Power Savings... challenge questions (antithetical questions)

[justinmann]

Hi all.
Okay, so I've been watching that little dial in my electric meter spin lately, and I've been thinking, Geez, that little bastard moves faster than my neighbor's do, and while I do like things running as fast as possible, I don't want an overclocked electric bill...

Question #1 - I assume that the Athlon XP-Mobile will save electricity over the similarly numbered Athlon XP due to its lower voltage requirement. Would underclocking this same chip save even more electricity? If this is the case, would the savings be worth the effort? What would be the most effective method of underclocking? Would it be better to underclock by using the multiplier or the FSB? Is a voltage decrease necessary to see a savings?

Question #2 - While underclocking is fine for surfing the net, etc, it truly sucks for gaming... Is there a way to set up profiles on a computer, either through the bios, or through windows that will allow you to select either power savings mode or performance mode (of your own design)?

Thanks,
Justin