RMClock Help

I'm trying to use this software on My newer P1 UX with Intel DuoCore 2.0 Ghz. I'm not that familiar with this kind of stuff, but my goal is to have the program automatically scale back my CPU to conserve power (And thus, battery life). But I don't know what settings to use, and there are plenty of options. Can anyone provide me with some basic guidelines? Ideally, when the computer is plugged in it will run at max performance, and when on battery it will be scaled back (but not too much, I still want some performance!)

 

Try to use Notebook Hardware Control. It is easier and better in a sense.

If you want you can just uncheck the highest speedsteps of the processor when you need to, or use the "max battery" option in the CPU speed section, so that your processor is set to always run on the minimal clock.

 

NHC makes you pay for stuff like different profiles... Screw that. RMClock for the win. Set it to the "Performance On Demand" mode. And in the section of setup for that mode, there's a slider where you set whether you want it to hover more towards performance or more towards power saving.

 

Only if you want to have it as a service. Paid version is a kind of overkill. Free version is enough functional. There are more options in NHC than in RMClock and it is easier to set for a beginner like the asking person.

Moreover, NHC allows to achieve slightly lower processor temperature than RMClock, because it loads processor less but uses more RAM instead. At least this was my conclusion when comparing the performance of both.

 

Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't see those options in RMClock. "Performance on Demand"... where is that? A slider? I see Profiles, which allows me to set a bunch of options for "Clock Throttling" and P-Step Transitions, etc., with lots of check boxes, but I have no idea what to set. I want it to do that stuff automatically! What am I missing here?

 

You can also check the forum of notebookforums.com. They have a whole long thread about undervolting and a very helpful community there. I think you'll even find the sample voltages for your processor there.

 

http://cpu.rightmark.org/pic/rmclock2_4.png

ok, it's a dropdown, not a slider, my bad.

 

Here're some links I'ved used to get RMClock setup properly:

When I first ever undervolted (using RMC), I learned about how to do it here (only the first post is relevant):
Simple Undervolting Tutorial

{I could have sworn I saw that post copied over to these forums, but I can't find it.}

But before reading that - which refers to an earlier version of RMC - read this single post first - which refers to a more current version 2.x - keep it in mind, then go read the post above - [ link]

If you have a AMD processor, then one of the developers for RMClock recommended this page:
RMClock settings for AMD Cool & Quiet

Hope this is helpful.

 

I'm not sure I understand why people would undervolt their CPU that they paid good money for in the first place. If one does all this, why didn't they buy a less powerful and cheaper system in the first place to save 30 minutes on battery life? This is like buying a Corvette and then taking the engine out and replacing it with a 4 cyl. to save on gas mileage. What am I missing here? Is this software worth the learning curve over windows' own power schemes?

 

not a really good analogy

 

This - Undervolting doesn't reduce the speed or power of your computer. It reduces electrical power comsumption and thus heat output, a bonus of which is that the battery usage can be extended.

Some simple arithmetic, using your 30min value. If your battery can last 3 hours before the next charge, then adding an extra 30mins gives you 17% more usage-time. Or more simple, you get an extra half-hour of usage. Of course batteries usage-time goes down with age, but if your system is undervolted, you're still draining less power.

Here's one article to start learning more about it. But I'm sure there are more and better ones around.