Reduce power consumption on a laptop
We have a user that has a new laptop (Lenovo T15g Gen 2) and it seems like he is sucking up all his power within 2 1/2 to 3 hours of plain usage. No video streaming but just Excel and office products being used on the machine. There are no upgrades for the battery on this unit so my question is what things on a laptop could be modified to reduce power consumption?
I'd consider three hours about average for battery lifetime on an average laptop.
If the unit doesn't have an SSD, pull the hard drive and replace it with an SSD.
If the unit has an optional high-performance graphics interface, pull it out and use the chipset adapter. It'll cut power significantly at the cost of somewhat diminished graphics performance.
Get a copy of Microsoft Autoruns and see what is running in the system that doesn't need to run. Most laptops are bundled with a significant amount of trashware that doesn't need to run, at startup time or at all.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
If the unit has a hardware on/off switch for WiFi, disable WiFi when it's not being used.
If the unit doesn't have an SSD, pull the hard drive and replace it with an SSD.
If the unit has an optional high-performance graphics interface, pull it out and use the chipset adapter. It'll cut power significantly at the cost of somewhat diminished graphics performance.
Get a copy of Microsoft Autoruns and see what is running in the system that doesn't need to run. Most laptops are bundled with a significant amount of trashware that doesn't need to run, at startup time or at all.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
If the unit has a hardware on/off switch for WiFi, disable WiFi when it's not being used.
Reduce the Backlight when on battery. This will probably have the greatest effect on battery life.
Go to the System -> Power settings and change the power mode to Best Power Efficiency.
Go to the Advanced System Settings and adjust the Performance options to remove all the Animate and Fade settings, so that they aren't always running when you open and close windows.
Disable Privacy settings from Voice Activation all the way down to Other Devices and also App Diagnostics. Disabling Voice Activation probably does the most in this section.
Definitely look for any startup items of tools you don't need to keep running all the time.
Go to the System -> Power settings and change the power mode to Best Power Efficiency.
Go to the Advanced System Settings and adjust the Performance options to remove all the Animate and Fade settings, so that they aren't always running when you open and close windows.
Disable Privacy settings from Voice Activation all the way down to Other Devices and also App Diagnostics. Disabling Voice Activation probably does the most in this section.
Definitely look for any startup items of tools you don't need to keep running all the time.
Besides screen settings mentioned above, look at CPU usage.
If any process is spinning the CPU, try killing off this process.
If any process is spinning the CPU, try killing off this process.
This is a gaming laptop right? It has an SSD and a secondary video card. I'm not sure this is the right laptop for day to day office use. Which exact model is this about?
What I would do is upgrade drivers to see if that helps. And see if you can disable the second video card using the graphics setting. It may just be that the video card is enabled (working) while using applications like Excel and MS Teams.
What I would do is upgrade drivers to see if that helps. And see if you can disable the second video card using the graphics setting. It may just be that the video card is enabled (working) while using applications like Excel and MS Teams.
ASKER
Our upper management employee wanted this specific laptop. Why? I have no idea, but how do I disable the second graphics card? Would that cause problems?
You cannot disable the dedicated graphics card.
You can only goto the UEFI BIOS to enable Hybrid Graphics Mode. Please refer to my first comment on how to do it.
In Hybrid Graphics Mode, the system will select whether the dedicated graphics card or the integrated graphics card should be used according to what kind of applications the user is running.
You can only goto the UEFI BIOS to enable Hybrid Graphics Mode. Please refer to my first comment on how to do it.
In Hybrid Graphics Mode, the system will select whether the dedicated graphics card or the integrated graphics card should be used according to what kind of applications the user is running.
>> Why? I have no idea
Not that important to know, it's probably used outside work hours for other purposes.
Did you install driver updates?
Can you setting it to 'balanced' in power management - then reboot it and check battery life?
Not that important to know, it's probably used outside work hours for other purposes.
Did you install driver updates?
Can you setting it to 'balanced' in power management - then reboot it and check battery life?
Usually secondary graphics controllers are removable, on either a daughterboard or a mini-PCIe controller. Just disabling it in Device Manager or the BIOS won't do the job completely, though to be sure that will cut power consumption -- possibly significantly.
ASKER
I will put as many of these items into practice on Friday morning and see what comes of it thank you all
@serialband - He does not have a "Best Power Efficiency" mode in his power profile. I don't see that on my computer. Why is that. I do see some computers have this option tho but others not.
@DrKlan - would turning off all those settings change the experience of the user?
@serialband - He does not have a "Best Power Efficiency" mode in his power profile. I don't see that on my computer. Why is that. I do see some computers have this option tho but others not.
@DrKlan - would turning off all those settings change the experience of the user?
Lenovo T15g Gen 2 is only the name of the product line.
According to the review of your notebook its battery life should be around 6 to 7 hours for normal usage in 1080P screen resolution.
Post back the serial number of the notebook or its exact hardware specification if you want to know whether your problem is normal or a defect of the battery. You might need to fire a DOA (Death on Arrival) claim to Lenovo for exchange of a new unit if it is a defect.
According to the review of your notebook its battery life should be around 6 to 7 hours for normal usage in 1080P screen resolution.
Post back the serial number of the notebook or its exact hardware specification if you want to know whether your problem is normal or a defect of the battery. You might need to fire a DOA (Death on Arrival) claim to Lenovo for exchange of a new unit if it is a defect.
ASKER
@ Jackie Man
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It'll look more like Windows XP, but all programs will perform the same or faster.
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If yes, your problem is the expected outcome as running the display in 4K resolution will consume much more power.
If yes, check whether Hybrid Graphics Mode has been enabled. If no, enable it.