X60s, how low can it consume at idle?

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bgx · #1 Post by **bgx** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:21 am

hi!

i just received a x60s in mint state (thanks Rek!), moded with a AFFS 1400x1050 screen.

I added a intel SSD 80GB, could make it work in AHCI/DIPM (device initiated power management which makes it use much less power).

I couldnt downvolt the CPU @ 1Ghz because it is the lowest already (but 0.95V for a 0.65nm is incredibly high compared to 0.764V for my 0.13nm (banias) or 0.6V for a dothan (0.09)...

I am under XP.

At the end, i idle around 10W (lowest seen 9.95W i think, with screen the dimmest, no page file etc). Ok, there are 3GB in the machine too, which may make it consume more....

What about your values?

Note: values seen on the ibm battery information, similar to those from rightmarkcpu clock utility (battery discharge rate)....

to compare, my X40 can go as low as 6.7W (with a cheap but ok samsung SSD), and my X41 at 9W, all under XP (under 7, the X41 consume quite a bit more of course)...

EOMtp · #2 Post by **EOMtp** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:37 am

Approximately 10W is correct ... perhaps you can squeeze an additional 5% removing hardware (some memory, modem), taking the consumption down to 9.5W ... on a fresh 9-cell battery, that would mean perhaps 10 more minutes of idling. So what? Just curious ...

IvanAndreevich · #3 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:14 pm

My best idle on X60T with the SXGA+ screen and 5K500.B 5400 rpm drive is 6.59W. Yes, the 0.95V minimum voltage is definitely a limitation, unfortunately.

If you have the outdoor viewable screen, it may suck more power.

IvanAndreevich · #4 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:04 am

waow! it seems impressively small, 6.6W!
how did u get that?
do u have a ULV (ultra low voltage) processor or just a LV one?

Concerning the screen, even if it is off, my comp still sucks 8. something V, so i dont think it is all about the screen...

Core Duo L2400. What hard drive do you have, and what CPU?

I think the differences between these machines come down to -
1) Screen
2) CPU - some (even same ones) just suck less juice, including (but not limited to) having different lowest voltages
3) Hard drive

bgx · #5 Post by **bgx** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:15 am

Well, i thought about it a bit, and thought that the difference may be because of
- double memory channel (2GB+1GB)
- WWAN/3G sierra card
- bluetooth.

I never use this phone related [censored], hence i disabled them from the bios, in windows etc.
But may be they still consume.... I thus open my comp, remove them, and remove the fingerprint reader too which i never use...

and bingo, 7W consumed instead of 10W!

Actually, reconnecting the fingerprint reader, i get back to 9.5W.... waow, the fingerprint reader suck so much energy on its own?

yep, it does, because of the usb bug in i9xx chipset (windows keep polling the usb bus).... and the fingerprint reader is the only thing connected on the usb bus... but i forgot that fact...
I am back to X40 level of consumption, and i am very happy about it :p.

So if u want to save a lot of energy (and not just 10min as suggested by another poster), disconnect this piece of crap which is anyway not useful!

the math gives: +1hours and a half free on my 57W left in the battery!

edit: i tried to do the same trick to a X41, but i am on 7 on it, plus the fingerprint reader is imposible to disconnect without cutting the cable...hence i left it as it is, and didnt investigate much more than that....

edit2: i tried 1+2GB, 1GB alone and 1+1GB, and clearly, single channel consumes less, followed by 1+1 followed by 2G, but the difference is not big enough to overcome having less memory.

IvanAndreevich · #6 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:04 pm

The machine I was using also had the finger print reader, but that was on XP.

What USB polling bug are you referring to?

craigmontHunter · #7 Post by **craigmontHunter** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 1:42 pm

there is a patch that lenovo offers to solve the usb polling problem (it should be listed under system update)

IvanAndreevich · #8 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:18 pm

craigmontHunter wrote:there is a patch that lenovo offers to solve the usb polling problem (it should be listed under system update)

Umm.. in Windows 7?

craigmontHunter · #9 Post by **craigmontHunter** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:25 pm

I thought so (or else I used the vista one because I *thought* I had the same problem - if the problem seems to exist, I don't think it can hurt anything.

- you may need to download it manually, since system update would not catch it.

marYn · #10 Post by **marYn** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:15 am

X60s - L2400, 2+1GB RAM, 320GB 5400rpm WD, standard XGA, BT off, no WWAN, Atheros WiFi (AR928X Apple model with Zender bios) off, FP reader on. Windows 7

in idle with low brightness it goes down to ~8.2 mW. the lowest number I've seen for a while was 7.9

* anyway in regular use (brightness in the mid, WiFi on, Logitech wireless mouse dongle) it consume 12-15 mW
BTW the Logitech wireless mouse dongle consumes around 3 mW !!!!! 8-(

IvanAndreevich · #11 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:16 pm

marYn wrote:X60s - L2400, 2+1GB RAM, 320GB 5400rpm WD, standard XGA, BT off, no WWAN, Atheros WiFi (AR928X Apple model with Zender bios) off, FP reader on. Windows 7

in idle with low brightness it goes down to ~8.2 mW. the lowest number I've seen for a while was 7.9

* anyway in regular use (brightness in the mid, WiFi on, Logitech wireless mouse dongle) it consume 12-15 mW
BTW the Logitech wireless mouse dongle consumes around 3 mW !!!!! 8-(

8.2W with wireless off? That seems too high.

marYn · #12 Post by **marYn** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:39 am

IvanAndreevich wrote:8.2W with wireless off? That seems too high.

I think it's perfectly normal for X60* machine.. The CPU can't go lower than 1GHz with 0.95V..

IvanAndreevich · #13 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:07 pm

marYn wrote:
IvanAndreevich wrote:8.2W with wireless off? That seems too high.
I think it's perfectly normal for X60* machine.. The CPU can't go lower than 1GHz with 0.95V..

So? I get 6.2W with the same chip. Big difference.

marYn · #14 Post by **marYn** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:58 pm

IvanAndreevich wrote:
marYn wrote: I think it's perfectly normal for X60* machine.. The CPU can't go lower than 1GHz with 0.95V..
So? I get 6.2W with the same chip. Big difference.

Then you might share some tips and tricks. You seem to be experienced with power optimizing, so let us know the details.

marYn · #15 Post by **marYn** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:35 am

IvanAndreevich wrote: So? I get 6.2W with the same chip. Big difference.

Ivan, still waiting for details how to reach 6.2W...

IvanAndreevich · #16 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:04 pm

Do you have stuff running in the background? Win 7 loves doing crap like search indexing.

If your hard drive spins down - how much does your machine consume?

When it's idle it takes a few minutes to settle down and reach the bottom consumption - not right away when you unplug it.

ParatoOptimal · #17 Post by **ParatoOptimal** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 1:50 am

Wow! Nice screen. I want some!

marYn · #18 Post by **marYn** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 2:16 am

IvanAndreevich wrote:If your hard drive spins down - how much does your machine consume?

When it's idle it takes a few minutes to settle down and reach the bottom consumption - not right away when you unplug it.

I think the difference must be a HDD spin down, I measure it while it's running.

Indexing service is off. I wonder how much a SSD will contribute to a longer battery life.

IvanAndreevich · #19 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 3:09 am

No, 6.2W is with the hard drive spinned up. I want to determine if yours is particularly power hungry drive.

SSD doesn't help any. Most SSDs in my experience consume more than good mobile drives.

X60s, how low can it consume at idle?

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