How to force gaming laptop to use 'on battery' power mode even when plugged in?

[aboldi]

Hey guys,

Bit of a niche request but here goes...

I'm currently travelling full time out of my van. We've got a good 200ah battery setup in there for gaming on my laptop (Gigabyte Aero 14), but I've noticed that when it's not plugged in the laptop seems to function at a lot lower power consumption than it does when it's plugged in.

The heat coming out of the CPU and GPU vents are much lower when it's unplugged compared to when it's plugged in, and the framerate of games drops to around the 30-40 mark (which is fine for my purposes).

What I'd love to be able to do is somehow force my laptop into thinking that it was unplugged (so that it uses less power), but at the same time have it plugged in and charging. This way it'd use less power and I could play for longer without stressing about melting my poor car batteries.

Any advice/recommendations greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Scott

 

[Gam3r01]

You should just be able to change your power plan in windows to get this result.
My laptop has the following: Best battery, better battery, better performance, best performance as power plans.
When unplugged its on better battery, plugged in its set to best performance.

 

[aboldi]

You should just be able to change your power plan in windows to get this result.
My laptop has the following: Best battery, better battery, better performance, best performance as power plans.
When unplugged its on better battery, plugged in its set to best performance.

Hey Gam3r01. Doesn't work unfortunately. Even when it's on best battery the power being consumed is much higher than when it's unplugged.

Running something like Divinity 2 will draw about 4-5 amps per hour when it's plugged in, but if I unplug it and play off battery for an hour it'll only charge about 2-3 amps when I plug it back in again

It's almost like it has a 4th power plan for when it's unplugged or something?

 

[Gam3r01]

Odd, have you looked to see if the windows battery saver is on when its unplugged? That could be the "extra" power plan.

 

[aboldi]

Odd, have you looked to see if the windows battery saver is on when its unplugged? That could be the "extra" power plan.

Whereabouts do I check that? Both unplugged and plugged in it's always on 'best battery life'

 

[Gam3r01]

https://www.howtogeek.com/241179/how-to-use-and-configure-windows-10s-battery-saver-mode/
Try that and see if it makes any difference.

 

[aboldi]

https://www.howtogeek.com/241179/how-to-use-and-configure-windows-10s-battery-saver-mode/
Try that and see if it makes any difference.

That looks promising but it doesn't look like it can be activated when your laptop is plugged in. The option to turn it on is greyed out in the control panel and I can't see an obvious means of activating it anywhere else.

 

[Unolocogringo]

You cam manually set CPU and some GPU performance options in the advanced power options.
First try lowering you maximum CPU speed a little at a time. Once you find an acceptable CPU speed for your game, do the same for the Video .
Depending on model and manufacturer you can set clock speeds lower, and lower voltages.
Nvidia has power options in the NVIDIA control panel, you can set it to adaptive and it will try to match frame rates with your monitors refresh rate. (different from V-sync)
Or you can use Afterburner or Precision X to lower video card clock speeds and voltages.

 

[aboldi]

You cam manually set CPU and some GPU performance options in the advanced power options.
First try lowering you maximum CPU speed a little at a time. Once you find an acceptable CPU speed for your game, do the same for the Video .
Depending on model and manufacturer you can set clock speeds lower, and lower voltages.
Nvidia has power options in the NVIDIA control panel, you can set it to adaptive and it will try to match frame rates with your monitors refresh rate. (different from V-sync)
Or you can use Afterburner or Precision X to lower video card clock speeds and voltages.

Not a bad idea at all. Will give it a crack and let you know how I get on!