Do all gaming laptops do this?

Associate
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Hi,

I recently got a Asus Rog Zephyrus, the one with the AMD 3750h and a Nvidia 1660ti.
When plugged into the mains it runs games fine (but very hot)
But when running of the battery performance drops significantly and everything goes into a power save mode which can't be turned off.
Even non demanding games like WoW look like are only running less than 30fps.

So my question is do all gaming laptops do this? Or is it only these Amd ones?

Kinda seems pointless having a laptop if you always have to be plugged in.

Thanks
 
Associate
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They will all do this, gaming pulls a lot more power than just basic desktop/browsing does and that power needs to come from somewhere or be throttled back to stop a battery having a 30min life.

That said it should have a power management app.
 
Man of Honour
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Mine allows me to choose power mode - the battery life while gaming at full performance is LOL though - you might in some cases need to make a power profile manually as some will automatically use the manufacturers battery profile for gaming sometimes with the installation of it removing/over-riding the stock profiles and/or you might have a physical switch that selects them.

Mine is intended mostly as a desktop replacement though for when I'm not at my PC so I'd only do any proper gaming when plugged in anyhow.
 
Soldato
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All do this but some manage it much better; pick your gaming laptop wisely if aiming for unplugged gaming.

For example my HP Omen i5/GTX1050 runs better in games unplugged on battery than my Omen i7 / GTX1070 did. It runs better than the Asus/MSI (RTX2060) I tested this year too on battery.

From the latest batch of 2019 gaming laptops, the Acer Predators (Helios or Triton) are by far the best on battery (RTX2060/2070mq). They run cool, don't throttle due to heat, don't limit performance beyond manageable/playable and retain decent battery life. GeForce experience does help. HP Omens and Asus/MSI this time round didn't work too well for me.

If just popping to a cafe for a couple of hours of chill out gaming time, I take my HP Omen with the i5/GTX1050.
 
Associate
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Have you tried changing the settings in the armoury crate application? I have noticed the turbo tab is not selectable when on battery power, however allowing windows to take control and move the slider to performance does work.


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Associate
OP
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Thanks for the replies.
If it seems this is common then then it may not be a deal breaker on keeping this laptop or not.
I can't justify spending the extra needed on the other models if it will just be a slight impovement.
Its weird though that I cannot seem to have any control over the mode the laptop is in when on battery. I don't get the slider option in your screenshot on the taskbar either.
What model are you using Steven?
This is the one I have ROG GA502DU.
 
Associate
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You have to changna setting via regedit to allow power plans to reappear and be changed - set cpu max to 99 not 100, also use throttlestop if needed. But dont expect to game long on battery
 
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