Your laptop is consuming an unusually high amount of electricity.
Your laptop is consuming an unusually high amount of electricity.
I'm not sure what's going on. My CPU usage is around 6 watts, but my laptop's dedicated GPU is turned off in Device Manager, so it should be drawing nothing. That suggests the graphics card is using all power through the GPU driver, which would normally drain about 30 watts when idle. When I turn on the dedicated GPU, power consumption stays nearly the same, which makes sense since the laptop is just idling. I don’t know how to check the GPU’s power usage directly, and it seems unlikely it’s consuming close to 20 watts. Can you help me figure out why this is happening?
Turning off your GPU in Device Manager doesn't guarantee it uses zero watts. Instead, you're disabling the software that manages it, which means it won't be able to shut down properly. It's likely still drawing around 8W or more continuously. The most effective solution is to reactivate it, switch your PC to Optimus (for Nvidia GPUs), and verify no other processes are consuming it. Occasionally, programs such as Snip & Sketch or Edge run on the GPU—use HwInfo to check actual power usage. Your laptop's integrated GPUs also contribute to overall power consumption, which includes your CPU and other parts like the display. The screen is usually the biggest consumer, ranging from 1 to 20 watts depending on efficiency and content. Additionally, components like your Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, SSDs, and the CPU itself can also draw power. The reported power readings might not always reflect real usage accurately.
You were correct! Turning on my GPU again improved power usage, even though I'm not sure if Optimize is supported by my setup (it might already be installed). My idle power consumption dropped to about 13W. Additionally, my CPU was showing incorrect power readings and other stats, but the actual draw didn't change much when I increased the load. The battery drain was still present.
I'm happy to assist. Your 13W idle power remains quite high; aiming for around 8W or less would be better. How many background processes are active? You can view them via Task Manager → Performance → CPU → Processes. For context, a stripped-down Windows environment (similar to the Microsoft Store, MS Edge, telemetry) uses about 80 processes. On a system with all Microsoft features enabled—like a browser, Thunderbird, an IDE, WSL, Spotify, Parsec, Sunshine, Afterburner, etc.—you're looking at roughly 190 processes. Just to note, a recent laptop I saw had over 200 running processes due to all the bloatware. You likely only notice the Optimus settings if your device supports it, such as with a MUX switch.
Hello, thank you for your message. I attempted to reduce the weight of my laptop after a restart and checked hwinfo. There are 137 processes listed in Task Manager, with battery consumption ranging from about 8 to 25W, averaging around 13W. When I opened Brave with a single tab and streamed a YouTube video in 1080p without sound, my CPU usage was near 8W and the total battery drain averaged 27W. This seems unusual. I’m also puzzled because my laptop runs an Intel Iris XE graphics card and has both an integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU and a dedicated RTX3050. Would it make sense to use just one GPU? I’ve tried Linux with envycontrol before, and switching to the integrated GPU significantly improved battery life. What are your thoughts?
Comparing similar devices, idle power use between 8-13W is typical. 27W during a YouTube video is quite high. Are you referring to Windows power settings? If yes, why would you prefer higher core utilization? You might just want to keep more components running. If you're experimenting, try throttling and adjusting PL1/PL2 limits so the CPU works within its assigned power. I’m not sure about Linux, as its drivers aren’t as efficient as Windows ones, which could affect sleep behavior. That’s roughly all I can say. As for the GPU, if HWInfo shows 0W consumption, it’s near optimal.
You followed a reset guide from ASUS support. Your graphics card now powers down occasionally. Are there options or tools to limit its use only when needed, or to disable it completely during battery use?
Just to clarify, if you don’t mention it, I won’t be alerted about your reply. The idea of putting your GPU to sleep is quite a deep dive. Something that really assisted me was turning off a particular Nvidia service while the battery was low. Besides that, it might be useful to identify which program triggers your GPU and directs it toward the iGPU. As I mentioned earlier, the screen capture tool often runs on my GPU by default for some reason. If it tells you you lack a required section in your driver, consider reinstalling it (follow a guide) and use the official version from Asus’s site—make sure you get the correct Optimus support. Once updated, you can proceed. (To disable the service: open the “Services” window (search it in Windows), locate NVIDIA Display Container LS, right-click, properties, set startup type to disabled, click apply, then stop the service.) You could give it a shot. If it functions, I’m happy to help automate it.
Initially, I ran the DDU test. My GPU was previously showing a RX 3050 but now appears as an RTX 3050 Ti. I expected problems to vanish, but they persist. Now I see the GPU power consumption listed, though my NVIDIA app and GPU-Z say it’s zero. It looks like the GPU shuts down, yet my battery drains heavily—returns to normal only when I turn off the GPU in Task Manager. This is confusing because the GPU seems to work properly. When an app is configured to use the dedicated GPU in Windows, it actually does. For instance, my CPU power usage is 7W, the dedicated GPU reads 0W, and battery drain is 27W. After disabling the dedicated GPU driver in Device Manager, CPU power drops to 6W and battery drain falls to 9W. What’s going on here?