Power and Performance Measurement FAQ

Why don’t you show the absolute power measurements in your results for the platforms you tested?

The absolute power measurement of a platform is highly dependent on the platform configuration, such as: CPU speed, memory type and amount, type of disk drives, power supply efficiency, etc.  Our focus is Linux power performance, with respect to kernel versions and power saving features, and not a comparison of different manufacturers’ performance platforms. So, only the change in power, relative to a baseline, is shown, instead of absolute numbers.

For laptop power measurement, why don’t you use the laptop battery power measurement available in /proc/acpi/battery?

The battery drain information is not very consistent from run to run. The drain rate of the battery could vary depending on the battery conditioning, temperature, and the current battery capacity. For consistent measurement, it is better to use a power meter.

Who should I contact if I have questions about the project?

Please send your questions to the lesswatts.org mailing list.

Are there plans to include power performance measurement for mobile Internet devices (MIDs)?

Yes, we are actually planning to add data for such platforms in the future, when Intel-based MID devices becomes available.