The first tests of the Arc A770 and 750 already showed that Intel apparently failed to give the two new mid-range graphics cards an appropriately low power state. This leads to a comparatively high power consumption when doing nothing and under low load: The PCGH test measured between 42 watts for the A750 when idling and 55 watts for the A770 in YouTube mode, which also leads to noticeable fan activity. The AMD and Nvidia competition is usually around 5 to 25 watts, depending on the model.
When asked at the time, Intel put it on record that they were aware of this behavior with the high idle power consumption and were working on more efficient idle modes. However, a time window for the implementation (supposedly in the form of a driver) was not mentioned. Intel has now published instructions on its support website on how owners of an Intel Arc graphics card can change it themselves, for which you have to go to the BIOS/UEFI of the mainboard and the Windows system settings. A possible solution via driver therefore seems unlikely at the moment.
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Intel Arc A770 & A750 video review: There’s still a lot to do, Intel
Intel’s Energiesparanleitung
As explained in the support article, Intel’s architecture uses the PCI-E 2.0 specification’s L0s and L1 power modes, which must be enforced by software setting. These modes are part of Active-State Power Management (ASPM) designed for PCI Express devices. Accordingly, the ASPM L1 mode and the global operating system settings for this must be activated so that the Arc A7 GPUs can use the power-saving state. Intel describes the necessary steps as follows:
For optimal power consumption, configure the BIOS as follows:
1. Enable OS controlled [Betriebssystem-gesteuertem; Anm. d. Red] ASPM by setting Native ASPM to Enabled.
2. Enable PCI Express root port ASPM and select L1 Substates.
Consult your motherboard manual or contact your motherboard manufacturer if you’re not sure where to find these settings. Different manufacturers may use different names for the same setting.
Also configure the Windows* power settings as follows:
1. Go to Start > System > Power & Sleep.
2. Click Additional Power Settings.
3. Select your preferred plan and click Change plan settings.
4. Click Change advanced power settings.
5. Look for PCI Express.
6. Click the “+” sign next to PCI Express to expand the options.
7. Click the “+” sign next to Link State Power Management to expand the options.
8. From the drop-down menu, select Maximum power savings as the setting.
9. Click Apply And then Okay.
Results may vary
According to Videocardz.com, Arc A7 GPU owners should give the solution a shot, and feedback is encouraged. It should be noted that the results may vary depending on the refresh rate or number of monitors. The power consumption values determined in the specialist tests were also usually recorded with special hardware monitoring tools for GPUs, so that common software performance measurements can turn out differently.
