CPU is slower when not plugged in

[moistclam]

Hello everyone, I have a problem with my CPU or at least the GHz my CPU runs at. When I play a game on my laptop while the charger is plugged in, I get about 3.50 GHz which is good while playing games. However, when I wanna play a game while my laptop is unplugged it only stays around 1.60 GHz. This obviously affects game performance and it really bugs me. How can I get that 3.50 GHz while my laptop is unplugged? I don't wanna plug in my charger everytime I want to play a game because that will potentially ruin my battery. If anyone has a solution it would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind when I'm doing something else like just being on the internet both unplugged and plugged in the GHz stays at 1.60 GHz which is fine. This only applies to games.

Here are the specs if it helps:
Intel i7-7700hq
GTX 1060 6gb
12 gb of ram

Thanks

 

[superninja12]

at the battery settings energy mode, full peformance instead of saving power.

 

[clarkjd]

What make and model laptop do you have? You could go into Windows settings and try to change the way it performs under gaming conditions.

 

[geofelt]

Windows power settings has a processor performance setting for on battery power.
By default it is less than 100%.
You can change that to 100%.
Similarly, the graphics settings will by default be lowered on battery. Perhaps to integrated graphics. You can change that also.
There is also a screen brightness setting that you can change.
By default, it is less than 100% on battery.

Of course, do not expect the same run time on battery.

 

[Solandri]

When I play a game on my laptop while the charger is plugged in, I get about 3.50 GHz which is good while playing games. However, when I wanna play a game while my laptop is unplugged it only stays around 1.60 GHz.
[...]
Here are the specs if it helps:
Intel i7-7700hq
GTX 1060 6gb
12 gb of ram

That's about a 45 Watt CPU and 80 Watt GPU. Add in a little extra for the screen, motherboard, RAM and SSD, and you're right around 150-160 Watts. The biggest laptop AC adapter I've seen is 180 Watts.*

Your battery may simply be incapable of putting out enough Watts to run the laptop at full power when not plugged in. If so, some slowdown on battery is inevitable. The laptop vendor will have balanced the max GPU and CPU clocks allowed on battery for what they feel will provide the best performance while keeping power consumption within what the battery can provide.

* The laptops whose GPUs push system power over 180 Watts need to get additional power from elsewhere, so they get it from the battery. They will actually slowly drain the battery when gaming at max performance while plugged in. To recharge the battery, the laptop has to be plugged into AC power and not gaming. And if the battery is completely drained while gaming, the system will automatically throttle down the CPU and GPU to keep power consumption under what the AC adapter alone can provide.

at the battery settings energy mode, full peformance instead of saving power.

Generally you should use balanced instead of full performance. Full performance will run the CPU at its max clock speed even if it's idle, which for a laptop will devastate battery life.

While switching to the balanced or full performance profile can yield better gaming performance than the low power profile, whatever limitations the manufacture made to keep the laptop's power draw within the battery's and AC adapter's specs are built into the BIOS and will override any Windows settings. If they've tuned the laptop to game at about 1.6 GHz when on battery-only, then that's the most you're going to get. Exceeding it could cause the system to try to draw too much power from the battery, leading to an overly depressed voltage and the system immediately powering off (no clean shutdown).

 

[moistclam]

Similarly, the graphics settings will by default be lowered on battery. Perhaps to integrated graphics. You can change that also.

How do you do this?

 

[tagsilver]

When I play a game on my laptop while the charger is plugged in, I get about 3.50 GHz which is good while playing games. However, when I wanna play a game while my laptop is unplugged it only stays around 1.60 GHz.
[...]
Here are the specs if it helps:
Intel i7-7700hq
GTX 1060 6gb
12 gb of ram

That's about a 45 Watt CPU and 80 Watt GPU. Add in a little extra for the screen, motherboard, RAM and SSD, and you're right around 150-160 Watts. The biggest laptop AC adapter I've seen is 180 Watts.*

Your battery may simply be incapable of putting out enough Watts to run the laptop at full power when not plugged in. If so, some slowdown on battery is inevitable. The laptop vendor will have balanced the max GPU and CPU clocks allowed on battery for what they feel will provide the best performance while keeping power consumption within what the battery can provide.

* The laptops whose GPUs push system power over 180 Watts need to get additional power from elsewhere, so they get it from the battery. They will actually slowly drain the battery when gaming at max performance while plugged in. To recharge the battery, the laptop has to be plugged into AC power and not gaming. And if the battery is completely drained while gaming, the system will automatically throttle down the CPU and GPU to keep power consumption under what the AC adapter alone can provide.

at the battery settings energy mode, full peformance instead of saving power.

Generally you should use balanced instead of full performance. Full performance will run the CPU at its max clock speed even if it's idle, which for a laptop will devastate battery life.

While switching to the balanced or full performance profile can yield better gaming performance than the low power profile, whatever limitations the manufacture made to keep the laptop's power draw within the battery's and AC adapter's specs are built into the BIOS and will override any Windows settings. If they've tuned the laptop to game at about 1.6 GHz when on battery-only, then that's the most you're going to get. Exceeding it could cause the system to try to draw too much power from the battery, leading to an overly depressed voltage and the system immediately powering off (no clean shutdown).

I just wanted to say that this was probably one of the best explanations for the original posters issue. I was trying to figure out the best way to say this to a CX. Thanks!