Charger wattage enough?

[genexis_x]

My brother has a laptop with i5-8250U CPU and MX150 GPU. I want to know that whether the 65W charger is enough for the laptop while under load like stress test and gaming because the charger is running hot even with normal usage like web browsing. Thoughts?

[W-L]

1 minute ago, ZM Fong said:

My brother has a laptop with i5-8250U CPU and MX150 GPU. I want to know that whether the 65W charger is enough for the laptop while under load like stress test and gaming because the charger is running hot even with normal usage like web browsing. Thoughts?

Yes I would say so the CPU only has a TDP of ~10W and the GPU ~25W so more than enough. It depends on the power adapter as I know some extremely hot to the touch but are rated for pretty high operating temps. 

[genexis_x]

Just now, W-L said:

Yes I would say so the CPU only has a TDP of ~10W and the GPU ~25W so more than enough. It depends on the power adapter as I know some extremely hot to the touch but are rated for pretty high operating temps. 

FYI, the CPU is running at full turbo speed most of the time which consumes around 10-15W (TDP is 15W). Is it worth it if he upgrade to a 90W charger?

[Freezanator]

@ZM Fong is it the Acer Aspire 5? If so, then the 65 W charger will hold up against normal and heavy usage, but on cases like stress tests, the laptop will consume slightly more power than it receives. I found out about this after reading the review on notebookcheck.net, screenshots below:

 

 

 

[genexis_x]

2 minutes ago, Freezanator said:

@ZM Fong is it the Acer Aspire 5?

Yes. I read the review before and it kinda worries me. Also the review uses 7200U, not 8250U. 8250U has a slightly higher power consumption in reality due to an increase in cores and higher clock speed.

[Freezanator]

@ZM Fong True, but I still think you've got nothing to worry about. Come on, Acer isn't that dumb to supply you with a charger which supplies less wattage than the laptop needs, or are they? As long as you don't stress test, it should be technically fine. 

[Freezanator]

@ZM Fong There's a review of another Acer Aspire 5 from notebookcheck.net, but with an i7-8550U instead, which I think has the same power consumption as the i5-8250U. Still, Acer is using the same 65 W adapter and the laptop consumes and average of 64 W under full load, reaching 66.4 W at most. 

Acer Aspire 5 Review

[W-L]

20 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

FYI, the CPU is running at full turbo speed most of the time which consumes around 10-15W (TDP is 15W). Is it worth it if he upgrade to a 90W charger?

From what I see it wouldn't really be needed, even running at full speeds and capacity which wouldn't normally be the case it still wouldn't exceed the 65W charger's capability. 

[genexis_x]

9 minutes ago, Freezanator said:

@ZM Fong There's a review of another Acer Aspire 5 from notebookcheck.net, but with an i7-8550U instead

And notebookcheck concludes that the AC adapter isn't powerful enough.

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

And notebookcheck concludes that the AC adapter isn't powerful enough.

That's done with artificial stress tests however on both the CPU and GPU your system will never see something like that under real world conditions. 

[genexis_x]

5 hours ago, W-L said:

snip

Will it damage the AC adapter in long term use? (if used for gaming once a week)

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

Will it damage the AC adapter in long term use? (if used for gaming once a week)

Shouldn't be an issue assuming it's a decent quality adapter which most OEM units are. While having it get extremely hot is not ideal they are designed for continuous load at the rated wattage. 

[Freezanator]

59 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

Will it damage the AC adapter in long term use? (if used for gaming once a week)

Not likely. If you're worried, then you could get your brother a 90 W adapter for less than RM50 online to replace his current one. All you have to make sure is:

1. They have the same connector to the laptop

2. They have the same OUTPUT voltage (view the sticker on the adapter) 

3. They have the same polarity (see below; also found on sticker on the adapter) 

 

Polarity:

 

Also, the only difference between the new and old adapter is their output amperage, which determines the wattage since the voltage is fixed (Rule 2 stated above). 

[genexis_x]

2 hours ago, W-L said:

Shouldn't be an issue assuming it's a decent quality adapter which most OEM units are. While having it get extremely hot is not ideal they are designed for continuous load at the rated wattage. 

It's a Liteon PSU. It's running hot even while web browsing so I'm a little worried (no weird sounds)

[W-L]

7 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

It's a Liteon PSU. It's running hot even while web browsing so I'm a little worried (no weird sounds)

Hmm not too familiar with Liteon units in terms of power bricks but I know their ATX units sometimes are questionable. I would say as long as your unit isn't going thermal nuclear like above 60C it should be safe as it stands from the test notebook check did that unit can provide it's full rating. Just provide some context I know some Delta power bricks I have and they get to 80C when under full load, too hot to keep your hand on for long. 

[genexis_x]

7 hours ago, W-L said:

Hmm not too familiar with Liteon units in terms of power bricks but I know their ATX units sometimes are questionable.

My laptop charger failed last time and it was a Liteon charger. Now changed to Delta and no problems at all.

[W-L]

24 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

My laptop charger failed last time and it was a Liteon charger. Now changed to Delta and no problems at all.

Well then good to know to stear clear or Liteon.