Power Plan Controversy

Benchmarking is a controversial matter in itself. Benchmarking tests should not be taken without a grain of salt. Not to mention that this person writes himself that the difference between High Performance and Balanced is not supposed to be a significant one as far as performance goes, rather Balanced is supposed to preserve battery life over time.

Personally, I like to tweak everything and anything I can on my computer, so power plans was one of the first things I touched. I noticed that one of the biggest factors in the battery life and performance was the minimum and maximum CPU level % (and screen brightness on laptops, but I have keyboard keys to change that). I personally made all the power plans conserve power whenever possible, and added some additional plans for different uses. I currently have six power plans, and I switch between them all the time (I have shortcuts for each of them).

If you really worry about the power plan of your computer - go look at the advanced settings of your power plans. You shouldn't rely on a standard power plan that comes built in with the OS.

Other than that, I believe there are too many factors to consider when trying to measure power plans' performance - the different values of the plans and the use of the computer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP dv5-1120ej Notebook PC
    CPU
    Intel Dual 2.16GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9200M GS, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    320GB internal, 320GB external, 1TB external to come (big download library XD)
    Internet Speed
    Fast enough
    Other Info
    Firefox, Foobar, and AutoHotkey! Go open source!
I use High Performance all the time with a dedicated 9300M GS and switch to an aggressive Vaio power plan and the integrated graphics chip if I need battery life. However, your average laptop can't switch between chips to conserve battery life.

Balanced also seems slower depending on what apps you are running too.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Sony Vaio Z46GDU
    CPU
    [email protected] w/6MB L2 cache 1066MHz FSB
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    9300M GS 256MB + Intel Integrated 4500MHD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.1" WXGA True Colour Tough
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    320GB SATA 7200RPM
    Internet Speed
    1MB/s
I like to switch back to "lighter" power plans whenever possible - also to keep my electricity consumption down (unfortunately my electricity comes from coal, not from greener sources), and also to keep as much strain off of my laptop (I hope it will last longer that way).
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP dv5-1120ej Notebook PC
    CPU
    Intel Dual 2.16GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9200M GS, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    320GB internal, 320GB external, 1TB external to come (big download library XD)
    Internet Speed
    Fast enough
    Other Info
    Firefox, Foobar, and AutoHotkey! Go open source!
Well my hypothesis is that the "Balanced" power plan has the same performance as "High Performance" while also saving power therefore keeping the computer cooler and the fans lower.

If you look at the charts on page 5 of that thread, you can see how the plans work. Since Balanced will automatically bring the CPU to max frequency when it needs it, I see no proof that it isn't as powerful. It's just lowering the frequency when the computer is idling.
 

My Computer

System One

jpzsports said:
Well my hypothesis is that the "Balanced" power plan has the same performance as "High Performance" while also saving power therefore keeping the computer cooler and the fans lower.

If you look at the charts on page 5 of that thread, you can see how the plans work. Since Balanced will automatically bring the CPU to max frequency when it needs it, I see no proof that it isn't as powerful. It's just lowering the frequency when the computer is idling.
Click to expand...

That's true. By default, the Max CPU % (found in the advanced settings) is 100 on both Balanced and High Performance. I don't remember what the minimum is by default, but I'm sure it's lower on Balanced (hence being more power saving).
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP dv5-1120ej Notebook PC
    CPU
    Intel Dual 2.16GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVidia GeForce 9200M GS, 256MB
    Hard Drives
    320GB internal, 320GB external, 1TB external to come (big download library XD)
    Internet Speed
    Fast enough
    Other Info
    Firefox, Foobar, and AutoHotkey! Go open source!
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