Can overclocking damage a laptop charger?

Hi guys, first-time poster here. With some concerns about overclocking and my laptop's power supply.

Basically yesterday I was doing some heavy-duty gaming with my nVidia GTX 970M overclocked to, probably, 60% of its OC capabilities (going to 70-90% would make it unstable and buggy) ... and all of a sudden the screen went darker, like when a laptop goes on Economy mode, effectively that had occurred as I found out. It wasn't anything physical, like the wire slighting disconnecting or something like that, I checked all variables. Decided it was a goner.

To my heart's content I also found out today that the charger is considered an 'accessory' (warranty doesn't apply after 6 months), so essentially both the manufacturer and the store told me to take a hike, even though I got the extra warranty and stuff for the laptop. Finally I just got a new one with a bunch of adapters that I'm probably not going to use at all.

Also, as I was writing this I wanted to post a screenshot of my overclocking settings (using EVGA PrecisionX 16) (perhaps outdated?) and as I opened it got scared s***less as I saw the little 'charging' button disappear for a second and then for three more, thinking I would need to get a third charger. Explorer sort of froze for a second as well. I think this may be a direct hint that indeed it was the oc-ing that got me. BTW I had raised the voltage bar in the program, as I read this was necessary. And seemed to work properly for about a year.

What do you guys think?
I already uninstalled PrecisionX but the extra smoothness thanks to overclocking will certainly be missed.

Its always a possibility... but typically there should be a bit of headroom there. That said, why not get a slightly higher output brick and see?

EarthDog said:

Its always a possibility... but typically there should be a bit of headroom there. That said, why not get a slightly higher output brick and see?

Click to expand...

Well I tried a couple. First a 90W, which turned out to be not enough, then a 120W one, which seems to be -almost- enough, as at certain high demand moments it stops 'charging' and the laptop turns to battery use... only for a split second, but noticeable still.

I couldn't find anything stronger than that. So I guess overclocking is out of the picture until I find a proper replacement, as using extra voltage would definitely be troublesome.

I dont see how a 120W brick wouldn't work. You are not adding 30W worth of power overclocking without touching voltage...

Never use Precision X. It has a well documented history of bricking the LCD panel went used with nvidia cards. Use nvidia inspector instead.

Normally a power brick will trip out and stop supplying power to the laptop once it has reached its limit. Simply unplug it from the wall and plug it back it. However if you are continually running at the limit of the power brick it will most likely damage it over time. If you are really interested in how much power you are drawing you can buy a Kill-a-watt and monitor your power draw from the wall. Bear in mind that power supplies are only about 85% efficient and the rating is for the output power, not the input power. So with a 150w power supply you can see around 165-175w at the wall plug before the power supply has reached its limit. Good luck!