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List:       openbsd-tech
Subject:    Re: better cpu throttling
From:       Darrin Chandler <dwchandler () stilyagin ! com>
Date:       2010-06-30 22:26:16
Message-ID: 20100630222616.GQ5181 () tuppy ! intrepidhosting ! net
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On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 11:44:46PM +0200, Peter Hessler wrote:
> On 2010 Jun 30 (Wed) at 22:25:45 +0100 (+0100), Luis Henriques wrote:
> :Eventually there are usage scenarios where setting the maximum
> :performance to 50% (or whatever value) may make sense -- if you want to
> :save some power, for example.
> 
> It doesn't really save any power.  I've done tests while doing compiles
> at apm -L vs autoscaling.  I get significatly longer battery life with
> cranking up to 100% speed during the compile, then going back down to
> 0% vs staying at 0% the entire time.

What you're saying is true, but that's not the only use case. Streaming
media may not benefit from 100% cpu but may not be able to work properly
at 0%. The same goes for other common tasks as well. Running at 30% or
50% will indeed save power for those cases where running at 100% won't
make what you're doing finish faster and running at 0% won't work.

-- 
Darrin Chandler            |  Phoenix BSD User Group  |  MetaBUG
dwchandler@stilyagin.com   |  http://phxbug.org/      |  http://metabug.org/
http://www.stilyagin.com/  |  Daemons in the Desert   |  Global BUG Federation

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