I’ve got a gaming laptop which comes with an enormous 330w power brick. I’d like to buy one of the GaN power supplies which started shipping with a newer version of the same machine to make my backpack a little more luggable. They’re confirmed compatible by several different sources, so that’s not a worry. I’d love it if I could buy the 240w version of the part because it’s cheaper and even lighter than the 330w.
That’s just background for my question, but the question is more general: how can I figure out how much power my laptop actually needs to function properly?
I’m aware that there are a lot of variables in this question and that the absolute max draw on a laptop is what the manufacturer is going to base the power supply on, but I’m looking for what’s going to be adequate in real-world scenarios. I’ve done some testing, both with hardware and software, and found that my laptop consumes a maximum (so far as any of my tests have shown) of about 250w and an average of around 160w under stress. That’s from running OCCT’s power tests. A watt meter confirms those numbers. What’s more, the max only lasted for a few seconds.
In light of this, it seems like I could get away with a 240w power supply since even under something comparable to a gaming load, this would leave about 80w, give or take, for other variables including charging while in use. I’m aware that any scenario which causes it to spike up to around the 240w level is going to suffer/be throttled, but I don’t think that will happen often. I’m no electrical engineer, though, so there are probably things in play for which I have not accounted.
Can anyone confirm my thoughts or shoot big enough holes in them to sink this idea? Is the 330w supply that came with the machine just overkill so that it’s adequate for anything that might happen to or be done with this machine or is there some reason that 330w would be necessary for something that appears to need 250w at the very most while running?
