Power saving mode of modern processors by Advanced Micro Devices
AMD Cool'n'Quiet is a CPU dynamic frequency scaling and power saving technology introduced by AMD with its Athlon XP processor line. It works by reducing the processor's clock rate and voltage when the processor is idle. The aim of this technology is to reduce overall power consumption and lower heat generation, allowing for slower (thus quieter) cooling fan operation. The objectives of cooler and quieter result in the name Cool'n'Quiet. The technology is similar to Intel's SpeedStep and AMD's own PowerNow!, which were developed with the aim of increasing laptop battery life by reducing power consumption.
Due to their different usage, "Cool'n'Quiet" refers to desktop and server chips, while "PowerNow!" is used for mobile chips; the technologies are similar but not identical. This technology was also introduced on "e-stepping" Opterons, however it is called "Optimized Power Management", which is essentially a re-tooled Cool'n'Quiet scheme designed to work with registered memory.
"Cool'n'Quiet" is fully supported in the Linux kernel from version 2.6.18 onward (using the powernow-k8 driver) and FreeBSD from 6.0-CURRENT onward.
Implementation.
In-order to take advantage of Cool'n'Quiet Technology in Microsoft's Operating Systems:
Also In Windows Vista and 7 the "Power Saver" power profile allows much lower power state (frequency and voltage) than in the "High Performance" power state.
Unlike Windows XP, Windows Vista only supports Cool'n'Quiet on motherboards that support ACPI 2.0 or later.
With earlier versions of Windows, processor drivers along with Cool'n'Quiet software also need to be installed. The latest version is 1.3.2.0.
Third party utilities.
In addition to the CPU drivers offered by AMD, several motherboard manufacturers have released software to give the end user more control over the "Cool 'n' Quiet" feature, as well as the other new features of AMD processors and chipsets. Using these applications, one can even control the CPU voltage explicitly.
See also.
Power Saving Technologies:
Performance Boosting Technologies:
References.
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