used it fixes the stupid power state.
If that work around still works, well, its at least a work around.
See if you dont have any program that is pooling the dGPU for stats, things like Afterburner, GPU-Z, HWInfo and many others will constantly wake up a dGPU and increase power usage.

 

So to fix this when it happened, I did a full nuke and pave. The problem was gone and had 0 issues. Until today. The same problem has presented itself once more. Anyone else has experienced something like this? See first post in this thread for details.

 

Try rolling back Nvidia graphics driver?

When this happens to me I keep doing this:
Enable Optimus
Uninstall Intel Graphics driver
Uninstall Nvidia driver
Install both
Make sure HDR is disabled in Windows

See if it works. Normally doesn't so I then disable Optimus and the problem goes away.

 

When you install the drivers, are you using the ones from Lenovo website or the latest relevant Intel/Nvidia drivers?

 

Spent another 2 days troubleshooting, got nowhere... I would do another nuke and pave but I don't want to have to do this every 8 months or so...

 

Cross reference:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Gaming...life-and-Hybrid-mode-issue/m-p/4550401?page=2

 

I've started a thread on the official Lenovo forums here to try to keep info in one spot and hopefully get some support on this issue.