Win7: why is CPU = 5% speed when laptop is plugged in?

[JEDI]

just bought a new Intel i3 laptop.

it was running like a dog after I clicked on Admin on the login screen.

I went to power options.
it's set to Balanced. but in this setting, the cpu is set to 5% when plugged in. (cpu=5% on battery)

In high performance, the cu is set to 100% when pluggd in. (cpu = 5% on battery.)

what the hell is Microsoft thinking to set cpu = 5% when plugged in as DEFAULT?!?!
whats the rationale for this?

 

[denis280]

Energy saving! Hey don't forget.this is MS

 

[Dahak]

Are you sure it was the default ms profiles that set this?
It could be the power manager from the laptop maker that changed these balanced profile. Although most create there own profile.

Also is this set at the minimum or the maximum setting, the default, is min = 5% max = 100%

 

[mikeymikec]

what the hell is Microsoft thinking to set cpu = 5% when plugged in as DEFAULT?!?!
whats the rationale for this?

There are potentially two things to separate here.

AMD CnQ / Intel SpeedStep are both systems that clock the CPU speed down when full speed isn't needed. The idea is to save power and then to crank the CPU speed up the moment it is needed. In my experience, it works pretty well and there's no need to mess with it (ie. you won't gain anything appreciable by messing with it).

Second, there is a 'minimum CPU state' and 'maximum CPU state' in Control Panel > Power Options > 'Change advanced power settings' . The default 'minimum' setting on Win7 is 5% and the maximum is 100% (see previous paragraph). Some laptop manufacturers mess with the default power plan and make the maximum setting something like 50% (presumably in order to improve battery life or reduce fan speed / heat output). I don't see the point in doing this personally, because the sooner that a task is completed, the sooner that the processor can idle and maximum energy savings can be reaped. The only exception scenario would be a bad hack because the CPU keeps getting saturated, IMO, but I am not a CPU engineer.

Unless your computer was built by Microsoft, don't assume that it's Microsoft who set the settings on it.

 

[corkyg]

You did not mention the laptop brand - many brands use Intel I5 processors. What you describe is the OEM's power management, not MS.