Militantly FREE software support.
Militantly FREE software support.
NavigationUser loginLinux NewsClick the above for your daily dose of Linux news. Food for ThoughtThe best defense against logic is stupidity. Spam?See spam posts on this site? If so, please don't reply to the spam! Instead, just report the URL to the webmaster. |
cpufreq and the Kill-A-WattA while back, I tried out cpufrequtils package. I have an AMD X2 processor. I had success changing between the performance and conservative frequency governors, which would set the processor frequency to 2 GHz and 1 GHz, respectively. The other day I picked up a Kill-A-Watt, after reading a posting by Guy Fawkes on technocrat.net. The Kill-A-Watt is a handy device to measure the power usage of electronics and appliances. You just plug the Kill-A-Watt into the wall, and the appliance into the Kill-A-Watt. Anyway, I was very surprised to find out that running the CPU at 1 GHz did indeed slow down my applications, but had no measurable affect on the power draw! I must be missing something. I think I'll go turn off my 117 W computer and use my 19 W laptop instead. Bookmark/Search this post with:
|
• Debian Weekly News - Essential reading for any Debian fan. • Documentation - Debian's own authoritative documentation, including installation docs. • FAQ - Got questions about Debian GNU/Linux? • From Windows to Debian - Tips for converting from Windows to Debian GNU/Linux • Package of the Day. • Security - Security information and alerts! • Bug System - Bug tracking and instructions on reporting bugs. • CD Images - Where/how to get Debian GNU/Linux CD images. • Mailing List Subscription - Dozens of Debian-specific support mailing lists! • Mailing List Archives - Searchable archives of Debian's mailing lists. • Free Software Guidelines - Learn Debian's idea of what "free" software really is. • Package Listings - A very valuable tool: searchable, integrated with bug reports. • Apt-Get Sources - Sources for *.debs which are not official Debian packages. • Backports - Unofficial new software packages that have been "back-ported" to work with the Debian stable/official release. • Developer's Corner - Info about the people behind Debian, policies, and how to package *.deb files.
Re: cpufreq and the Kill-A-Watt
Neat!
Off the top of my head, I'd guess that the lack of the power savings you're seeing is just the fact that things like hard drives or the graphics card are using so much electricity compared to what the CPU uses at any speed.
(As an aside, I run a lot of computers at home and a year or two ago I decided to optimize things to save electricity. My "solution?" Build up one large, all-singing, all-dancing kick-ass server, and then migrate to using laptops (which are increasing cheap) for everything else.)
Re: cpufreq and the Kill-A-Watt
I thought non-laptop cpu's typically draw tens of watts. However, I was not actually running anything. The cpu draws more power under load, so maybe you only get a power savings at 1 GHz if the cpu is being utilized.
Good idea to consolidate into one box. I'd take the same approach, only I don't run anything important like debianhelp that needs to be up 24/7. I got tired of fiddling with Mythtv-- Tivo does TV very well without the constant breakage. So a few days ago I just decided to turn my main box off except when I need it to do backups or play tunes.