Alienware M18xR1 low performance on battery

Question

Hi,

My brother has an M18xR1 with GTX 560m. It's good and looks like has no problems while plugged in but when the electricity goes off it starts to stuck while gaming. We tried to change the power settings from both control panel and alienfusion, they are all set to high performance and looks like they are same as plugged in settings. So we tried all we can but it still stuck while gaming. Can we do something more or there is no way to get same performance as plugged in?

DELL-Pablo R · Accepted Answer

Well the M18xR1 works with switchable graphics, which means you have to press [Fn]+F7 to switch between discrete & Integrated graphics. The Video Card will always down-clock when running on battery to save power. In some games there is not much of a difference but in demanding games you will see a drop in the FPS. That's was how the machine was designed.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

AW51,

The system uses the Nvidia Optimus software to control if you are using the discrete GTX560m or the integrated Intel HD3000. Now on battery only, it will kick over to the integrated Intel HD3000. You can force it to use the discrete GTX560m but the battey life will be very short. My advice is to game while on AC power.

AW51 · Answer

Thanks for the answer :)

For us battery life is not so important. Important things is to keep on playing even when the electricity goes off. If the battery keeps the computer on for 30 mins then it is OK. It would be good if you give us a step by step guide about how to do it.

If we do it, will it give damage to battery or make it's total lifetime shorter?

AW51 · Answer

Any help?

hyperdrive · Answer

I have the m18x r2, do mostly driving games such as dirt2, dirt3 etc. No way I can play without ac power, battery power doesn't cut it.

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Alienware M18xR1 low performance on battery

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