Gaming On Battery Power?

[Mystikal]

I was just wondering what everyones views are on gaming on battery power. I have a new 2010 MBP and was wondering if I should leave the AC adapter out and plug it in when the power gets low, or just keep it plugged in gaming all the time?

 

[0858131]

I think it depends on a few things. If you want to game while on battery power, it'll obviously drain quicker for more powerful games. But also, make sure to change your Energy Saver settings in System Preferences. Your MBP has its defaults set to save battery power while unplugged (meaning less performance). You might want to change that to ensure your games run smoothly.

 

[GGJstudios]

There's no problem leaving it plugged in.

 

[mikeo007]

There's no problem leaving it plugged in.

+1. Unplugging it will usually cause performance to suffer due to built in power-saving in both the CPU and the GPU. Even if you have OSX's power saving turned off, the hardware still has its own. Speedstep for example, will kick in on battery power regardless of power-save options.

 

[dsprimal]

i would definitely keep it plugged in.

1) your not going to be moving your mbp around since you will be stationary playing a game.

2) games are obviously very power hungry apps and would drain your battery faster then casual use.

3) i would keep it plugged in so my baby can eat as much power as needed for me to have a smooth gaming experience 😉

 

[mrsir2009]

Depends... I play light games like Age of Empires 3 on my 13" MBP and the preformance doesn't seem to suffer.

 

[dsprimal]

Depends... I play light games like Age of Empires 3 on my 13" MBP and the preformance doesn't seem to suffer.

true, forgot to add "certain games" in my post. 😀

 

[eatmyshade]

wouldn't the constant charging and unplugging for game playing run up the cycle count?
id just keep mine plugged