Linux 3.11 Kernel Power Use Still Being Investigated

On Friday I reported that the Linux 3.11 kernel may lower power consumption for Intel systems. Since then, additional power consumption tests have revealed there are some changes within the Linux 3.11 but overall recent kernel releases are in better shape than the past.

Compared to recent years in reporting about discovering the PCI-E ASPM power regression and other Linux kernel power regressions, modern Linux releases have been in better shape than in the past. However, that's not to say it's better than the competition as still with Apple systems I am finding the power advantage to side with OS X. However, with recent kernel releases there are certainly improvements.

Beyond the tests shown Friday (and more data coming out next week), this weekend I did run some Linux kernel power consumption tests on a Lenovo ThinkPad W510 notebook that compared the battery power consumption between the Linux 3.11 Git, 3.10, and 3.9 mainline kernels. The results from this latest ThinkPad Linux notebook testing can be found in 1307280-SO-INTELLINU79.

Some testing shows that the Linux 3.11 Git kernel as of this weekend is ahead of where the Linux 3.9 kernel was consuming the Intel Core i7 notebook's battery but behind Linux 3.10.

Other test data shows the Linux 3.11 power consumption being on track to Linux 3.10, which is ahead of Linux 3.9.

For the rest, see the OpenBenchmarking.org test data and stay tuned to Phoronix.com for the rest of the Linux 3.11 kernel power consumption and performance-per-Watt benchmark results.