How To Check GPU Power Limit (TDP) For A Laptop
Two laptops with the same graphics inside may not perform the same. Performance will vary based on the power limit of the GPU.
Unfortunately, in most cases the power limit is not specified on the spec sheet, so how can you find out? Let’s take a look at how you can easily check GPU TDP on a laptop, and what you can do to find out for a laptop you aren’t able to test.
For a laptop you have access to
What does software report?
After a recent Nvidia driver update, you can open the Nvidia control panel and select Help from the top bar, then system information. This will show you the “Maximum Graphics Power” value, in the below example this laptop is 130W.
The actual value can of course vary based on dynamic boost though, so I recommend actually testing and confirming. For example, the above RTX 3080 reports a maximum graphics power of 130W, but dynamic boost allows it to run at 150W when the CPU isn’t in use.
Checking power limits yourself
The process I use to determine the power limit (TDP) the GPU actually runs at is to simply run a GPU workload and monitor the results – like so:
- Download and run HWInfo
- Run a consistent GPU load such as a game with high settings, I use the Unigine Heaven benchmark.
- In HWInfo, scroll down to the GPU and check “GPU Power”, as highlighted below.
In this case, my RTX 2070 Super laptop GPU runs at 115W, which is considered Max-P or full performance rather than Max-Q.
You don’t need to run your test for long, the example above was a 30 minute stress test and the average in the far right column was 114W. This will dip and rise at times, however the average is close to the expected 115W limit of the machine.
Other software like GPU-Z will show the power levels the GPU is running at too, the principle is the same, run a GPU load and monitor.
Depending on the laptop, the limit may change when the CPU is also engaged. After this, try a CPU stress test like Aida64 at the same time and see how GPU power behaves.
For a laptop you do not have access to
If the power limits are not specified by the vendor, your best bet is to check reviews. Good reviewers will note the power limits they observe as this is a key factor affecting performance. Failing that, you could ask the question to the vendor directly through support channels or who ever is selling the machine.
In an ideal world, all vendors would specify the power limit for the GPU, but unfortunately this is not yet the case. There has been some change in this area recently, hopefully we start to see more companies doing it as Nvidia continues to segment their GPU lineup.
54 Comments
Kunal Das
What is the power limit of GTX 1660Ti Max Q?
Jarrod
Anything below 80W I assume, given that is the maximum for 1660 Ti. It can vary based on the limits set by the vendor, which is part of the problem – just saying it’s Max-Q isn’t very helpful in this regard.
Ultra DMX
Are max-q GPUs just tdp limited or have different specs that their Original counterparts? If they are tdp limited, Considering you have great cooling, can you remove the tdp limit?
Jarrod
Yes, only way you can remove the limit is by flashing custom VBIOS I think.
Abdul
Hey Jarrod, Just curious, of all the laptops you’ve reviewed so far, which one has the best speakers (excluding the macbook lineup).
Jarrod
I say if they’re amazing in the review, unfortunately can’t remember them all or even most of them, but recently XPS 17 and Zephyrus G14 were very good.
ABDUL
Hmm Okay, was hoping you’d say the GT76 Titan or the GT75 Titan.
JC
Hi Jarrod, I really want to know the power limit of the RTX 2060 inside the Acer Predator Helios 300 2020 version. I just can’t find any info about this. The new 115 watt rtx 2060 has a great performance boost compared to last year’s 80 watt variant. It might be a deal breaker to me as I want to buy that laptop. Thanks!
Jarrod
I haven’t tested it yet but others have reported 90W, but I have not been able to confirm this.
Naraku
hello jarrod i am having some confusion regarding power limit i have asus tuf a15 1650 model and when my gpu reaches 50 watts it shows power limit throttling and clocks remain same around 1700mhz so is it normal or there is something wrong with my laptop
Jarrod
The 1650 is listed as a 50 watt part at the high end on the Nvidia website, so that’s normal.
Ahm ed
What is the best laptop for video editing under 1200
Ahm ed
What is the best laptop for video editing under 1300 dollars
Michael
Is it fine to increase power limit for a laptop?
If not. Is it okay my laptop is reaching its power limit?
Jarrod
Sure, some laptops are locked and changing it will either do nothing, otherwise you’ll just see higher temperatures, as that’s the trade off of more power.
Avinash Tripathi
Hi Jarrod,
Hope you’re safe and sound.
I want to buy Asus zephyrus M15 laptop, is it value for money?
Can you please do a review of it?
Thank you
Jarrod
I haven’t had that one for testing yet so can’t say just now, hoping ASUS will be able to have it available in my country to lend me soon.
David C
Hello Jarrod
There has been a problem recently with the Lenovo legion 7i laptops, their hinges are breaking due to poor design and many users have faced this problem.. so can you please make a video on it and check it’s durability with the design. Much appreciated.
Jarrod
This is not something I can do. Not only do I not have a 7i anymore, I only get to borrow laptops for a couple of weeks so I am never able to comment on long term durability issues.
Abhimanyu
Hey, my dell 7577’s gpu always power limits while gaming. What can I do to run it at a consistent clockspeed? It’s a 1060 max-q.
Jarrod
Max-Q is meant to power limit by design, there’s nothing you can do to boost it unless you want to roll the dice on some random customized VBIOS.
Abhimanyu
So basically the clockspeed is always meant to throttle? Idk why but my laptop is not performing as it should. The temps are way under control. But still both the cpu and gpu power limit throttle. After uninstalling intel dynamic platform and thermal framework the cpu doesn’t power limit throttle. My Cpu & Gpu temps are between 68-78°C and 68-71°C during gaming.
Jarrod
Companies set power limits to avoid temperatures getting too hot, the trade off is it can leave performance on the table depending on the workload, sometimes you can boost the power limits with software if it’s not locked.
Abhimanyu
So there’s nothing I can do to have better performance? My gpu temps are way under control. It barely goes above 70°C. Since 7577 is marketed as a gaming machine I was hoping that it’ll perform better.
Jarrod
You could try a custom VBIOS with higher GPU power limit, but it’s risky if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Abhimanyu
I have no idea about that so I think I’ll pass and focus on building myself a proper rig next time. Thanks man
Vit
Hi Jarrod
For Nvidea based laptops – is it now possible to verify the GPU power limit via Nvidea control panel? Would you know how to go about doing this? Thank you
Jarrod
Nvidia has said that with newer laptops, however I have not seen it reported yet.
Stephan
Hi Jarrod, recently purchased a new laptop with nvidia 1650 ti graphics card. However i am not aware of the tgp of my gpu variant as neither the seller nor the oem mentioned it in the specifications.
I thankfully stumbled on your post here and was relieved to see that the nvidia control panel provides the maximum power wattage. However, to my disbelief, in system information under help, Maximum graphics power does not appear at all among the other system info like cuda cores and such. I checked if it was a driver issue like you said, but I have the latest drivers, both game ready and studio drivers installed.
Any idea why I am unable to see the maximum graphics power and possibly other settings? Using hwinfo64, I saw that my max power exceeds 50W, while the tgp on nvidia’s site for 1650 is 50 – 80 W. It would be helpful if i was able to see the maximum power for the gpu in my system.
Jarrod
I suppose it might only be an option for newer GPUs, not sure, worst case just monitor GPU Power in HWInfo with Heaven GPU benchmark running.
Jose
Jarod, good day, I am wondering is there any way I can increase my power limit pf my gpu with my hp omen 15 ryzen 7 4700u with intgrated graphics and 1660ti? Seems like my laptop cant handle some of my games like rfonline
Jarrod
If that model is already at 80W, then no probably not. If it’s a lower Max-Q variant you may be able to flash some other VBIOS, but it’s unsupported and you need to know what you’re doing and do research before considering that.
Sujan subba
How much tdp is enough for gaming like dota 2, cs, battlefield??
Jarrod
I don’t have a good answer, but the first two run on basically any potato.
martin
Hi Jarrod, I have the Acer Nitro 5 with a 11th gen i7, rtx 3060 and 16 gb of ram (Model number: AN515-57-79U4) and on the spec sheet it says my tgp is 95w but in game my gpu only goes up to 80w. Do you know how i can fix this?
Jarrod
That’s probably normal, the quoted wattage is with dynamic boost, so in a GPU only workload, so not most real games as most games also use the CPU, so 15w lower is common. You can see actual wattage in gaming in my review.
Nuwan
Hi Jarrod, First of all many thanks to what you do here. It’s really informative.
It made me choose Lenovo legion 5 15ITH6H with 11800H and 3060 model.
I’m really happy with the overall performance.
I noticed that the GPU never went beyond ~ 110W.
It came with a 230W adapter. Can it be the issue?
Jarrod
Probably not, 130W is only possible in a GPU only workload, anything higher than 115W is dynamic boost which is unlikely to get hit when the CPU is also loaded up. If you run a GPU only stress test like Unigine benchmark I’d expect it to be higher.
Furkan
Hello bro, on my i7-11800h (45W) – RTX3050 (70W) laptop, while the video card is running 70w, the processor does not exceed 25w. While the video card is 55-60w, the processor is max 35w. There is an event called battery boost. The performance is low for 2 hours, but after 2 hours it crashes completely. Graphics Card drops 65>9-10w / cpu 25>5-6-15w. When the charge reaches 50, the battery boost feature is turned off and the processor turns off the turbo boost. Went to the service, they said it’s normal. Because techs don’t understand shit. Do we have a chance to get stable 65w graphics card and 35w processor usage for this device?
Jarrod
Battery boost means you’re running on battery power, are you plugged into wall power? Maybe the power brick isn’t powerful enough. Also depends what the actual model is and what power limits the OEM has defined.
Ethan
Hi Jarrod, I have searched everywhere and cannot find a concrete answer: is there a definitive ratio (or at least a ballpark estimate) when it comes to gpu wattage and gaming performance? I saw somewhere that for every 10W difference, there is a 5% performance difference. Does this sound accurate?
Jarrod
I do not know, sorry. It’s almost impossible to fairly test without using different machines unless you’re Nvidia.
Abiel
Hi Jarrod. Is normal for an RTX2060 90W to surpass 105W causing power supply (180W) to get disconnected from laptop. I don’t know what can be the cause. But is in specific games. Thanks
Jarrod
Never heard of that happening. 90W is pretty standard for 2060, but some can boost higher. It’s possible in some workloads the power brick can’t provide enough power, but have never seen it “disconnect”, assuming you mean not charging anymore despite being physically still connected to the machine.
Abiel
Yes. The laptop stop charging. These happens only when the GPU goes over 100W whe. I’ve been testing some games. I have an Intel I7-9750h, RTX2060 90W, 32GB RAM, Screen 144Hz…. MSI GL63 9SEK. I bought the laptop way before the 2060 115W Version. So I’m wondering why is happening. I thought it was overheating in the power brick, but I did the test when the power brick was cold and using HWInfo to see thermals and power consumption. Thermals: CPU 80-90, GPU 71-75
Power: CPU 65W, GPU 105W
Jarrod
Not sure, ask MSI and see what they say is probably the way to go, if it’s a common issue they should know about it. Maybe need a higher wattage brick for that workload.
Al
Hi Jarrod, I have a gigabyte g5 laptop with I5-11400h, rtx 3050 ti. In my nvidia control panel system information, it says that maximum power is 85 watts, but when I am playing or stress testing my gpu, I only get maximum of 60 watts. Is this normal? Is there any way to reach that 85 watts? Thank you Jarrod
Jarrod
Yes, the nvidia control panel shows the max possible if you run a GPU only stress test in a best case scenario, it may not hit it often. Dynamic boost range is 15-25w usually, so 60w being solid during gaming is definitely possible.
kevin
hey jarrod, i just bought msi katana gf66 12UC, the nvidia control panel say its 60 watt max tgp for the rtx 3050, but the seller say theres dynamic boost 2.0 60 + 15 watt, and i never see graphic power in hwinfo past 60 watt even with stress test, some say its borrowed from cpu, is this true?
3d mark time spy gpu test is 4700 (non overclock); 5000 (full overclock). also is vbios laptop safe? i just want a 75 watt rtx 3050 (it still 8gb tho, does ram gonna effect the score too?)
Jarrod
Is the stress test GPU only like Unigine Heaven? I think Timespy uses CPU too so probably wouldn’t expect that to hit max GPU TDP, but I also never monitor that.
Jeff Tucker
Hello, Jerrod. I have an HP Omen 17.3 with i7 12700H and an RTX 3070 TI. It’s a fairly new GPU so not a whole lot of news out yet concerning max TDP and if HP is limiting it to its fullest potential. Any idea?
Jarrod
If you have the laptop, you should be able to determine what it runs at with this guide. Can’t see the power limit online as HP don’t specify it which isn’t great, most companies these days do. I don’t have an Omen with those specs, so I can’t check. Easiest way to see the absolute max power limit is system information in the Nvidia Control panel tab.
Jeff Tucker
Thanks, Jarrod. Per Nvidia Control Panel, my HP Omen has a max power limit of 150 and has Boost 2.0 enabled; however, it’s a Max-Q not a Max-P. So I’m kinda confused 🫤 I’ve seen it briefly hit under full load at 148 to 150, but normally it operates in the 117 to 124 range. Any ideas?
Jarrod
Sounds pretty normal, probably 125W with dynamic boost up to 150W best case.