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I have chosen a laptop to use both for university use and gaming: Lenovo Yoga Pro 9 16IMH9. It is quite expensive and has great specs and features, but unfortunately has a major flaw.

According to one of the more detailed reviews of the laptop, when used for intensive gaming, the power supply (charger brick- 170 watt) can't keep up, so the laptop has to constantly tap into the battery, discharging it by 12% every 75 minutes.

I have two concerns about this:

  1. Will that be problematic for the overall life of the battery? Being discharged while plugged in sounds "unnatural" so I'm not sure if it's any different for the battery than being discharged during regular usage.

  2. Can the problem be fixed by purchasing a different power brick, but using the original power plug (as it is proprietary)?

    • 2.1. What specs of the power brick should I consider, other than the wattage being higher, so that it matches the previous power supply and doesn't harm the battery or any other component?
    • 2.2. The reviewer says that the laptop should have "shipped with at least a 200W power supply". Should I get exactly 200W or can I go 250W just to be sure? Can the wattage harm the battery or other components by being too high?

P.S. Please do not recommend other laptops/configurations. I am aware of the potential flaws of my current choice, but have decided that this is the best for the things I will use it for. Getting a cheap laptop and an expensive desktop gaming rig is currently not an option for me.

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    couple of thoughts - I'd look up to see if a higher wattage power brick from the OEM would be an option, and 12% every 75 minutes - are you going to be using the laptop for gaming for over 9 hours? It might not be as big a problem as you think. As for the former, pretty sure battery management should deal.
    – Journeyman Geek ♦
    Commented May 26 at 14:33
  • How powerful power supply the laptop even supports?
    – Justme
    Commented May 26 at 20:29

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  1. The review clearly states, "During stress testing, the battery capacity drops by 12% in 75 minutes... our stress test is the worst-case scenario." So you would have the option of reducing load on the laptop to prevent continual discharge.
  2. Replacing the external power supply might or might not resolve the perceived issue... or it could damage the PC. In that review, it stated, " The bottom heats up to a maximum of 46.3°C." That's on the outside of the case, and the power circuit inside is hotter still. Power is dissipated in dropping and regulating the external 19 VDC or more to the voltage needed for each cell of the battery. At the least, heat from a more powerful "brick" could cause overheating, but it also might simply destroy the laptop's voltage regulator or other parts.
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  • Thank you for the detailed explanation. My main concern comes from the reviewer saying "not everyone will use the laptop in performance mode", right after talking the worst-case scenario. If I ever want to play a more intensive game, I would need to turn it on. Still, thanks a lot for the warning about ruining different parts if I get a more powerful power supply. Have a good one!
    – Staxis17
    Commented May 26 at 20:56
  • @Staxis17, running in performance mode, in and of itself, should not discharge the battery. It is running a heavy task, while in performance mode, that taxes the system.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Commented May 26 at 22:03

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