Razer blade 16 2023 - High power idle

Razer blade 16 - 2023 - RTX 4090

Problem Description:

• NVIDIA GPU remains in P4 state at ~28W even when no processes are running (nvidia-smi confirms 0 active processes).
• When processes were running, power draw was only 4W, which is the opposite of expected behavior.
• Trying to enable persistence mode (nvidia-smi -pm 1) or change power limits (nvidia-smi -pl XX) results in "Not supported on this platform" errors.
• The GPU does not seem to fully power down when idle.

Troubleshooting Steps Taken

1. Offloaded all applications to Intel iGPU

   • Used Windows Graphics Settings and NVIDIA Control Panel to ensure all apps (including dwm.exe) run on the Intel GPU.
   • Verified via nvidia-smi that no active processes were using the NVIDIA GPU.

2. Checked GPU Power State

   • After offloading processes, the GPU unexpectedly stayed in P4 at 28W, rather than dropping to P8/P12 (<5W).

3. Tried Adjusting Power Settings via nvidia-smi (Failed)

   • nvidia-smi -pm 1 → "Persistence mode not supported"
   • nvidia-smi -pl 15 → "Changing power limit not supported"

4. Enabled PCIe Link State Power Management (Windows Power Settings)

   • Changed PCI Express > Link State Power Management to Maximum Power Savings.
   • No change in GPU power state.

5. Tried Disabling Dynamic Boost & Resizable BAR

   • Dynamic Boost: Set Power Management Mode to "Optimal Power" in NVIDIA Control Panel.
   • Resizable BAR: Disabled in BIOS.
   • No change in power draw.

6. Manually Underclocked GPU (Tested if Dynamic Boost Was Active)

   • Used MSI Afterburner to reduce core and memory clocks by -100MHz.
   • No significant drop in power usage, suggesting Dynamic Boost is not the issue.

7. Attempted Disabling NVIDIA GPU Entirely

   • Device Manager > Disabled NVIDIA GPU
   • Power draw dropped significantly, confirming that something is keeping the GPU awake when enabled.

8. Checked for VBIOS / BIOS Updates

   • Looked for updates from the laptop manufacturer in case of firmware bugs causing high idle power draw. Wasnt able to find anything specific.