W520 - battery life

Hi All,

I have seen many reviews about a fantastic battery life on W520 lasting 7-8 hours. My W520 battery lasts only 1.5 hrs on full performance and 2.5-2.7 hrs with power setting adjustments.

My Config: W520, i7-2768QM, 12Gb RAM, 1920x1080, NIVIDIA 2000M, SSD 160GB, 9 cell battery.

How do people achieve 7-8 hrs?

Are there any settings I am missing?

Thanks

 

I was wondering as well. I get around 1.5 - 2 hours full performance. Same spec as yours with 32GB RAM and 256GB SSD

 

Mine is not a w520 but a T520 quadcore with ssd and HD, and I can get 7-9 hours on conservative battery settings and the integrated gfx card.

 

Full performance is like stomping on the gas pedal with a big Holley carb.

What BIOS settings are you using to conserve power? Are you using Power Manager?

 

I've not touch the BIOS since I bought this 2 weeks ago.

So this 7-8 hours is based on what settings?

 

Light usage.

 

I get 7 hours of battery life with local 720p H.264 playback, and like ~10 hours with surfing the web on wifi and doing nothing else. The 7 ~ 9 hour figure is what a "normal" person should be expecting, i.e. nothing more intensive than surfing the web and watching videos.

 

What's your settings to achieve 10 hours?

 

I asked you what your settings are. Could you post the power management settings from your BIOS and from the Power Manager profile? Nobody can really suggest anything until you do.

 

This is an export copy of the power manager. I don't know how to export Power Management setting from BIOS.

[CONTROL]
Schemes=1
CodePage=1252
[PWRSCHM0]
SchemeName=Maximum Performance
Description=
MonitorOffTimerAC=0
MonitorOffTimerDC=0
HddOffTimerAC=0
HddOffTimerDC=0
StandbyTimerAC=0
StandbyTimerDC=0
HibernateTimerAC=0
HibernateTimerDC=0
DispBrtnessAC=7
DispBrtnessDC=7
DispBrtnessAC_16=15
DispBrtnessDC_16=15
CpuSpeedAC=1
CpuSpeedDC=1
C4AC=0
C4DC=0
OptiFanControlAC=1
OptiFanControlDC=1
AutoOddAC=0
AutoOddDC=1
GfxPowerSettingsAC=2
GfxPowerSettingsDC=2
CpuTurboAC=1
CpuTurboDC=1
RRateIdleTimerAC=0
RRateIdleTimerDC=0
RRateWhenIdleAC=1
RRateWhenIdleDC=1
DimBrtnessAC=0
DimBrtnessDC=0
DimBrtnessAC_16=0
DimBrtnessDC_16=0
DimBrtnessTimerAC=0
DimBrtnessTimerDC=0
nVidiaHybridAC=1
nVidiaHybridDC=1
DiscreteGpuTimerAC=9
DiscreteGpuTimerDC=9
Sleep_AllowHybridAC=0
Sleep_AllowHybridDC=0
Sleep_AllowWakeAC=0
Sleep_AllowWakeDC=0
PCI_LinkStateAC=0
PCI_LinkStateDC=0
Multi_PlayingVideoAC=0
Multi_PlayingVideoDC=0
USB_SelectiveSuspendAC=1
USB_SelectiveSuspendDC=1
Desktop_SlideShowAC=0
Desktop_SlideShowDC=0
Processor_CoolingAC=1
Processor_CoolingDC=0
FnF4AC=0
FnF4DC=0
PowerBtnAC=0
PowerBtnDC=0
LidCloseAC=0
LidCloseDC=0
StartMenuPowerBtnAC=0
StartMenuPowerBtnDC=0
RequirePasswordAC=0
RequirePasswordDC=0
LowBatt_AtAC=10
LowBatt_AtDC=10
LowBatt_NotifyAC=1
LowBatt_NotifyDC=1
LowBatt_ActionAC=0
LowBatt_ActionDC=0
CriticalBatt_AtAC=5
CriticalBatt_AtDC=5
CriticalBatt_ActionAC=0
CriticalBatt_ActionDC=2
ReserveBattAC=7
ReserveBattDC=7

 

If those are the default settings for "Maximum Performance", what part of battery drain do you not understand?

I am not trying to be condescending but how do you really expect 7 hours of battery life on Max Perf?

I haven't compared them to mine, but it appears no analysis is needed.

 

Balanced CPU, enabled CPU deeper sleep, brightness 9/15, everything else is on default for "Power Source Optimized". By just changing profiles to Max Performance, PM reports < 5 hours of battery life. And 10 hours refers to just using Firefox with nothing else except Explorer and Adobe Reader or Microsoft Office in a lecture hall.

 

chukwe and andy:

what do you do on the machine that makes the batt flat in 2 hours?

I'd like to know how far/hard you can push it.

 

Yeah, there's almost no reason to use Maximum Performance, ever. That locks your CPU to the highest frequency, wasting power and making your cooling system work harder.

Instead, use Balanced. That will let your CPU downclock when not pushed, but will also let it clock back up when you need the speed.

 

Custom Power Profile:

System Performance - Low
CPU Deep Sleep - Enabled
Optimize Fan - Balance
Display Brightness - 11
Auto Optical Drive OFF - Enabled
PCI Express Power mgmt - Off
Slide Show - Paused
System Cooling - Passive

All other settings are irrelevant for Battery meter readings.

The Power Manager console shows between 16-20 watts or 5:30 - 4:40 hours.

Is it similar to what you guys can get with the identical settings?

I am wondering what settings can achieve 9-10 hours.

 

Thanks everyone.

Is there a way of creating shortcuts to change to different plans when needed?

 

BIOS - Graphics Device=Optimus, OS detect for NVIDIA Optimus=enabled, Intel SpeedStep mode for Batt=Battery Optimized, Thermal mgmt scheme for batt=Balanced, Optical drive speed=norm, CPU power mgmt=enabled, PCIE power mgmt=enabled,

Power Plan Settings - system perf=low, cpu deeper sleep=enabled, fan=balanced, display brightness=10, optical drive power off=enabled, dim display=never, lower display refresh rate=15 minutes, lower to=50Hz, turn off display=never, stop hard disk=30 secs (but irrelevant), standby=never, hibernate=never, pcie link state power mgmt=max power savings, multimedia playing video=optimize power savings, USB selective suspend=enabled, slide show=paused, sys cooling pol=passive, low batt alarm at=0%, notification=none, action=nothing, reserve batt=0%, crit batt alarm=0%, action=nothing.

Control Panel Power Settings - there is a lot of overlap between the two plans and they each don’t have all of the other’s settings so you need to watch carefully which plan clobbers the other. Here are the unique settings only in the control panel applet. WIFI adaptor power saving mode on battery=medium (an error on my part), Intel Graphics Power Plan=max batt life, min processor state=5% (default), max processor state=5% (default), IE9 JavaScript Timer Frequency=max power savings.

 

I wanted to get back to this old thread after reading battery performance tests on new Dell Precision M6700. In brief (see more here):

Well, 10 watts sounds incredibly good for a heavy M6700... either Ivy Bridge is so superior to Sandy Bridge, or Dell's motherboard is so damn good or my own power settings on the W520 are so damn bad.

The best I could achieve on W520 with reasonable power saving settings is about 17-19 watts, which gives me about 3.5 - 4 hours on 9-cell.

Did someone manage to achieve a better power consumption on a configuration similar to mine?

 

Mine is approximately the same config with 32GB RAM, with tons of services running from SQL to Active Directory, consumes around 10W on idle in W2008 R2 on screen brighness 8. Detailed config of power settings does not have much effect. Fresh install on W7x64, where Lenovo Power Manager works better than in W2008, produced around 7-8W on idle and medium brightness AFAIR.

Some things that matter :

1) Install nVidia Optimus drivers from Lenovo's driver matrix, NOT the generic ones. On my machine, with latest nVidia Optimus rev. 301.something, power consumption immediately jumps to 20W on idle with the nVidia tool reporting that nobody is using the GPU.

2) Make sure that no apps use the GPU when on battery.

3) Check if you have any CPU hogs/services etc.

 

You're not going to get any more than 4 hours on battery with a 9-cell and Max Power in the Power Manager. It's just not going to happen, period. To get the 7-10 hours everyone else is quoting, you need to have it on some power saver profile and only do lightweight usage (internet, Office, maybe a video or two). I get 7-8 hours doing this with Window's Power Saver profile and screen at half brightness.

Expecting to last even 7 hours with full power is like expecting to make a 300-mile trip at 110mph without running out of gas. Which is something I've actually done, froze my bum off too :/.

 

Protip: If you have a webcam, resuming from standby will put the webcam into non-power-saving mode. Because it's hooked up via USB, it in turn leaves the USB subsystem at full power. Toggling the camera state (Fn+F6 to turn it on and closing the window) will shut it down and add an extra two hours (for me) to battery life.

 

I cannot make GPU usage indicator (the one in the Lenovo Power Manager) below 100%. It seems that Optimus switches between NVIDIA and Intel fine - I can see NVIDIA icon when using Photoshop or adjusting image settings with preview from NVIDIA control panel. The GPU dial shows a blue band sometimes, but never goes below 100%.

I have the latest Lenovo NVIDIA driver 8.17.12.7658. Is there a way to control Intel GPU usage or, at least, see a breakdown what eats GPU resources?

 

That would be the GPU frequency, not the GPU usage. When it goes to blue, it means that the NVIDIA card is being used.

I can get 7 hours of 720p anime on my W520, and that's my main use case for a personal computer these days. I'm not very conservative with power savings either.

 

Full charge capacity: 77.33 WH
Design capacity: 86.58 Wh

it is almost a brand-new battery with only 52 cycles. How can i fix it to make equal values? I read some posts that Lenovo released firmware updates for the W510 back in 2010.

Do you guys have identical numbers of full charge/designed capacities?

 

Might want to update your BIOS. There was a fix for the battery randomly losing and regaining 10Wh. The 9-cell should have a design capacity of 93.2Wh, not 86.58Wh. Run a battery calibration after updating the BIOS. This should take quite a few hours.

 

I was searching the net... it seems to be an old problem affecting some 6 and 9-cell batteries. Lenovo released a fix for certain battery FRU numbers, but my FRU number 42T4799 is not in the list. I tried to run the firmware update, but it tells that update is not required.

After running a battery calibration, full charge capacity increased to 81.63Wh, but the design capacity is still the same - 86.58 Wh.

My battery is Sanyo, manufacture date 2012-02-08, firmware 0003-0040-0024-0084.

What shall I do? Call Lenovo to replace the battery?

 

Is your battery running in maximum lifespan mode? If it is, then it should have a full design capacity of 86.58 Wh. My battery (in normal mode) has a design capacity of 93.24 Wh, and a full charge capacity of 104.46 Wh. Manufacture date is April 2011, first use date is like May 11, 2011.

 

Yes, it is running in max lifespan mode. The numbers:

Design capacity: 86.58 Wh
Full charge capacity: 81.55 Wh

So, is 86.58 Wh a correct design capacity value then?

 

Take it out of maximum lifespan mode if you want slightly longer battery life (~ 1 hour). But yes, that is what I said, it should have a design capacity of 86.58 Wh if it is in maximum lifespan mode. In standard mode, the design capacity is 93.24 Wh.

 

Thank you. You are right, switching to "always full charge" changed the design capacity to 93.24 Wh and the full charge capacity to 90.6 Wh.

I am just wondering what would be an average life span of the 9-cell with "max life span" option enabled.

 

My 9 cell battery is over a year old and it hasn't deteriorated one bit. I'm really light on the cycle count, though, as I have only 17 cycles. I leave it in the laptop at 90% almost all the time. I'm guessing that the lifespan of the battery is 300 ~ 500 cycles regardless of what mode it's in.