Does Gaming Reduce Laptop Battery Life? (Reasons Why Not)

It is no secret to anyone that video games dominate a large part of the computer sector. Now, there are hundreds of opinions about the use of these programs, some of which are true and others are myths. For example, a very interesting topic is whether playing video games damages the battery of the laptop.

From an overall perspective, playing video games has no direct negative impact on the life span of the laptop, including its battery. In reality, the battery is damaged by other factors, which may be unrelated to video games, or combined with different activities.

Here, we will analyze in detail all the aspects related to gaming and laptop battery life. In this way, you can determine if you can game without risks or if you have to think a little more about the times of use of your laptop.

Conntents

The myths of playing video games on a laptop

Video games have most of their followers on platforms such as consoles and desktop computers. Only a few users use laptops for gaming, and it’s known that it’s a type of device to which many myths have been attributed.

For example, it’s been said that laptops are bricks, that they are not very powerful like a desktop computer, that games perform worse, among many other things. After some time, it has been shown that these myths are not technically true, but that everything depends on the computer, its hardware, and how it’s used.

However, there is one of these myths that has prevailed over the years, and it’s the one that says that the battery of laptops is damaged by playing video games. Right now, we discuss why this is not the case:

The function of the batteries

A laptop battery is intended to supply electrical power when the computer is not connected to a power outlet. Therefore, it’s built precisely to provide power, regardless of what the computer is used for.

To make it easy to understand, there is another myth that says that playing video games wears out the internal components of a computer. This is completely false because both the processor and the RAM are prepared to support heavy workloads.

Since the battery is part of the computer’s components, it has exactly the same characteristics. Of course, something important has to be clarified here, and that is that a laptop when it’s not connected to the power outlet, but uses the battery, has a slightly lower performance.

This is because the internal components won’t have the full power needed to operate at maximum performance. So instead of stopping completely, the laptop reduces the performance to optimize the battery usage.

Of course, this reduction in performance can affect the user experience when running a video game, especially if it’s a very current title. But to fix this there is a very effective solution: play video games with the computer connected to the power outlet.

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Is it bad to game with the laptop connected to the power oulet?

Now, we are going to analyze one of the most widespread debates over the years: does something happen if you play video games or use the laptop always connected to the power outlet?

There are large companies that state that absolutely nothing happens, but others state that it’s best to use the battery, and when it’s discharged, recharge it.

However, in this sense we can talk about two very important elements:

Batteries cannot be overcharged

When the battery reaches 100% of its charge, it does not continue to store energy, but when it discharges a little, the charger will work again. This prevents overcharging, which is what some people say damages the battery, but it’s a myth all the way around.

Therefore, if you connect the laptop when gaming, there is no risk of it being damaged, at least not as far as its operation is concerned. Of course, if there is a voltage failure or power spikes, it can end up damaging the battery, but that is no longer a problem related to gaming.

In any case, when playing video games with your laptop connected, it always maintains maximum power, but the battery would practically not be doing anything, and therefore it will not be damaged either.

Battery discharge affects its life span

It’s exactly the opposite of what people think: when a battery is completely discharged and takes a long time to recharge it, it suffers damage and could even reduce its life span. In fact, if a battery spends a long period of time completely discharged, it is could stop working.

When can a laptop battery get damaged?

We have already clarified that a laptop is not damaged by using it to play video games, even if it’s intensively. Despite this, there are some things that directly affect the battery, such as the following:

Load cycles

The more times a laptop battery is charged, the faster it will get damaged, and that’s completely normal. After all, it’s a component that suffers wear over time, especially when the discharges are very deep.

Therefore, gaming with the power outlet connected significantly increases the lifespan of the battery, at least in theory, because it doesn’t let the battery discharge, and therefore it takes longer for the charging cycles to complete.

Regarding how many charge cycles are necessary for a battery to be damaged, there is no definitive answer because it depends on the manufacturer and how the battery was built. However, it’s estimated that the standard is about 500 cycles.

Excessive heat

Relatively high temperatures, such as above 30 degrees Celsius, shorten battery life. Now, it’s important not to confuse these concepts about the temperature because the level of external heat received by the battery is not the same as the internal temperature of the processor.

Considering this, if you play video games in a place where it gets hot, or if you place the laptop on a surface that obstructs its fans and spend hours on this activity, the laptop can suffer from overheating, which damages the battery in the first place.

To fix this, simply buy a laptop cooler that cools the bottom area.

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Why not game without battery?

Finally, one of the most interesting options of all is to play video games after removing the battery from the laptop. It is true, the battery is one of the main essences of a laptop, but realistically the cable is not something that bothers when gaming since it goes directly to the power outlet and does not interfere in the front.

If you are going to play video games on a desk, in bed, or anywhere else for a long time and there is a power outlet nearby, remove the battery. In this way, it won’t be connected when it’s actually not being used. Therefore, you will be able to use the maximum power of the laptop by being directly connected to the electrical current.

Of course, this only works on laptop models that allow battery removal, which isn’t possible on all models. Additionally, it’s recommended that you install a surge protector on the outlet to prevent damage from power spikes.