For all intensive purpose I no longer have a laptop battery and my GPU (NVIDIA 540M) refuses to run without the battery in place. I noticed this when playing Borderlands 2 which drained the battery in 2 hours even though it was PLUGGED IN. Afterwards it would on be a matter of time before the laptop shut down.
I've sent the laptop back to ASUS twice who have insisted they've replaced the motherboard which although may be true is irrelevant to the problem if the new GPU can't access the dead battery it needs to actually run.
Are there any tweeking options ? Sysytem Settings, BIOS, ANYTHING to be done for the GPU to use the main power source instead of the battery?
Are you using the correct power cable? It sounds like, under a full load, that laptop uses more power than the cable can provide and so also drains the battery.
+1, PSU output should > total energy consumption of laptop + total energy consumption of recharging of battery. If the laptop is using too much energy, there must be something seriously wrong. Asus laptops are generally pretty easy to work on in comparison to other brands though, shouldn't be desperate, just measure out the electrics, starting by the PSU output.
I have both a dedicated (NVIDIA) and integrated GPU. My Battery has no output, 0. I can only run graphics off the integrated card, when I go into the settings to switch to more intensive game play with the NVIDIA control center...
POOF* My whole unit shuts down without warning
I can't run anything intensive on my laptop, have already re-installed OS, defragged, scanned and killed mal-ware, drivers are good, there has never been any over-clocking, no mods, and the power cable never gave any problems, be it universal or original but I would explore it again.
Is there anything that could be using too much energy that I'm not aware of? Could this be heat?
Right now my battery reads;
"Available 46% not charging, consider replacing your battery" Keep in mind this number changes randomly from 0 - 100 within minutes when I restart.
I think this is just the system misreading the battery until the GPU actually tries to use it and goes
NOPE, IT'S DEAD. SO SORRY. BYE.
And shuts down everything? I can't even assign a browser to run off NVIDIA for youtube without shutting everything down. That's not where the quality counts but you get my point.
I'm open to making a video about this, This is the only computer I own >_<
a few things to try, wiggle the charging input cable tip gently, see if that makes the "charging" indicator come on. Pull it out a bit, but not all the way, and see if that gets it. also, if you are comfortable taking your laptop apart, you may need to look at your heat sink. If your heat sink is clogged, it can cause thermal shutdowns. the next thing to try is a new charger(you can have them check it for free at office depot or best buy), if that fails, it is telling,but hold that thought, Also try another battery any way you can.
if that fails the last thing to do is replacing the charging port assembly which will also require you to take your system apart.
So we're looking at the NVIDIA as a culprit for heat? Even thought the motherboard has been replaced?
I will be doing a cleaning this week but could we explore some back up options? Ideally what I can do from a software point of view. My thinking is that if the laptop is plugged in why can't the GPU run off that? Can't I trick it into ignoring the battery all together?
it is supposed to do that anyway (ignore battery while unplugged) and no im not looking at the Nvidia card as the culprit right now. you may have a charging issue....but If I had to guess I would go with thermal shutdown..