[Battery Life] Impact of RAM / memory configuration + extra data

Framework Laptop 13
8

I did a quick test with Windows 10 Movies & TV between maximized and fullscreen with a 720P video:

  1. Recorded discharge over a 5 minute period in 10 second intervals.
  2. Averaged the discharge rate for the last 4 minutes, (disregarding the first minute where things may settle).

I only did this once, so take this with a bucket of salt :grin:!

Fullscreen consumed 63mW or 0.063W more than maximized. Iā€™d guess that, with at least Movies & TV, either none or a combination of these are happening:

  • the app doesnā€™t take advantage of ā€œexclusive fullscreenā€ like Windows games, so perhaps the Windows interface/UI is still rendered in the background, resulting in no power savings
  • the Windows UI isnā€™t that power hungry (and even less when static)
  • Iā€™ve confirmed playing a video on a larger area on screen consumes more power; that extra power draw from maximized to fullscreen may outweigh the savings from not having to render Windows UI
  • only having run this once, results could be within the margin of error. Fullscreen could in fact consume less than maximized

With that, Iā€™d be confident OS UI power consumption isnā€™t much when static/not updating like during video playback. And the power draw delta between maximized and fullscreen (in Windows Movies & TV, at least) is negligible.

For clarification, I kept the screws undone only during the tests so I could swap the memory faster (will update the original post!). Iā€™d be uncomfortable leaving them undone during regular usage because they jut out a bit and can get caught on or perhaps scratch something.

I also noticed if e.g. the left side of my laptop was off the side of my table, and I put slight pressure on the left part of the palm rest area (e.g. when typing), I wouldnā€™t be able to click the trackpad. Probably because only the magnetic fasteners were holding down the top keyboard/touchpad assembly and not the screws, so that slight amount of flex didnā€™t allow the touchpad to work properly.

Edit: if youā€™re careful with the above though, Iā€™d say itā€™s probably okay! Things are held together pretty well even when the screws are undone.