Disable a graphics card to save power?

[jtjallday]

So I just purchased an Asus ROG GL552VW-DH71. It has an i7 6700HQ and it uses a Nvidia 960M graphics card. I will go long stretches without using the gaming operations on this laptop and I was wondering if it is possible to temporarily disable the GPU to improve battery life? Are there any tweaks or operations that can be modified to improve battery life if all I am doing is basic MS Word or browsing YouTube? I'm new to the forum so please try not to use words that are too big. Thanks.

[Digital_]

I imagine disabling it in device manager might turn it off and make it default back to integrated graphics and use less power. Though I'm not sure so forum correct me if I'm wrong here. Also you can always change brightness. Hope this helps!

[SImoHayha]

3 minutes ago, jtjallday said:

So I just purchased an Asus ROG GL552VW-DH71. It has an i7 6700HQ and it uses a Nvidia 960M graphics card. I will go long stretches without using the gaming operations on this laptop and I was wondering if it is possible to temporarily disable the GPU to improve battery life? Are there any tweaks or operations that can be modified to improve battery life if all I am doing is basic MS Word or browsing YouTube? I'm new to the forum so please try not to use words that are too big. Thanks.

No the computer does that by it's own self.

 

No point in disabling it. Not a single point, maybe lowering brightness and CPU core by messing around with some power settings would help though.

 

The GPU automatically downclocks and uses the minimal power necessary to run

[-rascal-]

As @Ramamataz mentioned, your computer should already automatically switch between the lower power requirement iGPU and the more powerful discrete GPU when needed.

 

The nVidia driver / software should have something called "Optimus" where you can either manually or automatically control which GPU to use. http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/optimus

 

Some other ways to extend battery life:

• Use "power saver" power option, or customize your own
• Enable "power saver" mode (Windows 10 feature)
• Reduce display brightness
• Turn off Bluetooth / WiFi when not used

 

[jtjallday]

Ok I think I understand my options! Thank you all!

[jtjallday]

1 hour ago, -rascal- said:

As @Ramamataz mentioned, your computer should already automatically switch between the lower power requirement iGPU and the more powerful discrete GPU when needed.

 

The nVidia driver / software should have something called "Optimus" where you can either manually or automatically control which GPU to use. http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/optimus

 

Some other ways to extend battery life:

• Use "power saver" power option, or customize your own
• Enable "power saver" mode (Windows 10 feature)
• Reduce display brightness
• Turn off Bluetooth / WiFi when not used

 

 Oh yeah, one more thing. I also bought a Samsung 850 EVO m.2 250GB SSD for the computer. Will running the OS and all my programs on the SSD improve battery life as well? Will keeping the HDD installed drain the battery even if it's used just as storage? Or am I overthinking all of this and these differences in battery consumption are negligible?

[-rascal-]

50 minutes ago, jtjallday said:

 Oh yeah, one more thing. I also bought a Samsung 850 EVO m.2 250GB SSD for the computer. Will running the OS and all my programs on the SSD improve battery life as well? Will keeping the HDD installed drain the battery even if it's used just as storage? Or am I overthinking all of this and these differences in battery consumption are negligible?

Storage drives don't draw much power.

SSD's easily draw less than 5W, and mechanical HDD's are about ~10W maximum.

When drives are sitting idle, they will put very little power -- in the milliwatt range.

 

Personally, if you don't need the HDD, then save the extra weight.