This is a question for those who have overclocked their Xoom. How much is overclocking to 1.5Ghz affecting battery life?
Overclocking would be the only reason I would root right now, and I am trying to make up my mind on whether to do it.
My battery life is better after using setcpu to overclock. The reason is that the tegra2 chipset scales the performance based on whether it's needed(IE, when you're using your xoom) with setCPU you are extending the top end of how fast the CPU can go. The clever bit is you can also tell your xoom to slow itself down and go very efficient when the screen is off or if the chipset gets too hot (which it never has). If you do go for it I recommend using setcpu using interactive scaling (prioritising the user interface) and whack the max speed up to 1500 and the min speed down to 217 mhz
I wouldn't recommend setting screen-off profiles at the moment. It seems to lead to some strange issues once in a while.
That said, because you're only going to 1.5 GHz when needed, battery life doesn't really suffer. Additionally, at least in my usage, my screen uses ~70-85% of my battery. This is even during heaving gaming, where the Tegra 2 really has to work hard.
I wouldn't worry about its effects, personally.
MrGinger said:
The reason is that the tegra2 chipset scales the performance based on whether it's needed(IE, when you're using your xoom)
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All CPUs do this, not just Tegras.
Re scaling, never said otherwise I've never had a problem with screen off profile. Maybe just lucky
I'm a litte confused about which governor to use.
By default this kernel uses conservative and it performs quite well. I would expect it to be less snappy, but the difference is very small. Especially scrolling through the home-screens etc. is fluid.
Now, interactive is supposed to be the new ICS default-governor and normally you would expect it to be sthe snappiest one. Anyway, with interactive scrolling through my home-screens is a little choppy... How can that be?
SmartassV2 seems to be good in an overall-view, but I'm not sure what to think about it, because I generally would prefer using a more classical governor.
What governor would you use on a stock-4.0.3-ROM with Speedy-7-Kernel if you don't use heavy apps or games, but want all those general apps (launcher, browser etc.) to rum really smooth?
Thanks
McDV
Hi,
i use lulzactive on my Nexus S.
If you use it with NS tools, it gives you more option to control screen off freq.
With that it has great battery life.
lulzactiveV2/sio is the smoothest for me. Anyways I don't know yet which is the best governor for the night when I sleep. Can I use powersave? When I don't use my phone it should stay at the lowest clock as possible.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
personal experience: wheatley --> luzlactive --> lazy , best battery-performance balanced
Thanks for all your answers.
I've tried all those governors now and I think smartassV2 seems to be the one I will use for now.
But some other question: The kernel offers Live OC. It seems pretty clear what this is: All the speeds are increased by x%, including the bus-speed of 200Mhz, without increasing the voltages.
Lets say I just overclock about 10%, so the maximum-clock is 1100 Mhz, without increasing the voltage. Will I drain more battery than with 100% speed? And is there any visible advantage in overclocking just about 10% or won't I see or feel any difference at all?
This is a question I've never seen asked, but it's an important one. What are you phones CPU Freqs? What Govs do they have, and what Profiles do you use?
Rom: PyroIce
Main: 192 Min, 918 Max. OnDemand.
Screen Off: 192 Min, 384 Max. PowerSave.
InCall: 192 Min, 540 Max. Interactive.
Time 11pm-7am: 192Min/Max Powersave.
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk
that's cool, i might start using profiles again. from fiddling around i've noticed the difference between the ondemand and conservative governors- with ondemand, the processor seems to go from min. to all the way to max. and back down to min, and doesn't use the middle frequencies as much, while on conservative, the processor doesn't shoot up to max. as easily and seems to meander thru the middle frequencies a lot more. it makes sense too, because i've noticed that the phone seems snappier with ondemand.
i noticed you're using some of the others... i'll have to check them out as well.
ondemand
Available in most kernels, and the default governor in most kernels. When the CPU load reaches a certain point (see "up threshold" in Advanced Settings), ondemand will rapidly scale the CPU up to meet demand, then gradually scale the CPU down when it isn't needed. - SetCPU website
conservative
Available in some kernels. It is similar to the ondemand governor, but will scale the CPU up more gradually to better fit demand. Conservative provides a less responsive experience than ondemand, but can save battery. - SetCPU website
performance
Available in most kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the "max" set value at all times. This is a bit more efficient than simply setting "max" and "min" to the same value and using ondemand because the system will not waste resources scanning for the CPU load. This governor is recommended for stable benchmarking. - SetCPU website
powersave
Available in some kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the "min" set value at all times. - SetCPU website
userspace
A method for controlling the CPU speed that isn't currently used by SetCPU. For best results, do not use the userspace governor. - SetCPU website
Interactive
The 'interactive' governor has a different approach. Instead of sampling the cpu
at a specified rate, the governor will scale the cpu frequency up when coming
out of idle. When the cpu comes out of idle, a timer is configured to fire
within 1-2 ticks. If the cpu is 100% busy from exiting idle to when the timer
fires then we assume the cpu is underpowered and ramp to MAX speed.
If the cpu was not 100% busy, then the governor evaluates the cpu load over the
last 'min_sample_rate' (default 50000 uS) to determine the cpu speed to ramp down
to
so, I bought set cpu about 3 phones ago, but I never really saw a differnence, can it be used with the stock kernel?
yellowjacket1981 said:
so, I bought set cpu about 3 phones ago, but I never really saw a differnence, can it be used with the stock kernel?
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Click to collapse
Yeah Plus there's a huge difference with the Battery. I you use my CPU Settings, you should gain 3 hours Min on your phone. Also dropping the CPU in call is great, helps for longer calls and less overheating. If your S-Off you should use a custom kernel. UV Kernels are great.
AgentCherryColla said:
Yeah Plus there's a huge difference with the Battery. I you use my CPU Settings, you should gain 3 hours Min on your phone. Also dropping the CPU in call is great, helps for longer calls and less overheating. If your S-Off you should use a custom kernel. UV Kernels are great.
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Click to collapse
I actually just got an uv kernel, I am about to flash it, I will use your settings too, thanks.
yellowjacket1981 said:
I actually just got an uv kernel, I am about to flash it, I will use your settings too, thanks.
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Click to collapse
If you run a Sense 3.6 Rom, boost the CPU to 1Ghz. 918Mhz Lags.
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk
yellowjacket1981 said:
so, I bought set cpu about 3 phones ago, but I never really saw a differnence, can it be used with the stock kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
You cannot use anything the kernel doesn't already serve as an option, though.
SetCPU doesn't create options - it allows you user-level access to the ones already existing.
Normally you have no control over your clock speed but with it you can...say... limit the maximum clock speed to only be two-thirds of the stock speed.
Since it doesn't ramp up all the way, it doesn't drain as much power.
If you are playing games and stuff that needs a lot of resources, then the slower clock speeds cost you battery since it takes more effort to get the same work done. But if you don't do much with your phone, and don't need a lot of high-end CPU ability, why let it run flat out?
You can also set it to be like that only sometimes, and maximize battery savings by telling your device to chill out when it doesn't have to be awesome.
Now, if you get into custom kernels where you or a dev has opened up more options, SetCPU will again give you user level control over them.
Especially once you get into overclocking beyond manufacturer(s) recommendations, not having some end-user level control over the processor like this is irresponsible.
If you think I run a 1.7 or 1.9 or 1.5+anything on the device flat-out balls-to-the-wall all the time, I would ask you if you drive your car with the gas pedal smashed to the floor all the time. (it's a fitting analogy)
No, again, that would be irresponsible abuse of the hardware for no good reason.
If not SetCPU, then there would be something else to use, but SetCPU is a great interface that not only works well but is maintaned within the XDA community by a member here.
I will always go for the XDA community member version of any app first - it's usually a problem solved from a perspective very near the way I am perceiving the issue, supports the community, and is always easier to find help on if necessary.
What's even cooler is SetCPU is given away free by the dev to XDA members.
I did go ahead and buy it anyway to support the dev. It is a fantastic tool at my disposal, and I have come to realize just how much time and energy goes into making this kind of stuff.
Beyond all that, though, there are a ton of crap apps and software out there slapped together by people who don't care or didn't put the right level of effort into their work. When I find something that actually works and works well after sifting through a sea of garbage, if there is a paid version of the app i'll usually buy it not only as a thank you but also to encourage that particular person to keep working. They - unlike many, many others (in my opinion) earned it.
I know i'm drifting off topic a bit, sorry for that - I just really appreciate quality work and SetCPU falls in with that crowd nicely.
Even without a custom kernel providing options beyond stock, there is still a lot of value this app can hold for anyone with root level access to their device.
Blue6IX said:
If you are playing games and stuff that needs a lot of resources, then the slower clock speeds cost you battery since it takes more effort to get the same work done.
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Click to collapse
Is this true? in my mind, I feel like it will take longer/not be as smooth, but wouldn't necessarily be worse for battery than a higher clock speed.
On a one-for-one comparison it leans more towards an even playing field, until you add that it's a dual-core processor and it very heavily skews the results towards less battery at higher clock speeds for complex operations.
Faster CPU speeds process the actions more quickly, and when you have to crunch a lot of numbers real quick like you do for most games the higher clock speed (especially on the dual core we are using) will complete the act with less power used. It is able to keep up with and/or outpace the flow of data being thrown at it.
If you are just using a notepad or browsing some forums maybe...sending a few texts? Then the higher clock speeds show a negative return on battery usage - you don't need it and it's wasteful.
But when the data has to stay buffered because the CPU is taking it's time working with it, not only is there more electricity consumed by keeping the processor alive longer but also the juice spent on keeping the data buffered.
The data computed is the same data computed at any speed (unless you lose data along the way...) but the power spent on completing that operation is not equal - not by a long shot.
On single core older processors where you are talking about a couple hundred megahertz one way or another the equation is much different, significantly diminshed returns on electricity invested, but with higher quality and multi-core processors especially they can cut through the data with significant ease when sufficiently powered.
But this is on processor intensive activities, and gaming is the first thing that comes to mind. For most other use of the device it's worth underclocking it and you will see battery gains.
So recently I've become too lazy to constantly charge my Captivate and began to experiment with undervolting/underclocking it. Has anyone found optimal voltage for battery life? I've currently got every step of 200mhz down 100 volts and underclocked to a max of 800mhz. I'm on Semaphore kernel 2.9.5sc.
freshlimes said:
So recently I've become too lazy to constantly charge my Captivate and began to experiment with undervolting/underclocking it. Has anyone found optimal voltage for battery life? I've currently got every step of 200mhz down 100 volts and underclocked to a max of 800mhz. I'm on Semaphore kernel 2.9.5sc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a optimal setting as all phones act different. Testing is the best you can do.
which cpu governor are you running? that may have more effect than underclocking/undervolting on battery life.
user Stempox has a nice post on cpu governors here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28647926
the screen on time and data/gps traffic, and apps that keep the phone awake, do more to effect power drain than other factors. so, if you manage those, and choose the governor that suits you preferences, then undervolting and underclocking aren't needed, IMHO.
you can tweak the governor settings with Semaphore manager, if you really want to do that too.
the thing is, you may end up keeping the screen on longer than you would at higher cpu speeds, which would counter any battery savings. also, undervolting can increase the error rate, which means further delays while phone is awake.
hope this is helpful in your pursuit of fewer charging cycles.
Sent from my SGH-I897
Finally figured out how to over clock my CPU/GPU on One X with CM11 KitKat rom. Bumped the CPU to 1809 (what I researched is stable) and GPU to 512. My Antutu benchmark score dropped from low 17k's to mid 13k?
Help please!! Could running Trickster Mod App interfere with Performance option in CM11....?
Trickster Mod isn't interfering with the performance, it just means your phone won't perform at its peak with those settings. Higher CPU/GPU clocks don't necessarily mean better performance, I've seen this through extensive personal testing. Dial the settings back to stock and increase the clock speed incrementally while testing after each increase, you'll reach a point where performance suffers, dial it back one notch and there you have your "peak" settings.
Unless you're doing some really hardcore gaming on your phone it's all pretty pointless. There's no advantage to overclocking in everyday use of the device other than to say it's overclocked, you just can't notice a difference, any noticed difference is more than likely a placebo. I actually underclock my CPU to 1242mhz to improve battery life and have zero negative response whosoever, no matter what I throw at it.
Sent from my Evita
I agree with Tim here. I'm running cm11 on power saver mode, and it runs just fine. A little slow opening and closing apps, but buttery smooth for everything else.
Sent from my One X using xda premium