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Sony S170 lower CPU/GPU processing power while charging battery issue

post #1 of 12
11/6/04 at 4:29pm
Thread Starter 
The title says it all. As one of the original owners of the S170 I never got a full explanation or solution to the problem:

Basically FULL PROCESSING POWER is only available when the battery is NOT being charged (from 0% to 80%, after 80% full power seems available as the computer begins slow trickle charging)

I just recently got an email from SOS asking me to troubleshoot this problem using driver updates. At first I thought IDIOTS... canned cut/paste answer!

But then I thought... could the problem be due to my ATI OMEGA drivers? Is there any possibility that the ATI OMEGA drivers are sucking more power than the SONY designers intended with their stock ATI drivers and this is causing a reduced CPU/GPU performance?
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post #2 of 12
11/6/04 at 4:52pm
Well you can always try undercloking your video card when not gameing/chargeing. I use ATITool and boot it at 180 core/202 mem .
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post #3 of 12
11/6/04 at 5:45pm
Thread Starter 
I don't think you understand the problem. Re-read the post.

In any case, I re-installed all original SONY ATI drivers and the problem still exists. It is definately a physical power issue while charging which leads me to believe they issued the S270 (which is essentially the same as S170 except it has different power supply) to correct this problem, but they are not making the reasons public so they do not have to replace all "faulty" S170's.

Anyone with an S270 please test for me using 3DMARK 01 SE... test it at full power on AC, then test it again while charging the battery from below 50%.

Your scores should be different (30% decrease for me)
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post #4 of 12
11/6/04 at 7:21pm
I understand the problem, I read your post(s) in the s series thread before.I was just makeing a suggestion that will reduce the power consumption of your m11.All part of trouble shooting the issue.
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post #5 of 12
11/6/04 at 8:28pm
The same issue exists in the 270 as well. Verified myself at a side to side comparison.
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post #6 of 12
11/8/04 at 2:14pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the update Gollum

must just be a "feature" of the laptop and working as intended

DELL laptops have this issue as well but the document it and offer alternative power sources (for a fee) to overcome it

strange that SONY does not
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post #7 of 12
11/8/04 at 5:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PLC
must just be a "feature" of the laptop and working as intended

DELL laptops have this issue as well but the document it and offer alternative power sources (for a fee) to overcome it
It's not a bug, it's a feature, sir.

Sorry. It's old and weared out, but I had to say it.
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post #8 of 12
11/8/04 at 7:52pm
PLC: yeah I thought sony did something about it when I saw the different power adapter. Nope...it the same output as the one we got just a different shape, personally I like mine better. The fan noise is identical. We took each one apart and they are the same machine.....exactly. I did manage to get my mobo out and apllied AS to the gpu as well as the cpu, it did have affect but i dont think i would do it again given the results...+/- 3-4c lower at idle...did lower the fan a bit, but for the work involved, imo, not worth it.
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post #9 of 12
11/13/04 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
Hey Gollum

Does the S270 have 3 USB ports or only 2 like the S170 ?

The website says it has 3.
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post #10 of 12
11/13/04 at 10:12pm
just 2.....3 with the port replicator. Just another misleading website from Sony....However, I have 0 compllaints about this laptop. The 2 machines are identical in every fashion inside and out. Makes you wonder why they bothered to change the numbering scheme. Probably marketing bullsh*t.


edit: I wrote that wrong. 2 on case ...3 on port replicator....5 total w/ both pieces.
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post #11 of 12
11/14/04 at 9:52am
Well, they did change the AC adaptor and lower the price of components.

I heard someone actually returned S270 because he thought the AC adaptor was not as stylish as the one in S170.

Feel kind of lucky that I went with S170 early...
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post #12 of 12
11/14/04 at 4:00pm
Yeah, the newer one is not as "sexy" as the one we have. When I looked at the new one for the first time I thought that something might have changed with the power issue, at first glance it seems larger than ours, but it is not, same amps/volts.
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