Notebook Undervolting

[JMWarren]

Simple Question

Assuming that a CPU will run at the same voltage at all clock speeds (Core Duo or Core2Duo) will it consume more power when operating at a higher frequency?

If it doesn't it would in fact be more efficient to run at the higher speed as it can accomplish more "work" for the same power input?

Thanks!

 

[imported_Seer]

Power usage for a cpu is, rougly, linearly related to frequency and quadratically related to voltage. So, an equation might look something like this P = k * f * (v^2), where k is a constant. So instead of being more efficient, as you suggested, it is, ideally, equally efficient. For example, if you doubled the frequency, the processor would use 2x as much power, but finish twice as fast*. This is assuming the processor consumes a negligible amount of power when idle.

*Sadly, any increase in frequency will not save you power when playing games, because the work that needs doing is infinite, unless you're maxing out the fps of the graphical engine.

 

[JMWarren]

Thanks!

That's exactly what I was looking for!