Computer power save modes - granola

strider3700 · 10-15-12, 12:44 PM

I just ran across Granola Granola Personal Software Power Management and decided to give it a try
Basically it's a pay whatever you want ($0 is fine) piece of software that when installed on your system it adjusts your power save modes in the system.

They have windows and Linux versions. Getting power save modes setup in linux had been a big pain in the *** so I'm really happy with this so far

I installed it on my AMD quad core that was already pretty low power usage hardware running Ubuntu and fired it up.

There is no noticable difference on the system performance wise but it reports that I will save 105.6 kwh/yearly from a 20.4% CPU energy reduction.

I have noticed that the more I stop running on my machine the higher the amount saved goes. I normally have chrome and firefox idling on the system with a few dozen tabs between them as well as XBMC idling at the menu incase someone wants to watch something on TV. shutting down chrome to 8 tabs and closing firefox and XBMC completely got me to 26% CPU energy reduction.

Together with my turning the machine off at night when I'm sleeping the two should work out to about 450 kwh saved yearly. That's almost 5% of my total yearly usage. and is a full 1/2 of my reduction goal for this year. Once again done at zero cost and minimal effort.
<edit> 30 minutes later the total savings has climbed to 41% on this machine. or 213.5 kwh. I'll need to get the kill a watt out and do some testing to verify these numbers. </edit>

strider3700 · 10-15-12, 01:01 PM

Just installed it on this old beast of a laptop that my wife uses. It says that it will save me 246 kwh yearly and reduce CPU power usage by 47.7%. thankfully this machine is turned off most of the time. only getting maybe 5 or 6 hours usage in a day

I've never looked into the specs on this machine but holy crap it must be bad. It's a toshiba satellite p300. It's also running ubuntu. next up the windows laptop I use while working.

Daox · 10-15-12, 01:18 PM

Wow, 450 kWh is pretty huge.

What exactly does this software do? Does it regulate chip voltage and clock speeds?

strider3700 · 10-15-12, 02:40 PM

I haven't seen any specific details but it does state all over the place that your computer has to support " dynamic voltage and frequency scaling" and that it could be turned off in the bios.

So I'm assuming it's automatically underclocking the computer depending on load. It's possible that other OS's take this into account with their power savings modes. Like I said I never managed to get power management set up well on my linux machines before now.

I'll get to the XP machine in a bit. my TED showed up and is now installed. Just need to configure it. It's way cooler in my mind.

Daox · 10-15-12, 02:42 PM

Yeah, AMD has cool'n'quiet that is supposed to do the same thing and Intel has speedstep. Both have limitations depending on the chips FSB and multiplier, but they seem to work pretty well with windows systems from what I've seen. I wonder if granola can take it further?

strider3700 · 10-15-12, 03:04 PM

Yep I know I have cool n quiet on my MB. It also never activated under linux until I installed this program. It looks like I can config it to basically turn off and run at max speed so I should be able to catch the difference with the kill-a-watt. I can't power this machine down until tonight though -stupid job keeps getting in the way of everything interested

After that I'll try to see if I can get some readings.

strider3700 · 10-15-12, 04:43 PM

Install on the old XP laptop isn't working. It doesn't say why it just can't get the data it wants. I wouldn't be shocked if that old machine is just too old to work.

ecomodded · 10-15-12, 07:48 PM

If you go into the control panel then power options, you can set the maximum processor speed from 1 to 100%

MN Renovator · 10-17-12, 10:44 AM

40 watts from my Kill-a-watt for my laptop with the battery fully charged and watching a Youtube video or something else moderately intensive, settings were already optimized.
I think my Netbook is about 15 watts, I'd have to check that again but I'm monitoring the fridge.

strider3700 · 10-19-12, 12:40 PM

I finally hooked the kill-a-watt up to the PC. It's monitoring the entire power bar, so PC, monitor, printer, modem and router.

IT says I'm currently using about 154 watts. There is a typical load for me running on the PC.

I activate granola and set it to miserware their recommended setting. It drops to 136 watts which is an 18 watt reduction.

It seems that the more that is running the better the software is at reducing consumption. With nothing running on the PC it was 138 watts reducing to 136 watts.

it's still telling me it's going to save me 163 kwh this year. at a typical 18 watts reduced running 12 hours a day every day of the year I get 79 kwh saved. It's a decent savings but I have no idea how they are calculating their number.

10-15-12, 12:44 PM	#1
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Computer power save modes - granola I just ran across Granola Granola Personal Software Power Management and decided to give it a try Basically it's a pay whatever you want ($0 is fine) piece of software that when installed on your system it adjusts your power save modes in the system. They have windows and Linux versions. Getting power save modes setup in linux had been a big pain in the *** so I'm really happy with this so far I installed it on my AMD quad core that was already pretty low power usage hardware running Ubuntu and fired it up. There is no noticable difference on the system performance wise but it reports that I will save 105.6 kwh/yearly from a 20.4% CPU energy reduction. I have noticed that the more I stop running on my machine the higher the amount saved goes. I normally have chrome and firefox idling on the system with a few dozen tabs between them as well as XBMC idling at the menu incase someone wants to watch something on TV. shutting down chrome to 8 tabs and closing firefox and XBMC completely got me to 26% CPU energy reduction. Together with my turning the machine off at night when I'm sleeping the two should work out to about 450 kwh saved yearly. That's almost 5% of my total yearly usage. and is a full 1/2 of my reduction goal for this year. Once again done at zero cost and minimal effort. <edit> 30 minutes later the total savings has climbed to 41% on this machine. or 213.5 kwh. I'll need to get the kill a watt out and do some testing to verify these numbers. </edit> Last edited by strider3700; 10-15-12 at 01:15 PM..

10-15-12, 01:18 PM	#3
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Wow, 450 kWh is pretty huge. What exactly does this software do? Does it regulate chip voltage and clock speeds? __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-15-12, 02:42 PM	#5
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Yeah, AMD has cool'n'quiet that is supposed to do the same thing and Intel has speedstep. Both have limitations depending on the chips FSB and multiplier, but they seem to work pretty well with windows systems from what I've seen. I wonder if granola can take it further? __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-15-12, 01:01 PM	#2
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Just installed it on this old beast of a laptop that my wife uses. It says that it will save me 246 kwh yearly and reduce CPU power usage by 47.7%. thankfully this machine is turned off most of the time. only getting maybe 5 or 6 hours usage in a day I've never looked into the specs on this machine but holy crap it must be bad. It's a toshiba satellite p300. It's also running ubuntu. next up the windows laptop I use while working.

10-15-12, 02:40 PM	#4
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I haven't seen any specific details but it does state all over the place that your computer has to support " dynamic voltage and frequency scaling" and that it could be turned off in the bios. So I'm assuming it's automatically underclocking the computer depending on load. It's possible that other OS's take this into account with their power savings modes. Like I said I never managed to get power management set up well on my linux machines before now. I'll get to the XP machine in a bit. my TED showed up and is now installed. Just need to configure it. It's way cooler in my mind.

10-15-12, 03:04 PM	#6
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Yep I know I have cool n quiet on my MB. It also never activated under linux until I installed this program. It looks like I can config it to basically turn off and run at max speed so I should be able to catch the difference with the kill-a-watt. I can't power this machine down until tonight though -stupid job keeps getting in the way of everything interested After that I'll try to see if I can get some readings.

10-15-12, 04:43 PM	#7
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Install on the old XP laptop isn't working. It doesn't say why it just can't get the data it wants. I wouldn't be shocked if that old machine is just too old to work.

10-15-12, 07:48 PM	#8
ecomodded Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Vancouver Island,Canada. Posts: 1,037 Thanks: 116 Thanked 100 Times in 87 Posts	If you go into the control panel then power options, you can set the maximum processor speed from 1 to 100%

10-17-12, 10:44 AM	#9
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	40 watts from my Kill-a-watt for my laptop with the battery fully charged and watching a Youtube video or something else moderately intensive, settings were already optimized. I think my Netbook is about 15 watts, I'd have to check that again but I'm monitoring the fridge.

10-19-12, 12:40 PM	#10
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I finally hooked the kill-a-watt up to the PC. It's monitoring the entire power bar, so PC, monitor, printer, modem and router. IT says I'm currently using about 154 watts. There is a typical load for me running on the PC. I activate granola and set it to miserware their recommended setting. It drops to 136 watts which is an 18 watt reduction. It seems that the more that is running the better the software is at reducing consumption. With nothing running on the PC it was 138 watts reducing to 136 watts. it's still telling me it's going to save me 163 kwh this year. at a typical 18 watts reduced running 12 hours a day every day of the year I get 79 kwh saved. It's a decent savings but I have no idea how they are calculating their number.