Does PowerPlay Actually Do Something?

[rvacha]

I've noticed that my X1400 GPU does not appear to be running in the mode that I select using PowerPlay. For example, I have my preferred setting when plugged in set as Balanced, but the PowerPlay panel reports that the active setting is Optimal Performance. I've also noticed that the PowerPlay panel does not appear to see a change in power source (plugged in or running on batteries) for a long, long time, so I'm wondering if PowerPlay just isn't reporting the current mode correctly or if the settings are overridden by the IBM power manager profile (which as best as I can tell does not allow you to directly control GPU performance). If it always gets overridden then I will uninstall Catalyst, since that is the only feature I wish to tweak.

[UberSteve]

Anybody have any idea's on this?

I have exactly the same issue / concern, except I have a 2623DDU with the V5200.

Cheers,
Steve

[FlexOink]

I tested my FireGL, and what seems that the Thinkvantage Powermanager has the most influence in the clock speed.

When I'm on battery, with high performance settings, I get high clock speeds.
When on battery with low performance battery settings, I get low clockspeeds.
And the same goes for the the performance settings on AC.

So not soo much the power source of the laptop, but more the performance settings seem to influence Powerplay.

[ramian]

Yeah, PowerPlay don't work for me either. 2007-72A here.

@FlexOink
You mean to say when you're using the Fn+F3 power profiles, your card underclocks itself? I have got to try this later. Exactly which profile did you use?

[GomJabbar]

On my older T42 model using Battery MaxiMiser power management, there is a setting when using the Battery MaxiMiser Wizard for choosing at what battery charge level, graphics device power management comes into effect. I am not sure how Power Manager handles this.

PowerPlay also does not always work because of other factors. When a video is running, PowerPlay does not work. See following:

When you enable POWERPLAY™, battery-saving mode cannot always be activated immediately since POWERPLAY™ becomes active only under certain display conditions. Conditions that prevent activation of POWERPLAY™ include:

Your notebook is plugged in. POWERPLAY™ is only available when your notebook is running on batteries.

You are currently using more than one display device.

One or more of the display settings (resolution, color depth, refresh rate) is set too high to permit activation of POWERPLAY™.

Your notebook has a video overlay running, as in the case of DVD playback.

Note

When POWERPLAY™ is active, battery-saving mode will be deactivated automatically when you place your notebook under any of the above conditions (for example, if you increase the display color depth). As a result, higher performance applications and settings are always achievable.
POWERPLAY™ is only available on specific models of notebook computers.