Solved Asus G73SW slows down when running on Battery

[vinc5089]

Hi, I was just wondering if it's normal for my laptop to slow down when it's running on battery. When I play Mass Effect 2 using AC, everything runs smoothly, bu when I am running on batter, it's a little laggy.

 

[Maguscreed]

I wouldn't suggest trying to play high requirement games on batteries.
Most laptops are set to throttle themselves in order to save battery life when unplugged.
These settings can be found in the control panel.
Under power options.
You can probably fix the problem but battery life could be cut down to as little as 20 or 30 minutes if left on full blast.

 

[Brink]

Hello Vinc, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Double check each of your Advanced Power Plan settings to see what you have set for the "while on battery" options. One item to check for sure is that your "Processor power management" may be set to have a lower "Maximum processor state" while on battery.

Indeed for games, you would want to be plugged in though for the reasons David posted above.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[vinc5089]

Thanks for the reply guys. Wait, so basically, you can play games on Max Settings when plugged in, but you can't play games in Max when using battery?

 

[Maguscreed]

You can do it like I said, but it will completely destroy the battery life.
When gaming on a laptop it's best to have it plugged in and on a cooling pad.
Laptops don't dissipate heat as well as desktops do. For that reason you should always be thinking about managing the heat.
I'm sure you've noticed it getting really hot when playing me2, you can probably feel it through the keyboard.

 

[Brink]

Thanks for the reply guys. Wait, so basically, you can play games on Max Settings when plugged in, but you can't play games in Max when using battery?

Yes, you can play games on battery with max settings, but as David posted, you're battery will drain faster and will not last long before needing to be charged.

 

[arkhi]

Do you have Power4Hybrid? it's a software from Asus that enhances Windows 7's power panel. You should download it as it's the one that make the "performance" button on the upper left corner of your laptop work. If you do have it, it's also set to be on power saving mode when you run on battery, so make sure you set the power options appropriately.

I'm a G73 owner myself and I don't really have any problems with it.

 

[vinc5089]

I think my computer underclocks its graphics card when running on battery, to save battery life.

 

[arkhi]

NOTE:: It's actually Power4Gear Hybrid (ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download P4GHybrid)

And yes, it's normal for laptops to "underclock" themselves on battery. I tried it on my G73 and it also throttles gaming on battery power, to my dismay

My research indicates that the one resposnisble for this is Intel's SpeedStep technology, one that is quite independent of the OS. So no matter what setting you have in power management (I tried changing them to use 100% Min/Max CPU performance), your CPU will get throttled.

I have a G73SW-XN2, and on my experiment my GPU stays 100% clocked (no unders or anything) so it's fine. The problem was my CPU. It basically downclocks to 750-ish MHz on battery power. I tried to find some software to disable SpeedStep (or at least control it), but the only one available is SpeedSwitchXP which is, well, for WindowsXP. Apparently it should be controllable in the BIOS, but I can't restart at the moment to confirm it.

I hope this info helps.

 

[vinc5089]

Thanks for the reply arkhi, I was starting to worry that my laptop is having problems.

 

[karlsnooks]

vinc,
want some data on how much power your laptop is consuming on battery?

Install this program and do NOT touch the keyboard or mouse during the install and just be patent. The screen will go black for awhile. During the install the program is making calibration calculations. When the calibration is all finished, the program will say so.

Here's the link:
Joulemeter - Microsoft Research

 

[vinc5089]

Thanks karlsnooks. Arkhi, does your g73sw flicker when you unplug your AC cable? I am wondering if this is a hardware or software problem.

 

[arkhi]

No, it doesn't flicker (I assume you mean it goes off and on). Only the backlight goes dimmer. Try updating your video drivers if that problem persists.

NVIDIA Driver Downloads - Advanced Search

 

[vinc5089]

Issue solved thanks Arkhi!

 

[BoxKiD]

have you tell me how you solved this please