Acer Nitro 5 Charging when Gaming

I just picked up an Acer Nitro 5 and set it up tonight. Of course I tried to game on it right away (World of Warcraft) and came across a weird problem. When I was on the game the laptop would stop and start charging, which is quite annoying as it beeps and the screen brightness changes etc. I switched to balanced power management and that slowed down the amount of flickering, but it didn't stop it. I have tired multiple power outlets, with no change. If I do not have the game up or it is minimized the issue does not occur. I am not sure what else to do to attempt to fix this issue. Did I get a bad power adapter?

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Commodore_1995#

Have you ever tried playing after charging 100% battery?

Sharanji

frakinspoilers

If the charger cannot supply enough wattage to run the laptop while its under high load the laptop will also use the battery, this can be normal behavior. It will only drain when the load is very high, as in a gaming session.

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AMDKilla

The charger provided with my Nitro 5 is rated for 135w. The 560X GPU is rated for 35w and the 2500u CPU maxes at 25W, so the charging cable should provide more than enough to charge and game. For the Intel/nVidia version, the 8300h takes up to 45w and the 1050ti uses around 75w, so you start getting a little closer to that limit. Are you using the original charger?

frakinspoilers

AMDKilla said:

The charger provided with my Nitro 5 is rated for 135w. The 560X GPU is rated for 35w and the 2500u CPU maxes at 25W, so the charging cable should provide more than enough to charge and game. For the Intel/nVidia version, the 8300h takes up to 45w and the 1050ti uses around 75w, so you start getting a little closer to that limit. Are you using the original charger?

Yeah I am. Everything is new out of the box. I tried a wall outlet vs a power strip and the same thing. It very specifically happens after the batter is over 42%.

Commodore_1995#

Can you tell the exact model of your notebook? Example ph517-51!

frakinspoilers

egydiocoelho said:

Can you tell the exact model of your notebook? Example ph517-51!

AN515-53

Commodore_1995#

Did your notebook come with the 1050 ti (power adapter 135w) or 1060 (power adapter 180w) video card? Have you tried playing after the battery is 100% charged? As reported by @Sharanji, current notebooks use some of the battery power when programs or games demand more performance!

frakinspoilers

egydiocoelho said:

Did your notebook come with the 1050 ti (power adapter 135w) or 1060 (power adapter 180w) video card? Have you tried playing after the battery is 100% charged? As reported by @Sharanji, current notebooks use some of the battery power when programs or games demand more performance!

It is the 135w one. It seems to defeat the point to play only when at 100%, but it does not have the problem when the computer is under 42%.

frakinspoilers

Also I would understand, but it is happening with very old games as well .

Commodore_1995#

Current notebooks discharge the battery up to 40%! Then they start loading again! I recommend you try updating the notebook drivers by downloading the drivers on the intel and nvidia website!

tobimaru

IT doesn't sound like normal operation to me. Beeping and dimming the display indicates full loss of AC power. Yes, the laptop is designed to run on both the battery and AC power when the load requires more than the allotted 135w from the AC power adapter. However, this is a seamless transition of power and the system shouldn't be beeping and dimming the monitor as if it were physically unplugged.

I would personally contact Acer Support and see about a new power adapter. They are roughly $40 USD, but maybe yours is under warranty? Also it's worth running a battery diagnostic to ensure it's at full health. HWinfo64 is free and should give you accurate readings.

Malisho

I have the Nitro 5 1050ti and I can't seem to play with over 30 FPS without plugging in the charger, is there any idea on how to remove the FPS lock?
I tried switching the battery boost but it says SLI is not supported

Commodore_1995#

Notebooks only achieve their maximum performance when they are connected to the power adapter and set to high performance on the power option!

even if you set the battery to high performance, you will not get the same performance!

Wimukthi

Sorry if this is too late of a comment, but I had the same issue as OP. However mine happened 1 year after buying the laptop. Last month actually. While that issue has now stopped, my battery will not charge beyond 89% now and says "plugged in not charging". I have taken it to acer agents here and they said I would have to replace the battery. This sounded ridiculous to me as its practically brand new. Plus the cost of replacing was quite high. I have contacted acer through their email answer thing. Hope we can fix this.

mirabel324

Yeah, I have made sure the internal button is pressed , there is no sign of power at all.

Playground Installer Ohio

mike_aldwin

Were you able to solve this? This is happening to me now. Very annoying.

Commodore_1995#

Have you tried to update the bios?

mike_aldwin

Idk if it's a hardware or software problem but I found a workaround. It turns out even though the beeping sound happens (indicating charging/disconnection), it still is plugged is as the battery doesn't drop. So I uninstalled the Microsoft AC Adapter & AHCPI drivers under battery and it kinda works. No battery indicator but I can game in peace. It looks like I just have to enable it if I'll be planning to use it on battery and disable when gaming.

mike_aldwin

egydiocoelho said:

Have you tried to update the bios?

Yeah I'm on 1.28. I think its a driver issue but I haven't had it diagnosed with Acer cuz it's past its warranty and the diagnosis fee is expensive where I'm from.