Powergear: Power Management By Asus
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: business, notebook, with, centrino, mobile, technology
- 1. Using 1.5 GHz Pentium M Instead Of 1.6 GHz Pentium M: A Dollars-and-Cents Decision
- 2. Powergear: Power Management By Asus
- 3. Setup
- 4. The M2N In Pictures
- 5. The M2N In Pictures, Continued
- 6. Benchmarks Under Windows XP
- 7. Synthetic Benchmarks
- 8. SiSoft Sandra 2002 Benchmarks: CPU, Multimedia And Memory, Continued
- 9. SiSoft Sandra 2002 Benchmarks: CPU, Multimedia And Memory, Continued
2. Powergear: Power Management By Asus
As a regular reader of THG's notebook reviews, you know that the Pentium M boasts power-saving technologies such as Enhanced SpeedStep , Deeper Sleep and IMVP . As you have come to expect from all Pentium M-based notebooks, the Asus M2N can trim your CPU to meet certain requirements by means of power schemes.
| Windows XP Power Schemes | AC Power (Frequency Example mobile Pentium-M 1.5 GHz) | Battery DC (Frequency Example mobile Pentium-M 1.5 GHz) |
|---|---|---|
| Home/Office Desktop | None (1.5 GHz Always) | Adaptive (600 MHz <...>1.5 GHz) |
| Portable /Laptop | Adaptive (600 MHz <...>1.5 GHz) | Adaptive (600 MHz <...>1.5 GHz) |
| Presentation | Adaptive (600 MHz <...>1.5 GHz) | Degrade (600 MHz) |
| Always On | None (1.5 GHz Always) | None (1.5 GHz Always) |
| Minimal Power Management | Adaptive (600 MHz <...>1.5 GHz) | Adaptive (600 MHz <...>1.5 GHz) |
| Maximum Battery | Adaptive (600 MHz <...>1.5 GHz) | Degrade (600 MHz) |
The difference here is the passive CPU cooling (no any fan support) whenever the battery supplies the power and the laptop has been set to either the "Home Office/ Desktop" or the "Portable Laptop" Windows power scheme. Asus cites the longer battery rundown time as the reason for this step. This test will show whether it accomplished the goal.
Power4gear (V1.07) is another Asus tool that delivers power management settings tailored to this notebook and includes several tweaking extras as well. For example, you can link the brightness of your display to your power sources (mains/ battery) or change your CPU clock speed.
Power4gear: a tool of many settings - and lousy documentation.
We found the tool to be useful and to have a wide range of power management settings. Problem is, the user interface looks like it has just been thrown together, and even the most seasoned notebook pro will have trouble getting behind the "secrets" of the individual settings. For instance, under "High Performance/ Automatic," the CPU will max out at 1.2 GHz in battery mode and at 1.6 GHz in AC (mains) mode.
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