MSI Vector 16 HX AI GPU capped at 20W while PD charging

yungzilla777

yungzilla777

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May 17, 2025
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Hello,
as title says, I cannot get my dGPU beyond 25w while I'm charging laptop via USB typeC/PD and it destroys my 5080 with 20 FPS avg.

I have last BIOS version .117... I remember that in the past the maximum limit was 45w or so... the ridicolous thing si that if i keep the laptop on battery only, the TDP jumps to 45W.

Anyone els is facing the same issue and eventually is there a fix?
Thank you
 
Switch between different user scenarios and check if the power remains 25w.
 
I tried it with no luck. tried rebooting.
The only thing that temporarly unlocks the dGPU wattage is disabling and re.enabling it from device manager, but if I disconnect and reconnect the PD cable, it immediately refreshes back to 25W.
 
5080 can pull up to 175W if it's not limited and it should not be in vector. With what are you taking the measures? Maybe try to reset embedded controller:
1. Turn off the computer.
2. Remove the power source.
3. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds to reset.
to verify you have done it properly If you try to turn the laptop on without AC/DC adapter it should not boot.
4. Reconnect the power source and start the computer normally.
You could also pull the cover and disconnect battery for 10-20mins. for the same EC reset effect.
I assume you are using original 330W AC/DC adapter? It seems like a EC safety measure rather than weird bug imo.
 
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Janusz_tramwaj_3000 said:
5080 can pull up to 175W if it's not limited and it should not be in vector. With what are you taking the measures? Maybe try to reset embedded controller:
1. Turn off the computer.
2. Remove the power source.
3. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds to reset.
to verify you have done it properly If you try to turn the laptop on without PD cable it should not boot.
4. Reconnect the power source and start the computer normally.
You could also pull the cover and disconnect battery for 10-20mins. for the same EC reset effect.
I assume you are using original 330W PD adapter? It seems like a EC safety measure rather than weird bug imo.
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks for answering.

I am displaying TDP information using cmd command "nvidia-smi -q -d POWER".
Already tried performing an ECC reset with no success, but I did not woke my laptop up with PD charger but with normal AC adapter; I don't think it can make any difference on the result of the reset tho.

I am using a 140W PD charger since pd charging supported on Vector is up to 140W. I also noticed that if i plug my 140W charger when i am on 80% or above (I still could not find the exact percentage) the TDP comes back to 40W instead of 25W, so I am suspecting that it's like this "by design"... but I mean, it's kind of pointless to not being able to do literally the same stuff I do with my laptop on BATTERY ONLY... If I gotta have the full battery in orde to get the same gpu TDP as when I'm on Battery only what's even the point of PD charging?
 
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Sorry I misunderstood a bit, you are using USB power delivery to charge (yes you need AC/DC original 330W adapter for waking it up after EC reset, my bad!), if so it is limited in total to 140W of power. I never tried USB-C PD on my device to be honest. Does the dGPU show proper limits when using the original AC/DC adapter?

Also when you trick it via device manager does it stay at normal limit as long as you don't disconnect and reconnect the PD? (for example it can work as intended for few hours-have you tried running some stress test under those conditions, as it may set proper limits and still not to pull correct power (around 25W) - if so, there might be some short strictly on PD chip(I've heard those tend to fail often).
Just to be sure, everything else works as intended with USB PD connected meaning: CPU power limits are correct, usb ports are giving power, battery is being charged?
 
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Janusz_tramwaj_3000 said:
Sorry I misunderstood a bit, you are using USB power delivery to charge (yes you need AC/DC original 330W adapter for waking it up after EC reset, my bad!), if so it is limited in total to 140W of power. I never tried USB-C PD on my device to be honest. Does the dGPU show proper limits when using the original AC/DC adapter?

Also when you trick it via device manager does it stay at normal limit as long as you don't disconnect and reconnect the PD? (for example it can work as intended for few hours-have you tried running some stress test under those conditions, as it may set proper limits and still not to pull correct power (around 25W) - if so, there might be some short strictly on PD chip(I've heard those tend to fail often).
Just to be sure, everything else works as intended with USB PD connected meaning: CPU power limits are correct, usb ports are giving power, battery is being charged?
Click to expand...
Yes, the problem is happening with PD charging. Everything else (except another problem with specific 140W PD charging, I've also wrote a post about it but in the end MSI told me to send it in RMA and I did not want to for a small issue like that.. https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/vector-16-hx-ai-a2xwig-140w-pd-charging-issue.418671/) is working as intended.

I mainly game connected to original 330W AC as it should be, but I really do not undestand how my GPU TDP can be this low if connected to PD (and charging) rather than having the laptop tunning on battery only... It really shoudn't work like this... at least keep the power limit the same as on battery mode.

CPU power limit seems ok, I only noticed the GPU at first with MSI Afterburner overlay what was showing me never beyond 20W.

I got aware of the fact because I wanted to do a light gaming session on my couch and decided to charge laptop with PD and noticed that even the light games were laggy and stuff...

Thanks for the support
 
Yeah weird, in battery mode the limit is like 50-60W I think. Last but not least just to be sure the PD adapter you are using is 140W and you have correct usb-c cable capable of such power(140W/240W) most PD cables I looked up were 100W.Maybe new BIOS(not sure if you updated) changed something in EC-PD communication rules. if it's not the cable I think there might be some component issue forcing EC chip to negotiate lower power limits.
Glad to hear you can enjoy the full 330W power of AC/DC adapter :biggrin:
 
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Yeah I am currently using both wall charger and cable by UGREEN, GAN 200W charger (I returned the 140W model hoping to fix the first issue with a new one -- I bought also ANKER to test -- but no luck so I kept this one) and the cable is 240W max.

On battery I get 45W of power limit on my GPU (using nvidia-smi -q -d POWER).
 
45W on battery is correct.
Ok last idea. Was the battery under 80% when doing so? When battery is under 80% the power goes mainly to fast charge the battery. If its over 80% it should set ~40W limit as you said in opening post.

some AI explanation surely more detailed than mine seem mostly correct as I glanced through it:

Scenario A: Battery is BELOW 80% (Fast Charging)​

When the battery is low, the laptop pulls maximum power to juice it up as fast as possible.

  • Battery Charging Intake: ~60W – 70W
  • System Overhead (Motherboard, 16" screen, fans, RAM, SSD): ~20W
  • CPU Minimum (Basic Windows tasks/background apps): ~25W – 30W
  • Remaining for dGPU: ~20W – 25W
The EC mathematically has to clamp the RTX 5080 to 25W here. If it let the GPU pull 45W, the total system draw would hit 160W+, which would instantly trip the UGREEN charger's safety switch and shut off the port.

Scenario B: Battery is ABOVE 80% (Trickle Charging)​

Once the battery hits 80%, lithium chemistry requires the charging speed to drop drastically to prevent damage.

  • Battery Charging Intake: Drops to a trickle of ~10W – 15W
  • System Overhead & CPU: ~45W – 50W
  • Power Freed Up: ~45W – 50W
  • Remaining for dGPU: Allocated up to 40W
Because the battery is no longer aggressively drinking power from that 140W straw, the EC safely shifts that extra headroom over to the dGPU, letting it jump up to 40W.
 
Janusz_tramwaj_3000 said:
45W on battery is correct.
Ok last idea. Was the battery under 80% when doing so? When battery is under 80% the power goes mainly to fast charge the battery. If its over 80% it should set ~40W limit as you said in opening post.

some AI explanation surely more detailed than mine seem mostly correct as I glanced through it:

Scenario A: Battery is BELOW 80% (Fast Charging)​

When the battery is low, the laptop pulls maximum power to juice it up as fast as possible.

  • Battery Charging Intake: ~60W – 70W
  • System Overhead (Motherboard, 16" screen, fans, RAM, SSD): ~20W
  • CPU Minimum (Basic Windows tasks/background apps): ~25W – 30W
  • Remaining for dGPU: ~20W – 25W
The EC mathematically has to clamp the RTX 5080 to 25W here. If it let the GPU pull 45W, the total system draw would hit 160W+, which would instantly trip the UGREEN charger's safety switch and shut off the port.

Scenario B: Battery is ABOVE 80% (Trickle Charging)​

Once the battery hits 80%, lithium chemistry requires the charging speed to drop drastically to prevent damage.

  • Battery Charging Intake: Drops to a trickle of ~10W – 15W
  • System Overhead & CPU: ~45W – 50W
  • Power Freed Up: ~45W – 50W
  • Remaining for dGPU: Allocated up to 40W
Because the battery is no longer aggressively drinking power from that 140W straw, the EC safely shifts that extra headroom over to the dGPU, letting it jump up to 40W.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for this, very clear explanation.

It matches my actual condition: as I said in the previous message I still was not able to catch the exact percentage spot where the power limits restores itself to 45W, but as you explain in your reply, I observed that if the battery is near 90/100% I have 40W power limit as it should be.
 
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