Can someone explain this?

[Anton Maario]

When my laptop is connected to the plug I get better performance in games but when I unplug it I get lags even when I turn the power settings to High Performance.

So why does this happen?

Anyways I can get better performance even when unplugged?

[ACEHACK]

whats ur laptop 

[Godlygamer23]

Two things here that I can see:

The laptop has two GPUs, one integrated and one discrete. When running on the battery, the laptop automatically switches to the integrated solution. The other possibility is that the discrete GPU is switching to lower clock speeds to reduce power draw.

[ErykYT3]

Ahh, this is a very good question and one that many gaming laptop owners have scratched their heads at like me. I learnt through the beauty of the internet that this is due to (If i remember correctly) Nvidia Optimus. It lowers the performance of your laptop in order to extend battery life. This can be turned off but i do not remember how unfortunately  .

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/optimus_technology_uk.html

[Changis]

6 minutes ago, Anton Maario said:

When my laptop is connected to the plug I get better performance in games but when I unplug it I get lags even when I turn the power settings to High Performance.

So why does this happen?

Anyways I can get better performance even when unplugged?

it is probably a power setting.. check bios and wnidows settings along with gpu power settings..
others beat me to it

[Anton Maario]

Just now, ACEHACK said:

whats ur laptop 

Lenovo ideapad Z500 (i5 3230m, GT 740m, 6 GB RAM).

By the way I don't have the laptop right now. Just came to know about this forum so I was curious.

[Godlygamer23]

2 minutes ago, ErykYT3 said:

Ahh, this is a very good question and one that many gaming laptop owners have scratched their heads at like me. I learnt through the beauty of the internet that this is due to (If i remember correctly) Nvidia Optimus. It lowers the performance of your laptop in order to extend battery life. This can be turned off but i do not remember how unfortunately  .

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/optimus_technology_uk.html

NVIDIA Control Panel most likely in the power options under Manage 3D Settings. Though I suppose it could have its own option altogether. I've never used NVIDIA Optimus before.

[ErykYT3]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Two things here that I can see:

The laptop has two GPUs, one integrated and one discrete. When running on the battery, the laptop automatically switches to the integrated solution. The other possibility is that the discrete GPU is switching to lower clock speeds to reduce power draw.

Agreed, It's one of these things that are happening. I'll look for how to disable this. But i forgot to mention that your battery life would be much lower due to this. On a 4K Lenovo Y50 for example with an 860M which has 2-3 hours battery life usually, You would definetly be getting less that one hour of use on it without charging but it is 4K so it would definitely be different on a 1080p screen.

[ErykYT3]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

NVIDIA Control Panel most likely in the power options under Manage 3D Settings. Though I suppose it could have its own option altogether. I've never used NVIDIA Optimus before.

I think that's what i used before to turn it off. OP should try this and write back.

[Anton Maario]

Just now, ErykYT3 said:

I think that's what i used before to turn it off. OP should try this and write back.

I can't try it right now.

But thanks.

[ErykYT3]

Just now, Anton Maario said:

I can't try it right now.

But thanks.

I saw your previous post after i wrote mine. Anyway, I know for a fact that it can be turned off but be aware that the battery life will deteriorate much faster. Also, If you don't mind sharing, If you don't have this laptop then why did you ask the question? Are you looking to buy it or were you just wondering why this was happening. Just curious ,that's all

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, ErykYT3 said:

I saw your previous post after i wrote mine. Anyway, I know for a fact that it can be turned off but be aware that the battery life will deteriorate much faster. Also, If you don't mind sharing, If you don't have this laptop then why did you ask the question? Are you looking to buy it or were you just wondering why this was happening. Just curious ,that's all

It might just not be in their possession at the moment. Like they're away or something along those lines.

[Anton Maario]

13 hours ago, ErykYT3 said:

were you just wondering why this was happening

that's why

[Triventular]

i had an old laptop (it was asus) with an i7 2630qm and a gt540m... the drivers for the igpu were not existent on the laptop(like it was never installed or i think it was removed by the previous owner). but i don't get much change when i play games running on battery power.. like i used to play gta v (on 800x600 and everything on the lowest settings) and it gets 80+fps even on battery.. so maybe its because i had no igpu? or i had my nvidia control panel settings on maximum performance that's why i get almost no difference on battery power and plugged in the wall