Do I take my battery out when gaming at home?

I've read that I should unplug my charger when the battery reaches 80% and let it run down to 40% before plugging it back in to prolong the life of the battery. What about when gaming? To my knowledge the performance is always better when plugged in, but if my battery is fully charged and I want to leave the computer plugged in to utilize performance for gaming does that mean I need to remove the battery when I do this?

 

The battery stops charging at 100%, then starts charging again at 97%. It bounces back and forth. You can't overcharge it. Don't worry.

 

Leave it IN!

 

Is there a benefit to leaving it in? In my case I had a battery that swelled up and had to be disposed of.

I have not purchased a replacement, as there is always an AC outlet wherever I want to use my laptop.

 

Beyond having an internal backup power supply should your AC fail, no.

This is assuming your particular laptop doesn't use the battery when the system is pushed hard, like some of the MSI machines do.

Otherwise, no negatives to not having a battery, but also no reason to take out a perfectly good battery just to try and "save" it.

 

Why are there so many articles online saying that I should unplug it because over time it will damage the battery?

I just bought a new gaming laptop and every laptop i've had previously have had the battery continuously lose life until they eventually couldn't hold more than 10 minutes of charge after two years. I want to make sure that doesn't happen with this one and after some searches I thought that the reason that happened was because I used to leave them plugged in all the time.

 

Newer systems don't constantly charge the battery like systems of the past did. Your new system (not sure what you have but they all are similar) will charge the battery somewhere over 90% and then just leave it there, and Windows will show a "plugged in, not charging" message.

This is much better for the battery than constantly plugging and unplugging to keep your 40-80% window, as that will burn through a lot of cycles, which as mentioned above are what kills batteries.

Plus, gaming puts a VERY high draw on the battery, when ever possible game plugged in to avoid this.

Having said all this, ALL batteries will lose charge capacity over time due to chemistry no matter how well you care for it.

 

I think the articles you are reading may have some outdated information. Some years ago, this was a more significant issue with batteries in various devices.

 

Most of the articles seem to be 2012-2013, has it changed that much in two years?

 

New system is an Asus GL551JM. i'm pretty sure my previous laptop HP Probook 4530s, also did what you are describing, but I left that plugged in all the time and that battery has about a ten minute life now.

 

This question/concern comes up ALL THE TIME here at NBR. Bottom line, leave it in. You leave your battery in your cell phone, right? Most thin and lights have enclosed batteries... people spend hundreds of dollars on UPS battery backups for their desktops, yet people are always concerned about batteries in their laptops. Leave it alone. Leave it plugged in, and forget about it. All it takes is one trip over your power cable and yank it out, and poof there goes your data. Or even a quick power loss. Power cords are a lot more likely to dislodge in a laptop than a desktop case too, most with a slim barrel connector.

Laptop batteries degrade due to several factors:

(1) Over time, regardless of charge state, they just degrade

(2) Discharge/recharge cycles - that's it's job but the more you do it, the more it degrades the battery. Most batteries have 500-600 cycles before they reach 50% life. A discharge/charge cycle is any full discharge and recharge, whether all at once, or drain 20%, charge 20% five times would be one cycle as well. If you run off battery daily, expect to change the battery in less than two years. If occasional, then probably never during the life of the laptop.

(3) Rapid discharge - gaming while on battery (unplugged from AC), unless it's Peggle or Solitaire, 3D gaming will put a significant draw on the battery that can also quickly degrade the life of the battery. Most systems limit CPU and GPU performance on battery for this very reason.

(4) High heat or extreme cold - usually not an issue due to laptop temps when running unless it's a horribly designed laptop, but leaving it in a hot car or cold car for an extended period can degrade the battery significantly more than any other cause

If your battery swells, then it's a faulty battery. Battery charge systems are "smart" these days and will not charge when fully charged. Some systems let you set the amount you want it charged to. It can't hurt, but IMHO, why not make maximum use of your battery and replace it for $50-80 in a couple years if you need to.

And please link to these articles that say it's bad to leave them plugged in because I'd like to see their reasoning and data to support this. My personal history with laptops (both my own dozens of laptops I've owned, as well as friends, families, and those that I did some side jobs for) does not indicate this at all.

 

Great post HT! What I tried to say, just much more in depth...

Leave the battery in

 

LOL yep...

TL;DR

LEAVE THE BATTERY IN!

 

Thanks guys, I will go ahead and leave the battery in even when running on AC power. Should I also just leave the laptop plugged in even when i'm not using it as well?

 

If its off : no difference.
If it's on stand by, let it in in order to let our battery sleep without being used a source for stand by mode for no purpose.