RTX 4090 Mobile stuck in P0 state (37W idle) with no active processes

Gaming and Visualization Technologies General Topics and Other SDKs
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System Information:

  • Laptop Model: Alienware m18 R2

  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU

  • NVIDIA Driver Version: 595.71

  • AWCC (Alienware Command Center) Version: 6.12.24

Issue Description:

My dGPU is completely stuck in the P0 power state while the system is completely idle. As shown in the attached nvidia-smi screenshot, there are zero running processes using the GPU, 0% utilization, and 0MiB VRAM allocated. Despite this, the GPU refuses to drop to the P8 idle state and constantly draws around 37W, causing unnecessary heat and battery drain.

Troubleshooting Steps Already Taken:

  • Performed a clean GPU driver reinstall using DDU in Safe Mode.

  • Performed a clean reinstall of the Alienware Command Center (AWCC).

  • Verified that Windows power plans and NVIDIA Control Panel power management are set to “Normal”.

  • Ensured no hidden background monitoring software or external displays are keeping the GPU awake.

Please see the attached screenshot for the exact nvidia-smi output. Let me know if you need any further diagnostic logs.

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Hi there @delor.vd.

I think this is rather a topic for the GeForce end-user forums.

Especially laptops do have a power management setup specific to the overall device design, which is outside the control of NVIDIA. The OEM, in this case Dell defines how the Idle behavior looks like. Your first stop should probably be their support.