An Update On The Linux Power Situation In Ubuntu
When the CPU is maxed out, the power consumption is clearly demonstrated. The Linux 3.0.1 / 3.1 kernels itself do not improve the power situation for older hardware, but only when using the pcie_aspm=force option I mentioned months ago when indicating the regression-causing commit.
Here's an overall look at the power consumption across all of the tests carried out from the ThinkPad with an Intel Core i7 CPU. However, let's now jump to a Sandy Bridge notebook that supports MSR_IA32_ENERGY_PERF_BIAS.