q: Battery life/hitting max temp i5/i7

[starstreak]

If I understand the i5/i7 in the SP4, the main reason to get the i7 is the IRIS 540 gfx processor, right?
The i5 is the 6300u and the i7 is the 6650u. Besides the faster gfx processor in the i7, they kept the core count the same between the two and the i5 actually has a higher base speed but lower turbo speed and 1MB cache less?
So how is it that if using the computer for web browsing and simple tasks, the i5 battery last longer? Is using the IRIS 540 instead of the 520 enough of a power save to boost the i5 battery life just a little?

And while not GPU throttling from what I read, the i7 is hitting some sort of thermal limit and slowing down before the i5 would? Which I haven't encountered with any games I've gotten to load. That I could compare to a i5.

So my question, as I haven't had a chance to try this yet as I'm not home.

If I edit the power management and limit the processor MAX state on the i7 to something like 70 (which if I understand, doesn't mean 70% of MAX state, but close to it) would that help in over heating and even give it better battery life without doing some crazy under volting like some people are doing? but then I wonder if I make it too low if it'll need to keep the CPU ticking longer so it would warm up anyways?

What I'm trying to do is find a way to make the SP4 i7 last longer while watching videos (.mkv,.avi files, not youtube) and web browsing. So when I go on a trip that's going to be 5hrs+ I should be able to watch like 2x2.5hr movies and still have battery.

 

[leeshor]

My experience is that you will lose less battery if you convert MKV files to MP4 files. MKV files have been an issue on pretty much all mobile devices. It isn't that it doesn't work, it just requires more energy. I can't say for sure how that may apply to AVI files.

 

[starstreak]

leeshor- True. But i was looking for an overall reduction of power to save battery. So even web browsing (yeah, I know that's a killer depending on the site. lol.) I was hoping to limit power useage without turning off "features" Like disabling flash or other add-ins. While on a trip, I could live with my computer running a bit slower on simple things to gain battery when a plug is not available.
So that's when I remembered the MAX SPU setting in the power management. So I thought maybe someone tried messing around with that already so I asked.

 

[leeshor]

I use Firefox. and to use Firefox with Flash requires you install a non ActiveX version, you can skip that. All but one of my live tiles is dead. and I don't have mail or anything else running in the background, including Edge which has a background task by default. In Firefox I also have AdBlock Plus installed which means I don't need the modified host file that would be needed for a more stable system if I used Edge. I think the single biggest things other than those are that I operate with 30% brightness most of the time. If you can, turn off WiFi and blue tooth too to save battery. (battery saving mode will make some of those adjustments).

 

[starstreak]

Thanks. When on the plane, it'll be in airplane mode. i hate to dim the nice screen, but may have no choice.

Btw, Microsoft store was going to give me the option to swap the SP4 for the SB. While I'm sure I would get less issues with games, and battery life would be great, I would probably find something else to bother me like the size and weight and no kickstand. I'm 90% sure I'll keep the SP4 and just find ways to make the battery life longer and quit trying to play games. lol

CES showed many new laptops. MS must have a hold on the Intel 6650. I didn't see another good laptop with that chipset Most was configured like the i7 without the IRIS 540.

 

[SteveBorough]

Good power saving tips above but I'd buy an E-reader (ha) instead of a $2000 hybrid if that was all I required from a premium tablet. Obviously to each his own. Anticipating Patch Tuesday tomorrow, else my SP4 i7 is going back this week if they can't fix most of what turns it into a paperweight by lunchtime everyday!