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Using PowerTOP 2.6 Saves Power, Extends Battery Life On Ubuntu 14.04

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  • Using PowerTOP 2.6 Saves Power, Extends Battery Life On Ubuntu 14.04

    Phoronix: Using PowerTOP 2.6 Saves Power, Extends Battery Life On Ubuntu 14.04

    With the release of Intel's PowerTOP 2.6 a few days ago I have done some benchmarking using an ASUS Zenbook Prime ultrabook to see the impact of the power consumption while running on battery for a clean, stock install of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64-bit and then did the same tests again after having PowerTOP 2.6 optimize the system so it's in a good power standing. Beyond testing the stock Linux 3.13 kernel, then I carried out the same tests again when using the Linux 3.15 kernel in its very latest development state.

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    Micheal, is it possible to run the same test on an older setup, to see if power improvements of the next kernel is also for older hardware ? I have a Pentium T3200 based laptop, and I want to see if I will be able to almost match the windows battery life.

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    • #3
      best power monitor

      i did able to get idle watt around 8.5-9.5 W, and on movie playback around 13-14W(with 3.14 kernel on i7-3630qm), turn everything in powertop does not always saves power, i still follow the power-saving guide from archlinux.

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      • #4
        Well, ok, but comparing it with stock Ubuntu is not that useful, it would be more useful to compare it to the "fire and forget" methods like laptopmode settings.

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        • #5
          You can add
          Code:
          powertop --auto-tune
          somewhere in init scripts and forget

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          • #6
            Originally posted by c2p_ View Post
            You can add
            Code:
            powertop --auto-tune
            somewhere in init scripts and forget
            Yeah sure, but my question is more on the line is it worth to install powertop over laptopmode settings? It is clear that it is worth do something more than just stick to the default... but which?

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            • #7
              This is one of those things which I think should be included in Ubuntu, all the work done behind the scenes with a toggle in the Settings between performance states.

              I don't need to install a Power Manager in Windows or Mac to get optimisation.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by c2p_ View Post
                You can add
                Code:
                powertop --auto-tune
                somewhere in init scripts and forget
                How do I add that with systemd?

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                • #9
                  systemd unit file

                  Originally posted by ihatemichael View Post
                  How do I add that with systemd?
                  Create a simple service file, say /etc/systemd/system/powertop.service:

                  Code:
                  [Unit]
                  Description=PowerTop
                  
                  [Service]
                  Type=oneshot
                  RemainAfterExit=yes
                  ExecStart=/usr/sbin/powertop --auto-tune
                  
                  [Install]
                  WantedBy=multi-user.target
                  To enable it at boot:
                  $ systemctl enable powertop

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                  • #10
                    you also need to add the following line to the [service] section, as powertop appearently needs a terminal to run:

                    Code:
                    Environment="TERM=xterm"
                    source: Arch Wiki - Powertop

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