Laptop Frequency Scaling

March 3, 2008 by Isaac

My normal operating system of choice is Ubuntu Linux which has a nice little frequency scaling applet. Normally I leave the frequency switching scheme set to "On Demand" which will alter the speed according to the load. Sometimes, when I really need to save on power I will set the scheme to lowest power consumption, which keeps the frequency at the lowest setting. This is great on power, but not so much on performance. There are also occasions where I am doing something that needs a lot of sustained CPU power, in which case I set the CPU frequency to maximum.

In Windows it's not so obvious that frequency scaling is taking place. I'd be interested to know how many people knew that their laptop CPU's in Windows seldom run at full speed. The other day I found a application for Windows that sits in the system tray and not only shows the current frequency, but also allows you to switch CPU schemes easily. Speedswitch XP is a great addition for any Windows power user. I love being able to see the current CPU frequency and change the frequency scheme at will.

Let me know of any other useful utilities for Windows that you have run across.

Posted in Administration, Windows