NVIDIA 650m Downclock on Battery

Hi all! I have a Dv6-7000 with an NVIDIA 650m with 2gbs of DDR5. When I try to game on battery, I notice that my performance is very low compared to when my laptop is plugged in. I decided to look at the clock speed when on power and battery and I noticed that it drops to 405mhz when on battery and it will not go higher.

So my question is, Is there a way I can disable this downclock on battery so I can get good game performance without the power cord? I have checked the BIOS and NVIDIA control panel for settings, but nothing works. Thanks for your help!

 

It's normal for every laptop, you could change that by dumping the VBIOS, editing clocks in power profiles and flashing the edited VBIOS to the card again. Doing this will probably damage the battery.

 

gaming on battery is the best way to kill your battery very quickly as there is just too much power drain and its not recommended at all, unless its flash games like on facebook.
battery's are for on the go like web surfing and menial tasks but defo not gaming.

 

This issue drives me nuts as well, and yes, unfortunately it is normal and intended. On battery it's useless to try and use my 660m as the clocks behave as you describe with your 650m. And, the answer we always get when we ask is everything mentioned above, which are technically right but aren't satisfying.

My question to these answers is how can my old M11x game brilliantly on battery using it's 335m? How can the new Razer Edge tablet (Win8, i7 cpu) game great on battery with it's 640m? Why can't a laptop with a mid range gpu not scale well enough to at least match the performance of these mentioned machines? Their battery's aren't damaged, and I get way better performance unplugged on these machines than I do with my g46... I'm not asking for full speed clocks comparable to plugged in, but at least comparable performance to the other machines that prove it's possible..... I fully realize the battery will only last a couple hours at best even at reduced clocks, but sometimes that's all I'm after.

What am I missing? This is one area I'd love to see improvement.

 

The 335m is barely a dGPU, let alone a power intensive one. It can drive a low res 11 inch screen on battery power, but the draw for the 335m is far lower than a 650/660. It's not a matter of regulating battery drain, it's that the battery simply can't supply enough electricity to run the 650m at full clock speed.

 

Yeah, I agree the 335m is dated by todays standards but it was decent when it came out a few years back and was cool it could game on battery with great performance... but any who, how about the 640m in the Razer Edge? It games quite a bit better than the integrated HD4000, why can't a 650/660 match it's performance on battery? My 660m is horrible on battery performance wise, worse than the HD4000. Seems to me they could run the 650/660 at a reduced clock but still quite a bit better than the totally neutered clocks we get now that are pointless.

 

The 640 is still a bit less of a power hog than the 650 and 660 and the entire tablet is designed around gaming on battery.

 

The Razer Edge is designed to be used under battery power, and thus when its under a gaming load it can receive enough power from its battery. Other GPUs/Notebooks under a gaming load will not receive enough power from its battery and under preform.

 

Someone already answered your question, it has to do with the settings and power states in your BIOS. If u update your BIOS you could change this battery saving feature, but as others have said it isn't advisable. I can understand your frustration with things that you can't control on your laptop. Most laptops are pretty restricted as far as tweaks and options compared to desktops.

I updated my BIOS and VBIOS to a modded version and I actually get slightly better 3D Mark 11 scores on battery. I try not to run these benchmarks on battery much because of the rapid wear it can cause. My battery already is showing 8% wear in 6 months, probably because a few times gaming I thought I was plugged in but my son had turned off my power strip below my desk. This has happened a few times and it is probably the sole reason for the wear on my battery. I didn't realize until my display dimmed at 5% capacity. So in other words you probably don't want to game much on battery because it will rapidly decrease your battery life.

 

Wishful dreaming I suppose... just seems like a portable gaming laptop in the sub 15" category that could actually game on the go comparable to the Edge would be a decent idea. It was something I loved about my old M11x, true portable PC gaming.

Don't get me wrong, I still value laptop gaming and haven't built a desktop in years because I've been spoiled by the mobility, but we always want more right? :hi2:

 

I saw your post in another thread talking about a 3DMark11 run on battery in the 3200's and was impressed! But, like you said I know that takes a beating on the battery. I'd be curious where the safe ground in battery clocks would be, ie faster and more stable than we get now on battery, but downclocked from full speed plugged in clocks and if it would make gaming doable without damage, similar to the Edge's 640m. No idea where to even start a project like that however, never messed with vBIOS settings before.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post, I think you posted right as I posted my previous message

 

The Edge also uses an ultra low power CPU, which helps conserve the battery.

 

Depends on laptop. My Clevo W110ER can run 650m while on battery at full power. But I usually limit FPS to reduce battery drain.

 

Ok well looks like I can't do anything about it. Thank you all for your help. I don't think I will try a modded BIOS as that sounds too risky. Thanks!

 

I hope my last post didn't come across as condescending, that wasn't my intention at all. I can totally understand your frustration, but what you are considering may not be worth it. You could try playing with your power settings, but they don't effect the GPU directly. The Nvidia control panel also has some power saving options you could change to increase performance on battery, but your BIOS will always hold u back. It tells the card to enter a different power state on battery.

My NP6350 has Prema's modded BIOS overvolt edition, so that has everything to do with that score. Modded BIOS isn't that tricky if you can find someone you trust, like Prema. We (Sager owners) are fortunate to enjoy his services here. Then it's just a matter of flashing it, but that is pretty simple and only requires a flash drive and free software. I'm sure someone has made a good BIOS for your model. I would do it for the overall power increase and OC ability and not so much for the performance on battery. But you would get both.

 

Sub-15" category you say? Comparable to the Razer Edge?

Oh there are a few, the 11.6" Clevo W110ER is a powerhouse, with an i7 3610QM and a GT 650M.

The Lenovo Y400, Asus G46VW and M14X are all competent 14" gaming machines, with performance going from greatest to least in that order.

 

Yep, well aware of the sub 15" gaming machines, and I own the G46 which I love and performs fantastic... however, what I was referring to in that statement was a machine that would perform on battery using the dedicated gpu at decent performance on battery comparable to the Edge tablet.

As mentioned throughout this post, the gpu's in most laptops downclock while on battery and eliminate unplugged gaming as an option.

 

Most "gaming" laptops are not designed to "game" while on battery. To attain the maximum performance of your machine, it needs to have an adequate power source; thus it needs to be plugged in.

 

Oh no! You didn't! I'm sure you do understand my frustration. I don't think i'll take that risk about the modded BIOS is what I meant because it is not that important to me. I of course would want to keep my laptop running and ok. I had looked into the modded BIOS's earlier, but it just seems too risky. Thank you for your insight on my situation.