Battery Life Part 1: Introduction and Battery Boost Functionality
Battery Life and Power Management
Similar to our GT70 review from a few months back, one of the most intriguing items on the agenda today is how well NVIDIA’s Battery Boost technology manages unplugged efficiency and performance. Certainly the bulk of the most people’s gaming will be done while on AC power, but when that isn’t possible or convenient, Battery Boost is meant to help govern this delicate balance. It accomplishes this by way of frame rate limiting and some internal “voodoo” (as Ryan described it) which NVIDIA declines to elaborate.
Before we go further, we realize the irony of dedicating two entire pages to battery life testing in a review which, as we even proclaimed ourselves, is about a product where battery life really doesn’t matter all that much. But what we’re really interested in here isn’t so much the typical runtime values that we measure most laptops against, but rather the corroboration of Battery Boost’s contributions, which can be handy in a pinch when gaming is desired but outlets just aren’t practical or convenient.
During our GT70 test period, we found the Battery Boost functionality to be helpful, but frequently finicky. We experienced substantial gains in longevity while playing certain games (nearly double with Portal 2; 48% longer in Bioshock Infinite), but absolutely none while playing others (Diablo III, StarCraft 2, Civilization V, World of Tanks). Today, we’ll be testing most of these same products a second time under the same scenarios to see whether the GT72 and its GTX 980M (with newer drivers in tow) manages better results.
Before we get to our testing, let’s first recap the battery situation. Unlike on the GT70, the GT72’s battery is internal—and worse yet, it’s quite difficult to replace. It doesn’t require removal of the board, but it does require removal of nearly every other component accessible from the bottom of the unit, including a second notebook frame panel which is sandwiched between the CPU/GPU heatsink fans and the board. It’s even considerably more complex than the procedure that is followed to replace the GPU itself, since (once again) that’s technically possible thanks to the GT72’s incorporation of a daughterboard that houses the GPU and simply plugs into the board via a special port.
One interesting point to consider regarding performance while gaming unplugged: as Ryan explored in his GTX 980M review, total power consumption is a serious constraining factor when working with high-end mobile gaming hardware. We measured some 200+ watts consumed by the notebook while plugged in, whereas while unplugged, that number would drop to between 80 and 95 watts. That’s a massive discrepancy, and so it begs the question: what is the impact on quality? Ryan’s already answered that for us in his article—but the conclusion bears repeating here.
The updated version of the GeForce Experience software actually divides the stored GFE profile settings for each individual game into two categories: Plugged In and On Battery. While Battery Boost’s purpose is to manage consumption in pursuit of longer runtimes, GFE’s goal is to provide a more consistent level of quality throughout the experience. As such, the recommended quality settings for most demanding games are lower while on battery—but as Ryan concluded, the overall experience is indeed superior to that of the Plugged In settings. That’s because while running at higher settings, the system must throttle its performance to satisfy the substantially reduced TDP constraints of unplugged operation—a last-minute compensation technique which necessarily results in jumpy frame rates and inconsistent performance during gaming. Universally preferable to this unpredictable approach to power management is a “safe” recommended settings profile for each game which proactively reduces the total amount of power likely to be demanded by the game at any given juncture.
Lastly, a quick note on methodology. As with our GTX 880M testing in the GT70 previously, we’ve selected games with sufficient FPS headroom (in excess of 60 fps) to provide Battery Boost some latitude to function as intended. The frame rate limitation settings were left at the defaults (30 fps) for each test, and no other options were modified. The settings used were identical to those in the GT70 review for each game. Finally, we did not interact with the system at all once the test began. This means that Windows’ critical battery warnings kicked the game out of operation near the end of each test—but this shift was consistent across all trials, so its effects on the results as compared to one another are minimal.
Battery Boost Functionality
Portal 2
All right—now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to some numbers. The first game on our list of trials is Portal 2. Things look awfully familiar to the GT70’s results with Battery Boost off:
A little longer, but an hour of gaming isn’t going to satisfy anyone. Switching it on:
Wow. A result of 2 hours and 10 minutes constitutes a premium of 126% better runtime, or over double the battery life recorded with Battery Boost off. This is somewhat anticipated, however, thanks to the fact that the GTX 980M’s notable performance improvement over the GTX 880M and frugal power consumption under the circumstances. Since it’s already able to do more with less, it’s obviously able to cut even more consumption to reach the easy target of 30 fps.
World of Tanks
First, with Battery Boost OFF:
That’s actually lower than the runtime we received from the GT70, but it’s not completely fair to compare due to the updates and changes to the game’s engine that have taken place. What’s more important is whether Battery Boost provides any discernible benefits; we’ll remind you that on the GT70, we saw absolutely none.
Indeed. A jump to 98 from 61 minutes is an increase of 61%, which is very good. And bear in mind that, yet again, we are not applying the GFE settings in this testing.
Diablo III
The next item in our quartet of games which saw no benefit from Battery Boost during our GT70 testing, Diablo III ought to be a prime candidate for the technology thanks to its low demands and consequent high frame rates on the GTX 980M.
Battery Boost OFF:
Roughly an hour of DIII gameplay will barely get you through a few rifts, let alone satisfy anyone’s addictive tendencies. Switching ON:
Not as dramatic as we had hoped, but that’s still a premium of 63%. Yet again, it’s well worth using if you can handle a limit of 30 fps. Most importantly, it actually works.
Oh my science.
Oh my science.
For $3000 you can have a
For $3000 you can have a gaming desktop with 4790k a 500 gig ssd 2 gtx 970s in sli all the bells and whistles plus have a decent laptop probably with the same specs minus the mobile gpu for some remote steam big picture gameplay.
Thanks for the feedback
Thanks for the feedback guys!
There's no disputing that gaming desktops are far cheaper, but then, what's the point of even looking at gaming laptops if you're satisfied with being tethered to a desktop in the same place each time? Most people are, but some people want to move around. That's what these machines are all about.
Besides, in the conclusion, I mentioned "If it were our money, we’d probably spring for the $2,299 model, which is arguably a better value." It is–and for most people, it makes a heck of a lot more sense. You also skirt the issue of the quad-SSD failure rate concerns if that bugs you too. Quite frankly, at that price, with the GTX 980M, there isn't a better competitor around right now. The display isn't perfect, but apart from that and the internal battery, there's really not much else to hate on here. Until some other comparable machines pop up with considerably lower prices (not likely), it's IMO the best option around.
It's a cream of the crop machine with a couple of small niggles. If that's not what you're after, look elsewhere I say!
Highly disagree with those
Highly disagree with those specs.
A TN panel and it isnt even 120hz.
32 gig ram? for gaming?, 16 is more than enough, 8 isnt even tapped out yet.
Instead of all that mess of hard drives, can i just have ONE 500gig SSD? ill utilize the USB3 ports if i need more for all my legal movies.
At least that i7 is a quad core, instead of the dual core i7s.
Good thing the display is 1080p, it could have been 1366×768.
Wow, such a arrogant comment
Wow, such a arrogant comment for a person with loads of money. I get your point. But you can still have your preferred hardware with GT72 with added cost. Hope you done your research. And guess what, those days you never need more than 2GB RAM for gaming, and now you yourself saying that 16 GB sufficient.
I’m gaming right now and I
I’m gaming right now and I NEED 16Gb… Yeah I have 20 Chrome Tabs opened (1Gb), Minecraft FTB opened using 6Gb and Minecraft Vanilla using 5Gb and Skype using not much but yeah stil needing 16 Gb… Atleast I don’t have my server ON!
Thank you for an excellent
Thank you for an excellent and well-thought review! I purchased the GT72 Dominator Pro and I must say that I am extremely happy with the build quality and performance of this PC. I purchased the 24GB RAM/256 SSD option with the 980M. This was a catch-weight choice for $2,500, I want the computer to be future-proof and last for years. Everything about this PC is so slick and high quality, the aesthetics are just amazing! The GT72 is easy to love, sometimes I just stare at this beautiful beast in admiration. Every game title is easily played on Ultra with virtually no performance challenges that I have seen. Supersampling is the only option that I have seen lower fps. I accepted the fact the LCD screen was TN and 1080P when I made the purchase. I find the screen to be bright and colorful, with great contrast and sharpness. Screen perfection is one of the more discriminating elements of a laptop and it’s a huge cash investment to get modest gains, in my option. I’m glad that MSI invested in engineering that substantially affects performance. Besides, the GT72 allows for (3) 4K displays to be connected in tandem, so if you want to get nerdy, there are certainly options. The 1TB 7200RPM HDD also performs well for gaming, so I keep my key titles and frequent load apps on the 256 SSD and offload the rest to HDD. Lastly I’ll say the audio is immersive and enjoyable while playing games, impressive.
I have always found the desktop/laptop argument to be curious. It’s obvious that gaming laptops are for users that want to be mobile. Streaming is coming along but it’s still very early in that concept. In the 2000’s, I would play games with friend and I would have to travel with a desktop computer, monitor, peripherals. Those days are long behind me and I am willing to take a moderate hit on my wallet to ensure that I am mobile in any situation. Even if you are mildly cost conscious, the GT72 is a beautiful juggernaut and it’s an absolute pleasure to own.
The Nvidia Geforce GTX 460m
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I have the 970m upgraded to a
I have the 970m upgraded to a 256gb m.2 and added two matching 4gb sticks to the 12gb to have 24gb.(freq brand are a macth). Great laptop smokes my i7 860, gtx670 desktop.