Bad battery life [ Nitro 5 Spin ]

Winston888
Winston888 Member Posts: 7

Tinkerer

edited November 2023 in 2019 Archives
HI I bought the Nitro spin 5 with i7-8550u and Gtx1050, and the battery life per charge I getting is very poor, at most 2:30 hrs per charge.
Before I purchase the laptop, I saw some of the review mentioned bout battery usage last about 6-8 hrs on battery saving mode.
That is 1 of the major reason I purchase the laptop, my previous laptop is a Acer F15 with i7-7200u and gtx950m which give me 6hr+ battery life when unplugged.

Any one are able to provide some input to extend the battery life?
I already reduce the onboard graphic to max battery saving mode & windows 10 to batter saving mode.



Answers

  • RanY2J
    RanY2J Member Posts: 599 Seasoned Specialist WiFi Icon
    HI I bought the Nitro spin 5 with i7-8550u and Gtx1050, and the battery life per charge I getting is very poor, at most 2:30 hrs per charge.
    Before I purchase the laptop, I saw some of the review mentioned bout battery usage last about 6-8 hrs on battery saving mode.
    That is 1 of the major reason I purchase the laptop, my previous laptop is a Acer F15 with i7-7200u and gtx950m which give me 6hr+ battery life when unplugged.

    Any one are able to provide some input to extend the battery life?
    I already reduce the onboard graphic to max battery saving mode & windows 10 to batter saving mode.



    Some users have been complaining about battery being a bother after Windows update. Perhaps you can try doing a battery analysis or come up with a powersave plan to understand why it might be slow. Is there any specific patterns or it just straight up drains?
    BElieve in YOUrself.
  • flowerdealer
    flowerdealer Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    I'm also seeing atrocious battery life even after a full reinstall. Any ideas? Less than 2:30 for light web browsing at low brightness levels is not acceptable. 
  • Hi,
    You could try a battery reset and reinstall of ACPI compliant method battery driver.
    1. Switch off the laptop, disconnect AC adapter and follow the instructions in the video, leave the laptop to rest for 15-20 Mins before start using again.
    https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/34843/~/acer-internal-battery-reset
    2. Go to Device manager, expand Batteries, highlight and right click "Microsoft ACPI-compliant control method Battery", uninstall the driver, reboot and let Windows install the driver.


  • Winston888
    Winston888 Member Posts: 7

    Tinkerer

    Hi Gals n Guys thx for the response & support, I would like to post some updates on what I have done to extends the battery life.

    1. In "power options" in windows setting. Select "Processors power management" -> "maximum processor state" -> "On battery" -> 60%
    This will extend the battery by bout 30-45min.

    2. install Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Driver (Kabylake) from the Acer's driver download page
    (sometime windows update will automatically install this file too)
    I see direct thermal improvement once I restart the laptop (no fan spin while doing nothing), however it only extend the battery by another 30min.
    After the installation, go to "power options" in windows setting. Select "change plan setting" ->"change advance power setting" -> "Intel 
    Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Driver" -> "config TDP level" -> "15W @ 1.8Ghz"
    This will extend the battery by bout 30-45min, giving me a total batery life of around 4:30 Hr
    There is another options of "15W @ 0.8Ghz", I never try that, why would I try that on a i7.

    3. Install ThrottleStop to undervolt the cpu
    the setting i use
    CPU Core -125mV
    Intel CPU -125mV
    CPU Cache -85mW
    Now I have total battery life around 6-7 hr per batter charge, I also notice that cooling fan hardly spin while using the laptop, probably due to lower thermal output from the undervolt action

    6-7hr are result of the simple test with non-stop youtube video playing in chrome with 75% screen brightness
    ** Skip step 1 to get better performance, setting the max proc state to 60% means limiting the peak clock speed to around 1.1Ghz when unplugged.
    *** All in all Acer is not doing a good job to provide a optimum setting to this laptop in comparison with the lovely aspire F15.




  • Winston888
    Winston888 Member Posts: 7

    Tinkerer

    I'm also seeing atrocious battery life even after a full reinstall. Any ideas? Less than 2:30 for light web browsing at low brightness levels is not acceptable. 

    FloweDealer u can try the setting I use to see if it helps.
  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder
    BatteryInfoView from Nirsoft can tell a lot about the battery and power system condition.
  • flowerdealer
    flowerdealer Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Thanks for the tips, I will try these and report back!
  • HI I bought the Nitro spin 5 with i7-8550u and Gtx1050, and the battery life per charge I getting is very poor, at most 2:30 hrs per charge.
    Before I purchase the laptop, I saw some of the review mentioned bout battery usage last about 6-8 hrs on battery saving mode.
    That is 1 of the major reason I purchase the laptop, my previous laptop is a Acer F15 with i7-7200u and gtx950m which give me 6hr+ battery life when unplugged.

    Any one are able to provide some input to extend the battery life?
    I already reduce the onboard graphic to max battery saving mode & windows 10 to batter saving mode.



    When you are on battery, open task manager and give us a screenshot of everything that is running. It is likely something is running in the background and/or is using the dGPU (GTX 1050). If we can find the culprit then we can attempt to fix it. Please quote if you comment back so I'll know.

    Skelo
    Please quote me so I get a notification of your reply!
    If I helped you, like my post and/or select my post as 'Solved'.
    Please put your laptop model in your signature so we can know what device you have.

    Product: Acer Predator Helios 300
    Model: G3-571
    "Don't cry because its over, smile because it happened."
    - Dr. Seuss
  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder
    I use BatteryInfoView from Nirsoft to help analyze battery and power supply issues. It will give a good picture of battery condition. Charge and Discharge rates, and voltage.
  • flowerdealer
    flowerdealer Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    HI I bought the Nitro spin 5 with i7-8550u and Gtx1050, and the battery life per charge I getting is very poor, at most 2:30 hrs per charge.
    Before I purchase the laptop, I saw some of the review mentioned bout battery usage last about 6-8 hrs on battery saving mode.
    That is 1 of the major reason I purchase the laptop, my previous laptop is a Acer F15 with i7-7200u and gtx950m which give me 6hr+ battery life when unplugged.

    Any one are able to provide some input to extend the battery life?
    I already reduce the onboard graphic to max battery saving mode & windows 10 to batter saving mode.



    When you are on battery, open task manager and give us a screenshot of everything that is running. It is likely something is running in the background and/or is using the dGPU (GTX 1050). If we can find the culprit then we can attempt to fix it. Please quote if you comment back so I'll know.

    Skelo
    I've limited all bg processes, stopped cortana and limited everything that I could find, so that's not it. 
  • flowerdealer
    flowerdealer Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Hi Gals n Guys thx for the response & support, I would like to post some updates on what I have done to extends the battery life.

    1. In "power options" in windows setting. Select "Processors power management" -> "maximum processor state" -> "On battery" -> 60%
    This will extend the battery by bout 30-45min.

    2. install Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Driver (Kabylake) from the Acer's driver download page
    (sometime windows update will automatically install this file too)
    I see direct thermal improvement once I restart the laptop (no fan spin while doing nothing), however it only extend the battery by another 30min.
    After the installation, go to "power options" in windows setting. Select "change plan setting" ->"change advance power setting" -> "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Driver" -> "config TDP level" -> "15W @ 1.8Ghz"
    This will extend the battery by bout 30-45min, giving me a total batery life of around 4:30 Hr
    There is another options of "15W @ 0.8Ghz", I never try that, why would I try that on a i7.

    3. Install ThrottleStop to undervolt the cpu
    the setting i use
    CPU Core -125mV
    Intel CPU -125mV
    CPU Cache -85mW
    Now I have total battery life around 6-7 hr per batter charge, I also notice that cooling fan hardly spin while using the laptop, probably due to lower thermal output from the undervolt action

    6-7hr are result of the simple test with non-stop youtube video playing in chrome with 75% screen brightness
    ** Skip step 1 to get better performance, setting the max proc state to 60% means limiting the peak clock speed to around 1.1Ghz when unplugged.
    *** All in all Acer is not doing a good job to provide a optimum setting to this laptop in comparison with the lovely aspire F15.




    Not sure if you have a typo, how much are you undervolting the internal gpu?
  • flowerdealer
    flowerdealer Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    Thanks everyone for the tips, installing the battery monitor did the trick. I have identified MSI Afterburner as the culprit for the battery drain. Any ideas why it's using so much? Any setting to improve the drain?
  • flowerdealer
    flowerdealer Member Posts: 33 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    I guess the gpu monitoring is forcing the dgpu to run. I thought it would be smarter than that. 
  • mehradzf
    mehradzf Member Posts: 18 Troubleshooter
    Thanks everyone for the tips, installing the battery monitor did the trick. I have identified MSI Afterburner as the culprit for the battery drain. Any ideas why it's using so much? Any setting to improve the drain?
    which battery monitor did you install?

  • Law1331
    Law1331 Member Posts: 1 New User
    I just bought Acer nitro 5 yesterday at SM Mega mall and I'm from Philippines. This is my 1st lop top in my whole life, please kindly help me and tell me what to do because i have battery issue. Its 100% fully charge and i played Dota 2 just for 1 hour and it already drain the battery to 7%. What should i do? Any help will be much appreciated thank you!
  • Loi21
    Loi21 Member Posts: 1 New User
    Hi Gals n Guys thx for the response & support, I would like to post some updates on what I have done to extends the battery life.

    1. In "power options" in windows setting. Select "Processors power management" -> "maximum processor state" -> "On battery" -> 60%
    This will extend the battery by bout 30-45min.

    2. install Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Driver (Kabylake) from the Acer's driver download page
    (sometime windows update will automatically install this file too)
    I see direct thermal improvement once I restart the laptop (no fan spin while doing nothing), however it only extend the battery by another 30min.
    After the installation, go to "power options" in windows setting. Select "change plan setting" ->"change advance power setting" -> "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Driver" -> "config TDP level" -> "15W @ 1.8Ghz"
    This will extend the battery by bout 30-45min, giving me a total batery life of around 4:30 Hr
    There is another options of "15W @ 0.8Ghz", I never try that, why would I try that on a i7.

    3. Install ThrottleStop to undervolt the cpu
    the setting i use
    CPU Core -125mV
    Intel CPU -125mV
    CPU Cache -85mW
    Now I have total battery life around 6-7 hr per batter charge, I also notice that cooling fan hardly spin while using the laptop, probably due to lower thermal output from the undervolt action

    6-7hr are result of the simple test with non-stop youtube video playing in chrome with 75% screen brightness
    ** Skip step 1 to get better performance, setting the max proc state to 60% means limiting the peak clock speed to around 1.1Ghz when unplugged.
    *** All in all Acer is not doing a good job to provide a optimum setting to this laptop in comparison with the lovely aspire F15.




    Hello, I can't find the config TDP Level. Please help me