Processor power consumption question

maniac5999

Senior member
Dec 30, 2009
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Well, technically, I want to know this for my Net/Notebook (Wind U230) But it really is a general question about Processor power usage.
Now I have a L335 processor that idles at 800mhz @0.8v and throttles up to 1.6ghz @0.925v when in use. BIOS is locked, but with AMD OD I can set it to run at 1.6ghz @ 0.8v. However, the multiplier will no longer jump between 4 and 8 (800mhz and 1.6ghz)

Now, I know that generally power consumption is based on the formula:

(Power Used) = (Processor Speed) X (Voltage)^2

but what I'm wondering is if this is always true, or if it's only true under load? Conceptually, doubling the speed would double the usage under load (Twice as many pulses of electricity) but under Idle, I'm not so sure. Am I going to kill my battery life by setting it to always run at 1.6ghz @ 0.8v or am I going to help it?