Intel Graphics Software Issue Causing NVIDIA GPU Power Drain when run laptop in battery

[JackAJV]

Today I ran several tests because I was really frustrated with the poor battery life of my laptop in recent months (it went from lasting over 3 hours to just about an hour or even less). After completely removing both the NVIDIA and Intel drivers and reinstalling Intel first with a “clean installation,” I still didn’t manage to fix the issue.

It was only by trial and error that I found the cause: I started closing various apps from the system tray, since Task Manager was always showing 0 processes using NVIDIA. Eventually, when I closed Intel Graphics Software, the NVIDIA GPU finally went into standby, draining 0 watts.

Here are the details:

• With the NVIDIA GPU off (standby), if I unplug the charger and switch to battery power, after a few seconds the GPU powers on and remains idle at 0%, still drawing about 20W (which is huge compared to the 5/7W used by the CPU during light tasks such as writing or web/mail).
• When I plug the charger back in, the GPU correctly goes back into standby at 0W.
• If I uninstall the drivers and reinstall them without Intel Graphics Software, everything returns to normal: the GPU turns on for a few seconds when switching to battery, then powers off by itself, exactly as it always used to.
• Even without uninstalling, simply exiting Intel Graphics Software from the system tray (“Exit”) makes the NVIDIA GPU behave correctly and power down.

The BIOS is already updated to the latest version, and all system drivers are correct. The issue is strictly related to Intel Graphics Software. With the older Intel Control Panel for GPU, I never experienced such behavior: it was lighter, more useful, and above all, it worked properly.

In conclusion, I will no longer use Intel Graphics Software, since it offers no real benefit.

For completeness: my notebook is an i7-12700H with an RTX 3070 GPU.

So the MShybrid GPU system does not work properly on my laptop when running on battery, but it works fine when the power cord is plugged in. This problem was solved uninstalling Intel Graphics software

[JedG_Intel]

Hello JackAJV,

Thank you for posting on Intel Community Forum.

I apologize to hear that you're experiencing issues with Intel Graphics Software. Based on your post, it appears that your laptop's battery life dropped from 3+ hours to 1 hour because Intel Graphics Software was preventing your NVIDIA GPU from properly sleeping, causing it to waste 20W of power on battery.

To address this issue effectively, please share the information below.

1. Did you observe this issue from the start of installing Intel Graphics Software or did the issue started to show after some time?

2. Have you made any other hardware/software changes aside from installing Intel Graphics Software?

3. How are you measuring the 20W GPU power draw - what tool?

Additionally, to have a better understanding of your system configuration and components please generate System Support Utility (SSU) report. Please follow instructions here and send the report - How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows*

I look forward to your response.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JackAJV]

Thank you for your prompt response and for looking into this issue.

To answer your questions:

1. Did you observe this issue from the start of installing Intel Graphics Software or did the issue start to show after some time?
   The issue began immediately after installing the latest Intel Graphics Software. For months prior, I had no problems with the older drivers. I had stopped using the Intel Driver & Support Assistant (DSA) because a previous update caused my PC to freeze every time it entered suspend mode. Since I don't need constant Intel GPU updates, I uninstalled the DSA. When I manually updated the Intel graphics driver this time, the Intel Graphics Software was also updated, which led to the problem described in this thread. I tried to uninstall both intel and nvidia drivers, restarting the system and installing again the Intel first (selecting clean installation), than the nvidia too (same clean installation). The problem was still there.

2. Have you made any other hardware/software changes aside from installing Intel Graphics Software?
   No, the installation of the Intel Graphics driver was the only recent change made to the system. There have been no hardware changes, BIOS updates, BIOS setting modifications, or other significant software updates performed at the same time.

3. How are you measuring the 20W GPU power draw - what tool?
   I am using HWiNFO64 (Sensor mode) to monitor the power draw. I have the "Force GPU Awake" function deactivated otherwise the GPU continues to run until HWiNFO is closed, creating a fake situation. HWiNFO64 consistently shows my NVIDIA GPU (dGPU) drawing between 18W and 22W while on battery and 0W some seconds after plugging in the AC power. Before the driver update, the dGPU power draw would correctly drop to 0W in the same scenario (both in AC or Battery power), and the sensors in HWiNFO would appear "shadowed" and unclickable, indicating the GPU was turned off. 
   Now without Intel Graphics software installed my nVidia is working fine, battery is lasting again.

As requested, I have generated the System Support Utility (SSU) report. The file is attached to this message.

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your further analysis and a potential solution.

Best regards,

JackAJV