Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: a, new, notebook, hosts, the, athlon64 | Themes: Business Notebooks
- 1. 64 Bit Power In A Notebook: Mobile Athlon64 3000+
- 2. The Mobile Athlon64 Lined Up Against The Desktop Athlon64 And The Competition
- 3. Two Names For The Same Technology: PowerNow And Cool & Quiet
- 4. Two Names For The Same Technology: PowerNow And Cool & Quiet, Continued
- 5. A Large L2 Cache Isn't All Roses
- 6. Test Setup: Yakumo Q8M Power64 XD
- 7. The Yakumo Q8M Power64 XD In Images
- 8. Benchmarks
- 9. For Reference: Dell Inspiron 8600
- 10. Synthetic Benchmarks
- 11. SisoftSandra 2003 Max3, Continued
- 12. Multimedia Performance: PC Mark 2002
- 13. Application Benchmarks
- 14. Raytracing: POV-Ray For Windows
- 15. System Performance: Sysmark 2002
- 16. Battery Tests
- 17. Games Performance
- 18. DirectX 8: Unreal Tournament 2003
- 19. OpenGL: Quake III Team Arena
- 20. DirectX9: Aquamark 3
- 21. DirectX 8: Splintercell
- 22. Is 800 MHz Enough To Play On?
- 23. Conclusion
- 24. More on this topic
3. Two Names For The Same Technology: PowerNow And Cool & Quiet
It's interesting that both the Mobile Athlon64 and the Desktop Athlon64 use exactly the same mechanism to save power or, with respect to temperatures, to ensure moderate and quiet operation. This technology is called PowerNow for the notebook processor and Cool&Quiet for the desktop PC equivalent.
The principle is simple and already proved itself in the "old" Athlon XP-M. Maximum processor performance is not constantly required for work on a PC system. It's legitimate, therefore, to reduce clock speed and supply voltage in phases of low processor loads. On the one hand, this helps save electricity and extends battery life.
Secondly, less waste heat is generated when some of the processor's resources are on the back burner, which in turn lends the notebook a less conspicuous acoustic footprint. It goes without saying that the last feature also applies to a desktop PC. If more computing power is needed, first the voltage and immediately afterwards the processor frequency are raised. If requirements recede again, both variables are reduced with a lasting effect on the processor's power consumption.
| Windows XP Power Schemes | AC Power (Frequency Example mobile Athlon 64 3000+) | Battery DC (Frequency Example mobile Athlon 64 3000+) |
|---|---|---|
| Home/Office Desktop | None (1800 MHz Always) | Adaptive (800 <-...->1800 MHz) |
| Portable /Laptop | Adaptive (800 <-...->1800 MHz) | Adaptive (800 <-...->1800 MHz) |
| Presentation | Adaptive (800 <-...->1800 MHz) | Degrade (800 MHz) |
| Always On | None (1800 MHz Always) | None (1800 MHz Always) |
| Minimal Power Management | Adaptive (800 <-...->1800 MHz) | Adaptive (800 <-...->1800 MHz) |
| Maximum Battery | Adaptive (800 <-...->1800 MHz) | Degrade (800 MHz) |
In this way, AMD's Mobile Athlon64 can apply its own rules to the CPU's in-service behavior.
Besides power scheme settings, this CPU's in-service behavior is handled entirely automatically by the operating system and BIOS without user intervention. The operating system, meanwhile, measures processor loads continuously and, via a driver, communicates with the processor to make dynamic changes to the relevant frequency and voltage settings.
In choosing a power scheme, the user indirectly determines CPU behavior
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