PCI Express Link State Power Management is a Windows power-saving management feature that always creates confusion about what to do with it. 

Hopefully, you have no more confusion after reading this article.

In fact, I am writing this piece regarding remove the confusion. If you explore the article, hopefully, you will learn about the purpose, what should you do, and how to do that with the feature. 

What Is the Purpose of Link State Power Management?

Link State Power Management is a Windows system-based advanced power settings option under the PCI Express. It is working with the Active State Power Management (ASPM). The main purpose of the option is to control power savings management.

There are three modes to activate through the option. 

1. ‘Off’– if you select it, power savings will be stopped totally. This means it will consume high latency.
2. ‘Moderate Power Savings’– if you choose it, your computer will save comparatively less power. Relatively, the duration will be much shorter to recover from the Sleep state. This means it will consume mid-level latency.
3. ‘Maximum Power Savings’– if you select it, your PC will save high-rated power. Relatively, the duration will be much longer to recover from the Sleep state. This means it will consume less latency. 

What Should You Do With Link State Power Management Feature?

You should take an action through the ‘Link State Power Management’ feature depending on what you need actually either power saving or latency. 

You can turn off the feature if your PC or Laptop is always plugged in and you need latency rather than power savings.

You can turn on the feature whenever you need a long power backup. 

The interesting part maybe, you can choose both options from the feature settings. You will get two individual portions- ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’. There will be three modes for each portion. So, select ‘off’ for the ‘plugged in’ portion. And select ‘Moderate power savings’ or ‘Maximum power savings’ for the ‘On battery’ portion.

PCI Express Link State Power Management – How to Turn On or Off?

After having clarity about the feature, now you need to know the details about the process of turning on or off the feature. I will describe the process step by step below that you can apply easily.

Step 1

Firstly, you need to tap the Windows and ‘I’ keys together to access the ‘Settings’ window. While appearing it, you have to click on the ‘System’ section.

Step 2

Consequently, a new interface will be visible on the screen. Next, you have to scroll down the left sidebar to find ‘Power & sleep’ and select it.

Step 3

Then look at the right sidebar. Scroll down and select the ‘Additional power settings’ option. It will stand under the ‘Related settings’ portion.

Step 4

Next, the ‘Power Options’ window will become evident. Here you will find the ‘Change plan settings’ option on the right side bottom. Click on it to enter inside.

Step 5

As a result, you will get the ‘Edit Plan Settings’ interface on the screen. Give your attention to the left bottom. You will see ‘Change advanced power settings’. Tap the option.

Step 6

Next, you have to scroll down the newly appeared interface and find out ‘PCI Express’. Once you have seen the name in the list, expand it.

Step 7

Here you will get the ‘Link State Power Management’. You have to expand it.

Step 8

Under the option. you will find two criteria to work with. These will be ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’. You have to choose as your own condition which I have described on the upper portion of the article.

Step 9

There will three options for each criterion. ‘Off’, ‘Moderate power savings’, and ‘Maximum power savings’, from these you have to select a single one.

Step 10

After inputting your choice, tap the ‘Apply’ tab and then ‘Ok’ at the end to finish the process.

Final Words

In the end, you may ask that will it be bad to turn off PCI Express Link State Power Management. According to my expertise, turning off the feature will not be bad at all. In addition, you can turn it off if the latency is a matter to you. On the other hand, turn it on if the power savings is a matter to you.