How to underclock a laptop?

I am just about to receive an Acer Aspire AS5740G-6979 and apparently the battery life is not good at all. I was wondering if there is a way to underclock the CPU and disable the ATI GPU to enable the integrated graphics for times when I just want to surf the web?

 

It doesn't have switchable graphics. The on-package IGP is disabled.

Windows should decrease the CPU's multiplier when on power save mode, which runs it at a lower clock speed.

 

Why in the world would they disable something that is already there? Would it draw power even if the ATI GPU were on? Guess I'll have to consider undervolting.

 

The IGP would presumably be completely powered down all of the time. As for disabling it, the problem is that enabling it would achieve nothing. Without a hardware multiplexer, there would be no way of connecting both the output signal from the IGP and the output signal from the discrete GPU to the display. Due to the extra cost of the multiplexer and the effort of having to make special drivers for it, it's understandable that Acer didn't bother.

In that regard, Nvidia currently has an advantage over ATI because their Nvidia Optimus solution requires no extra effort from the manufacturer.

 

I'm actually pretty happy this and it's Gateway lookalike don't have switchable graphics. Driver support should be much better; my friend has an Asus UL80Vt and he worries that he'll have driver insanity soon enough.

 

you cannot underclock the CPU or undervolt it in the new core i series.. as for ur GPU , u cannot use IGP as it is disabled by manufacturer... if u want better life , lower ur brightness or turn wireless off and bluetooth of if u don't use it.. it will help in saving power...

 

The CPU (and GPU) automatically downclock when it doesn't require the computational power.

 

I'm sure you can if you pin mod it, right?

 

can any of the iCore cpus be reliably pin modified?

 

unlikely you can underclock the CPU. But you can underclock the GPU, not disable it totally though.

Lol @ Trottel..you and nando4 just fried somebody's motherboard. I really don't think its a good idea to suggest pin mods.

 

Care to explain?

When I first did a pin mod I thought I killed my processor. I tried that processor again a week later and it worked. Then I pin modded again and have been doing so a slew of times with 100% success. I still never figured out what happened the first time though.

 

lol whoose laptop did they fry? I hope they didn't fry a M17x lol

 

Nobody's. Pin modding has a proven track record. If something gets messed up it is user error.

 

go check my old thread "overclocking acer laptop" where @bogdi tried to follow your pinmods. Thankfully sean, its not an M17x. I don't think ANYONE would need to OC or undervolt such a machine.

 

What do you mean "my" pinmods? He clearly failed to do it correctly anyway. Nobody's fault but his. He either killed the motherboard with an ESD or set the wire in the socket incorrectly, bridging the wrong pins. Pin modding correctly is flawless in theory and practice and can in no way kill your hardware.

 

well trotell is right... when u do it , it is at ur risk.. anyways , ur the one doing it... but if u don't want all these problems , just stay away from doing it.

 

it speaks for itself. Better not start an argument. But, most people do not know how to do a pin mod properly, so really its best not to suggest such risky stuff with no prospect of recovery, unlike BIOS flashing.

 

I wouldn't suggest it to someone who sounded like they shouldn't be doing it, and everyone who does it assumes the risk of damaging their hardware. It is tricky to get the itsy bits of wire in the correct holes and there is always a risk when you are touching devices sensitive to ESD, but if you are careful and smart about it there really is little that can go wrong. When I do it I draw a diagram of exactly what holes it needs to go in and I triple and quadruple check it. I also insert the processor and pull it back out to make sure nothing changed or shifted. A lot of it is just common sense. Also I never communicated anything with that guy, so I don't know why you had to point a finger at me.