Why Do Gaming Laptops Have Bad Battery Life? [5 REASONS]

Battery backup of a laptop is one of the prime concerns among users because many times while traveling, it really matters as to how long your laptop battery will provide backup. Also, people tend to know the battery life of the laptop while buying.

I have owned a gaming laptop for a long time in my college days (I am a BCA graduate, so I have been a computer guy all my life, and have worked with various laptops), thus, I totally related to this, and I will be sharing more information about why gaming laptops have bad battery life, and why the battery drains so fast in Gaming Laptops. Also, I will put some light on how to increase battery life on a gaming laptop.

5 Reasons Why Do Gaming Laptops Have Bad Battery Life

1. High-Performance CPU

Normal laptops are made in a way that when you are out of the power outlet, you can still work with it. That is why the battery is the main focus while building these laptops. On the other hand, gaming laptops are generally made for performance. So, the battery is never the focus while building gaming laptops because if they try to match it with the performance the laptop provides, they would need a very heavy battery which will make the laptop much bigger and heavier.

Generally, CPUs with 4 Cores are used in a normal laptop whereas CPUs with 8 or more cores are used in Gaming laptops which generally need more power, and thus, the battery drains out quickly. Manufacturers are only concerned about the performance and not the battery backup when it comes to gaming laptops.

This makes the battery drains out fast, and they need for charging again and again. This is why their overall lifespan shortens too.

2. Dedicated GPU (Generally Known as Graphics Card)

In normal laptops, there is a GPU included with the processor which supports normal video streaming but in gaming laptops due to the need of streaming high-resolution games, there is a need for powerful GPUs. Thus, there is a separate high-end dedicated GPU included which is more powerful than the default one. This dedicated Graphic card offers to run high-resolution games without any lag or drops in frame rate.  For a great gaming experience, a dedicated GPU is indeed required. That is why powerful GPUs are included in gaming laptops.

These high-end dedicated graphics cards might use about 125-135 watts of power as compared to an integrated graphics card which only uses about 40-45 watts of power. Since, more power it needs, the battery drains out quickly.

3. High-Speed Fans

If you compare laptops with Desktop computers, laptops are very compact and everything such as HDD, Motherboard, and other hardware must fit in a small area. Due to the small space, there is less space for airflow, and this makes the laptop heat up quickly. Thus, in normal laptops, 1 single fan is integrated to take out the heat generated by the CPU. But, in the case of a Gaming laptop, a high-speed CPU generates more heat, and also, the GPU produces heat as well. Thus, manufacturers fit 2-3 high-speed fans for better airflow which would prevent overheating. Overheating must be prevented because it would reduce the overall performance of your laptop.

As there are more fans required to cool down the system, the more battery they consume.

5. RGB Backlit lighting

Gaming laptops are made to offer a great gaming experience, and most gamers love to play games in a dark room. RGB backlit lighting helps them see the keyboard keys properly in the dark. Moreover, this keyboard lighting thing is just to give something more to gamers. It has nothing to do with the laptop’s performance. It eats up lot of power by offering nothing but some light which anyway you don’t require.

These are a few reasons that make gaming laptops battery have bad battery life. There may be more reasons such as too many external peripherals attached to the laptop, bigger screen size, etc.

How to Save Battery on a Gaming Laptop and Improve Battery Life?

1. Keep RGB Backlit lighting Off

You do have the option to turn off the Keypad light on your laptop. So, do that, and it will surely save a bit of battery on your gaming laptop. You must have 1-2 keys on your keyboard which would be for increasing and decreasing the lighting. keep pressing the decreasing one, and it will completely off the light. Different brands of laptops may have different options to do it.

2. Adjust Power Settings

Go to your computer’s Control Panel, and look for Power Options.  Now, from the left pane, click “Create a power plan“. Now, Select a power plan with the settings you want.

Now, give your power plan a name, you can give it anything. Then, Click the Next button.

Now, in the next step Use the drop-down menus shown there, and select when your laptop should turn off the display and when it should switch to sleep mode. Lastly, Click the Create button.

This new power plan would help save your laptop’s battery, and this surely increases the battery life.

3. Disconnect Peripherals that are not in use

You must disconnect the peripherals that are not in use such as Mouse, headphones, and others that you are not using but they are eating up battery because you have kept them connected. So, disconnect them if not in use.

4. Adjust Screen Brightness

Lowering the screen brightness significantly improves the battery life of your gaming laptop, and not only this but working in a bit dim light is also good for your eyes. The too-bright screen is not recommended for your eyes.

A few other things you can do to improve battery life are by keeping your laptop dust-free, and it should have proper airflow.