I have almost the same machine (730U3E-S02PL, some slight differences in spec), so I can share my experiences with you. Hopefully it will help you to fix the problems with energy drain.
The main reason for the unnaturally high power consumption is that your discrete graphic card (Radeon) is constantly on. To switch it off, you will have to install the official AMD drivers from:
http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Linux+x86#amd-catalyst-packages
You can try using beta drivers, but I have found them unstable, so I do not recommend them. Unpack the downloaded file and run amd-driver-installer-XXXXXX.run (with root privileges).
After having installed the drivers, reboot your machine. Run the Catalyst Control Center:
sudo amdcccle
and under the "Graphics switching" or whatever (I've got it in Polish...), choose your Intel card. You will have to reboot your computer again. If you see a window informing you that your computer is running in low graphics mode, do not worry. Click cancel and reboot it again. If unity does not start - power your computer off (by pressing and holding the power button for a few secs) and then on again.
Performing these steps alone improved my battery life from like 2 hours to 4+. It also helps with the fan spinning constantly at high speed.
Next thing you can do is to enable intel_pstate (a new power scaling driver used for modern Intel CPUs):
gksu gedit /etc/default/grub
change the line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
to:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash intel_pstate=enable"
Save the file, and run these commands:
sudo update-grub
sudo reboot
Install TLP (tool for setting and managing your power-saving options):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw
Install thermald (a tool developed by Intel's Open Source Technology Center which monitors and controls the CPU temperature, preventing it from overheating):
sudo apt-get install thermald
To be able to switch the CPU scaling driver easily, you can use the cpufreq indicator. Install it by using this command:
sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq
You can find more details here:
- http://www.webupd8.org/2014/04/prevent-your-laptop-from-overheating.html
- http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-configuration.html
Best Answer
base on your description, you have the proprietary driver installed.
You could switch between AMD / Intel GPU by using the AMD Catalyst Control Center
This could be done by searching AMD in your dash
And open the "Administrative" one to switch GPU. You will be asked to enter your password for it.
However, currently there is a bug affecting it: https://pad.lv/1309550
If nothing happened after you entered the password. Please open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + t) and run:
sudo amdcccleYou will see this control center, and switch the desired GPU here: