https://www.thinkwiki.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Nrev 2026-05-05T23:40:31Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.31.12 https://www.thinkwiki.org/w/index.php?title=How_to_reduce_power_consumption&diff=29780 2007-05-14T08:11:29Z

<p>Nrev: /* External resources */</p> <hr /> <div>Reducing system power consumption will extend battery life, reduce system temperature and (on some models) reduce system fan noise. This page summarizes the known techniques for reducing power consumption on ThinkPad laptops under Linux. The power numbers given (in Watt) are very rough and model-specific.<br /> <br /> ===System power states===<br /> * [[Power Management]]<br /> * [[How to make use of Power Management features]]<br /> <br /> ===CPU===<br /> * [[How to make use of Dynamic Frequency Scaling]]<br /> * [[Pentium M undervolting and underclocking]]<br /> <br /> ===Graphics===<br /> * [[How to make use of Graphics Chips Power Management features]]<br /> * [[Problem with high power drain in ACPI sleep]]<br /> * [[Rovclock]]<br /> * Reduce LCD brightness (~1-4W difference)<br /> ** Do this [[Automatically_reduce_brightness|automatically]] after a period of inactivity<br /> * Disable CRT output (~0.5W difference)<br /> <br /> ===Hard disk===<br /> Spinning down the disk saves about 1W.<br /> * [[Laptop-mode]]<br /> * [[How to make use of Harddisk Power Management features]]<br /> <br /> ===Optical drive===<br /> The optical drive consumes about 1W even when not accessed.<br /> * [[How to hotswap UltraBay devices|Eject the UltraBay optical drive]], or just turn off its power supply (i.e., run the appropriate eject script but leave the drive inserted).<br /> * [[How to set optical drive speed|Reduce the spinning speed of the optical drive]].<br /> <br /> ===System fan===<br /> Consumes about 0.5W when running.<br /> * [[ACPI fan control script]]<br /> <br /> ===Wireless network===<br /> Consumes up to ~4W.<br /> * Activate power saving on the wireless network card<br /> ** For [[Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Mini-PCI Adapter]] and [[Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Mini-PCI Adapter]], see instructions for the [[ipw2200]] driver.<br /> ** For [[Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Mini-PCI Express Adapter]], see the [http://ipw3945.sourceforge.net/README.ipw3945 ipw3945 driver README]<br /> <br /> ===USB===<br /> Causes significant power draw due to bus mastering (affects CPU C-state). Disable by unloading modules,<br /> or unbinding the devices in sysfs.<br /> <br /> ===Sound===<br /> Consumes about 0.3W.<br /> * [[How to enable AC97 power saving]]<br /> <br /> ==Related topics==<br /> * [[How to measure power consumption]]<br /> * [[Script_for_monitoring_power_consumption]]<br /> * Battery [[maintenance]]<br /> <br /> ==External resources==<br /> * [http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/power-management-guide.xml Power Management Guide] from the Gentoo Linux documentation<br /> * [http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/pipermail/linux-thinkpad/2005-November/030478.html When/where/what for low power consumption?] (thread on Linux-Thinkpad)<br /> * [http://www.linuxpowertop.org When/where/what for low power consumption? linuxpowertop] Intel utility for monitoring energy intensive processes (also available as Debian package)<br /> * ''8hours of battery life on your lap(top)'' ([http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/swsusp/8hours.odp ODP]/[http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/swsusp/8hours.pdf PDF]), a presentation by Pavel Machek</div>

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