The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Processor speed and battery life

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by bloodandiron, Apr 9, 2007.

  1. bloodandiron

    bloodandiron Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I'd like to know if processor speed (say, a 2.0Ghz core 2 duo and a 2.33 Ghz core 2 duo processor) have great impact on battery consumption? I'm deciding what processor speed to choose for customizing an ASUS notebook online, and other than the price I wonder how much more power it consumes, and whether it is worth it for the faster speed it provides.

    thanks!
     
    bloodandiron, Apr 9, 2007
    #1
  2. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,415
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Unless you have a specific need, the 2.33GHz CPU will almost never justify the cost. They will use the same amount of battery life. The biggest juice sucker on a laptop is the screen, not the CPU.
     
    ZaZ, Apr 9, 2007
    #2
  3. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

    Reputations:
    2,883
    Messages:
    3,468
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Higher clocked CPU's do use more power. (Just like when you overclock, your CPU ends up sucking more power) But it's not such a big deal, at least not on laptop CPU's that are pretty efficient in any case, and also because they'll be clocked down and idling most of the time anyway.
     
    Jalf, Apr 9, 2007
    #3
  4. Gator

    Gator Go Gators!

    Reputations:
    890
    Messages:
    1,889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Yep, and one reason---which you can adjust---is because your processor will need to use higher voltages at higher clocks. This is why some users will lower the voltages for each stage of Intel's Speedstep technology on the Core Duo's---or undervolt---so that an increase of 30 minutes in battery life is not uncommon.
     
    Gator, Apr 9, 2007
    #4