Clevo 'portable' mode- PermaMod underclock & small power brick?

Hi,

I've got a W230SS, but I'm selling it as I'm finding 13.3" just too small/uncomfortable to use. So I am now looking at the P650SE.

The P650SE is another 0.5Kg, and the Power brick is even bigger. So I'd like to ask if the following is possible-

Underclocking
Does PermaMod allow you to create clocking 'profiles' so that I can easily re-boot my laptop into a low voltage (thus low power) consumption setting?

Power adapter
From what I understand- I can use any 19.5v adapter and it won't damage my laptop? It simply means I can't 'game' or charge my battery to full capacity? When portable, can I just use any 19.5v adapter that fits?

 

1) yes, indeed! use nvidia inspector to save the clock profiles for all your gpu´s power states, copy the commands of the created shortcuts into a text file, rename it to a batch file and add that batch file into your autostart, voila

2) doesnt even have to be the same voltage, as long as the PSU connector fits your laptop power jack. ull need a barrel type connector with 5.5 mm outer diameter and 2.5 mm inner diameter. just make sure u dont stress that psu too much when on the move, otherwise you could crash it and take your whole system with it!

 

Thanks jaybee.
So with the nvidia inspector i can undervolt the gpu to save battery- and action the profile without rebooting.
How about undervolting the CPU for more battery savings? Or does it not work like that?
"otherwise you could crash it and take your whole system with it!"
That's really concerning- I cannot risk that Do you mean I could damage my laptop if I use too much power?
Is there an app which measures your power draw (from undervolting) so I could keep an eye on it?

 

undervolting on the GPU is not yet supported for the 900M series, just underclocking, but that also already helps just make sure to test the clocks first for instabilities.

you can also undervolt the CPU using Intel XTU

the best thing to do when going with a smaller / weaker PSU is to get urself a powermeter (pretty cheap) and check at which cpu & gpu clocks u max out the PSU. that way u can be sure and safe when on the move thats how i did it with my previous rig (stock 180W psu, used a 120W psu for work)

 

Thanks. But would undervolting the GPU save much battery? Wouldn't my laptop be using the built-in GPU mostly?

Ah I can undervolt using Intel XTU- so are you suggesting I don't need to install the PermaMod bios to do this?

 

it can never hurt to install premamod

and true, i forgot that the P65x series has optimus and uses the iGPU

 

I have to strongly disagree at plugging in an adapter rated for more or less than 0.5v either side of stock. If you lower the consumption a lower amp rating could be used.

 

Thanks. 0.5v either side sounds smart.

I've got a spare 90w adapter. With lots of under volting could it be possible to use this?

Also, is there a software power output reader? I dont know much- but couldn't i calculate it via math with my undervolting?

 

Yes, I was going to say that. Most laptop PSU's are 19-20V. I'd feel comfortable using a 19.5V on a system that calls for a 19.0V PSU, but not a 20V. These tiny electronics are sensitive to increased voltage, as well as lower voltage.

 

powermeters for the socket are pretty cheap and can be bought in lots of places undervolting wont cut it at 90W, better to also lock in specific (under)clocks on both GPU and CPU

 

Ok thanks all.

I'll look out for a power meter.

I hope I don't have unrealistic expectations. Using xtu and perma mod to under volt/clock- realistically how much more time roughly could I get from the P650?

 

for that ud better post in the respective owner´s lounge im sure the actual owners can give u more specific info on runtimes...

 

The load power consumption will be almost entirely limited by the gpu. If you forced it into high level 2d p state you could knock 50w off easy but the performance will be lowered too of course.

 

I am finding the stock power adapter (180W) cumbersome- and I don't like non-standard power cord it uses.

The lowest power power supply that I can use be a 120W adapter? No chance of using a 90W?

 

just make sure to limit your clocks and voltages and not go full blast on such a lowpowered adapter...

 

If you are using a 90 W adapter, i would say : never use your dGPU, this way you should have no problems

 

Yay- 90W is much smaller!

Will throttlestop prevent it from full blast power?

 

sure, u can use either throttlestop or intel xtu to lock down ur cpu clocks. for the gpu u can either go via the nvidia driver to always use the igpu and/or use nvidia inspector to downclock the gpu

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

It's true actually if you are not using the dedicated gpu at all 90w should be fine for the rest of the system without throttling it.

 

You could also disable the GPU altogether in device manager. Though I've not seen an appreciable different in battery life doing so, it might help to curb max power consumption

 

It's mainly about maximum power consumption !
If you are not playing, the dGPU is "offline" optimus/Enduro), thus not drawing any power, but when playing, a 970m can consume 75 W and a 980m about 100w (much more when overclocked).
Considering a 180W is for 980m, you can except a maximum power consumption of 80W w/o dGPU.
So, that's why, when on battery, if you are not playing, you can't tell if the dGPU is "active" in device manager ^^

 

I found this power adapter on sale ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834994894)

Is there anything wrong with buying this non-brand name adapter? Could it be risky?

 

As it's not on stock , you could have problems buying it ^^
Anyway, i would recommand a known brand (like FSP/Cooler master/Bluestork/Dell,etc), maybe it's pricier, but the quality is not the same at all : most of the time, on cheap one, the filtering stage is weaker, the MOS heatsinks are smaller, EMI shielding is incomplete,etc.... it can result of a shorter life-span(of computer and adapter), possible bugs,overheating of adapter and diverses perturbations.

 

Setting the nvidia driver to IGP only should do the trick since it deep sleeps the GPU all the time.

 

There's also CUDA/OpepnCL though.

 

The real plus is that it's so tiny (160g's). I think I would mainly use it to charge, and I'd be very strict with reducing XTU & throttlestop.

Does anyone else agree that a non-brand adapter like that could damage my laptop?

 

Cheap adapters are light because they are missing all those extra parts that help it stay efficient and not kill you or your device.

 

Ok- I've taken your advice and got a branded adapter- Lenovo 90W adapter (19v 4.74a). Cost $17 delivered (if anyone in Aus is interested).

Please advise me with the software- this is all new to me and will help other too I'm sure.
Throttlestop:
Do I just set it to "Option 4" (battery) or do I need to change other settings?

Intel XTU:
Do I just adjust the Dynamic CPU voltage to the lowest possible (-1000 mV)?

Can I stop my GPU from activating?

 

lol, if u adjust ur dynamic cpu voltage to that value ull get an instant crash ull need to feel ur way towards the lowest possible voltage offset ur cpu can handle stably at a specific multiplier. beware that each multiplier will have a different stable offset!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks but I don't quite follow.This is all completely new to me. Do I just lower by "x" volts and "x" frequency until it crashes? Could you suggest the lowest stable values I can try?

 

first decide which multiplier u want to undervolt. as mentioned before, each multiplier and thus clock speed will have its own specific stable voltage offset. why? because each clock speed will sport a different stock voltage to begin with and the offset defines how much the cpu should divert from that stock voltage.

start off by lowering the offset in 5mV steps to check at which undervolt ur system crashes/freezes. the lowest voltage u can reach would then be ur starting point for stability testing. use a tool like prime95 large ffts or intel xtu for minimum 20 min to test for stability. if ur system crashes, raise ur offset back up by 5mV until uve found a stable value. once u found a stable offset at load, ull also have to check for idle stability. for that, just leave ur machine switched on at idle overnight and see if its still running the next day. if it is, then congratz, your undervolt is stable
be sure to just change one voltage value at a time, otherwise u wont know what causes the instability

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

edit: i of course meant undervolt, not overvolt fixed that in my post above

 

hum, you can start a -50mV, it shouldn't be a problem ( a bit less time consuming !)

 

things like that shouldnt be rushed... also, as i already mentioned twice now, there is no universal voltage offset, since ull need to find the right one at each and every multiplier...

 

Slow and steady wins the race here, the more detailed the characterisation the better you know the chip.

Also the voltage threshold will rise as the chip ages so leave some room

 

Underclocking the NVIDIA GPU on an Optimus powered laptop is pretty much entirely redundant, as 99% of the time it's the integrated Intel GPU that does all of the display rendering work anyway with the dedicated GPU put into a 'deep sleep mode' unless you're gaming (and no one in their right mind would try to play intensive 3D games on battery power). Undervolting and underclocking the CPU is entirely possible though.

 

So I finally got testing.

At -111mV, the laptop crashed. So I've set it to -104mV, with a multiplier of x16. Max Frequency is 1.6Ghz.

I'm using the CPU stress test within XTU. It has been running for 15 mins without a crash on these settins. Shoudl I be using Prime to test?

 

I find instability going from load to idle when I undervolt more than I should on my 4810qm. I start and stop Intel xtu stress test over and over a bunch of times to see if I get a crash.

If no crashes then I try normal use for a couple weeks.

For example - I can undervolt -100mv at full load, but only -80mv to be stable at all clock/usage ranges.

 

Well I'm pretty stable at a dynamic undervolt of -111mv, with a multiplier of x10. My battery consumption has not improved much. Should it have? Am I adjusting the right settings?

 

it depends on what u actually do while on battery. if it involves a lot of intensive cpu work then ull see an improvement in battery life. at idle though, the power savings wont be as great as at load...

 

I have a feeling I'm doing something wrong because I'm getting a stable low undervolt. I'm on -141mV (dynamic undervolt) on a x18 multiplier.

Using it today- seemed like I got a lot of juice out of the batter (30% brightness, wifi- probably 1 hour to drain from 100% to 85%). Not bad at all..

Do I need to be using XTU & Throttlestop? Or will my XTU settings disable throttling automatically? In XTU, the option to turn off turbo boost is greyed out.

 

XTU settings will keep applied through reboots until the watchdog detects something it does not like and resets it.