Why can't I play games on battery?

[Battousai01]

Hi guys, I would like to ask for some advise. I noticed that I can't play games on battery, any games even games that are 10 years old is significantly slow at ultra settings when on battery. I am not sure if this is true to newer laptops with high-end graphics chip since I noticed that I was able to do a full benchmark on an older laptop on battery. Is this true to all new gaming laptops? I have not tried yet on other laptops with a GTX but on my laptop with an RTX I can't play games while on battery.

 

[heymrdj]

Hi guys, I would like to ask for some advise. I noticed that I can't play games on battery, any games even games that are 10 years old is significantly slow at ultra settings when on battery. I am not sure if this is true to newer laptops with high-end graphics chip since I noticed that I was able to do a full benchmark on an older laptop on battery. Is this true to all new gaming laptops? I have not tried yet on other laptops with a GTX but on my laptop with an RTX I can't play games while on battery.

What’s the laptop? Most modern high end gaming laptops cannot put enough amperage out of the battery to run the system at maximum clock speeds, and the system clicks down automatically when an AC adapter isn’t present. Not only would the battery die in under an hour, most laptop batteries don’t have the chemistry or temperature capacity to handle pushing out 200W+ of power like these high end machines need.

 

[dcybergeek]

You get better performance when plugged in because sometimes laptops throttle processing power to save battery life.

 

[mrochester]

If his is windows 10 try turning the battery/performance option to maximum.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Not only would the battery die in under an hour, most laptop batteries don’t have the chemistry or temperature capacity to handle pushing out 200W+ of power like these high end machines need.

This is it. The battery cannot supply the power required by a full blown H series CPU and RTX 2080 mobile GPU.

 

[Raduque]

Since you have an RTX, I'm going to guess that's a 90w chip, and I'll assume you have a 45w CPU. That's roughly 135w just for the CPU/GPU alone. Your battery is probably a 75wHr battery which means it can supply 70 watts of power for one hour. That kind of draw can damage the battery, however, so the system throttles power levels on battery to prevent damage.

Laptops are not really meant to game on the battery. If you want to game in a remote location with no power nearby, you'd need a 120v battery pack or UPS, and plug the laptop's power supply into it.

 

[Battousai01]

Thanks for the replies. I had ideas of being able to play games without plugging into an electrical outlet, one method will use power banks that has built-in AC outlet, this will still need to use the AC/DC adapter of the laptop. I have seen plenty of portable power banks that has built-in AC outlet, these power banks ranges from 20,000 mAh to 64,000 mAh or higher and are small in size, almost the same size or even smaller than the laptop's AC/DC adapter.

Another method is to totally replace the AC/DC adapter with a pure direct DC power source (powered by batteries) although I have not found any device that functions like that but I did saw some power banks with a direct DC out jack.

I only have a few questions:

My laptop's AC/DC adapter has the following specification: Input 100-240v~50-60Hz 3.2A / Output 19.5V, 11.8A

When I measured the power consumption from the wall outlet while gaming it consumes around 160-180 watts of power from the outlet. On non-gaming use the consumption is around 38 watts only.

My questions below are more about basic electric consumption calculation and revolves around those two ideas of using a power bank or battery power to power the laptop via its charging port

1. Using a power bank with an AC outlet and having for example 40,000 mAh capacity, how long will this power bank last if the power draw of the laptop is on average 180 watts? I understand that this way of powering the laptop is not efficient since you will convert the battery power to AC and then the laptop's AC/DC adapter will convert it back to DC so there is some loss there. However, how can you calculate how long the 40,000 mAh power bank last in a 180 watts power draw?

2. Using a power bank that has a capacity of 40,000 mAh with a direct DC output, how long will the batteries last if the power draw of the laptop is on average 180 watts?

3. I cannot measure the laptop's AC/DC adapter power output draw so what does it mean if the AC/DC adapter's power output is 19.5V / 11.8A, does this mean that the adapter's power output has a constant draw of 11.8A or this also varies on usage? Because the power draw from the AC outlet where the adapter is connected varies on usage (i.e. 38 watts on idle, 180 watts while gaming).

 

[Raduque]

The electrical theory of it is beyond me. I'm not an electrician. You'd have to look into the specs of the battery bank you have in mind and do some math. The only battery bank I found on amazon with a 120v outlet has an output rating of 148Wh, which means it'll run for, I dunno, 40-ish minutes till the batteries are flat? If you're gaming. I wouldn't want to drain a lithium-ion battery that fast. It'll run the laptop for about 3.5 hours at idle.

Actually, as I was searching around, I found this: https://www.amazon.com/MAXOAK-50000mAh-Portable-Charger-External/dp/B00YP823NA

If it has the proper tip, it should be able to plug directly to your laptop's charging port. It'll run for about an hour for gaming before flattening the batteries.

 

[fralexandr]

I think what you're looking for is typically called a power station. You would mostly look for one with an appropriate AC voltage, output wattage, & true sine wave output as well as an acceptable battery capacity.

Amazon.com : Power Station

They're usually a few hundred dollars and up. They're also pretty bulky and heavy though.

Note: The mah rating is typically at 3.7V, the voltage of the lithium cells. So you would multiply the mah by the voltage and divide by 1000 to get the watt*hour. You might need to factor dc to ac conversion into it though.

 

[Battousai01]

Thanks guys for the replies! I have made some research and for truly portable gaming I will need a power bank that has a output capacity of around 230 watts.

 

[CluelessOne]

Are you going to be gaming while camping? If you are, just buy an inverter and run it from your car or motorcycle.
Otherwise it's lighter bringing your power charger and plug it into a handy receptacle.

 

[Battousai01]

Are you going to be gaming while camping? If you are, just buy an inverter and run it from your car or motorcycle.
Otherwise it's lighter bringing your power charger and plug it into a handy receptacle.

Thanks CluelessOne, not really camping, its more on bringing my laptop to my travels or bringing my laptop to different areas in the house un-tethered. I really like it when I am not tethered to a wall outlet while using the laptop, there is less clutter.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Thanks CluelessOne, not really camping, its more on bringing my laptop to my travels or bringing my laptop to different areas in the house un-tethered. I really like it when I am not tethered to a wall outlet while using the laptop, there is less clutter.

The inverters needed to output ~250 watts are trivial, but battery capacity itself will usually require a large amount of battery. For instance, you can get around 4-6 hours of battery life at 250 watts with an eGO Power Station, if you have 4, 7.5Ah Lithium packs installed. Given the core station is $500, and it's $350 for each 7.5Ah battery, it adds up quick! the bonus for the power station if you can start with the Station and a single 7.5Ah battery (or 2, 5Ah for a discount if you buy the kit), and judge for yourself if you want more run time, and buy more batteries accordingly. The unit will not charge and pass through AC at the same time. You're either running off the batteries, or the unit is charging and no power is being output.

Seems like a lot of hassle to get some freedom, but you have to ask yourself if carrying 50+ pounds of power station and batteries is worth it to you + the cost.

 

[nakedfrog]

Thanks CluelessOne, not really camping, its more on bringing my laptop to my travels or bringing my laptop to different areas in the house un-tethered. I really like it when I am not tethered to a wall outlet while using the laptop, there is less clutter.

I would posit that the ideal solution here is simply a nice extension cable, then.