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    i3 vs i5 power consumption on idle

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by min2209, Jan 11, 2011.

  1. min2209

    min2209 Notebook Deity

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    Hey guys,

    since the i5 supports turboboost while i3 dos not, does that mean that the i3 is unable to shut down one of the cores in idle mode? My i3-370M is drawing 9.5W with 8x multiplier (1GHz) whereas an i5-450M in an identical system draws much less.

    Is there any way to reduce the power draw?

    thanks in advance
     
    min2209, Jan 11, 2011
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  2. SHoTTa35

    SHoTTa35 Notebook Consultant

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    Weird? You mean the whole laptop is pulling that much or what? My Thinkpad T410si witha Core i3 will idle at 9watts with brightness turned down and all that.

    TurboBoost will crank it up higher but has nothing to do with lower. SpeedStep which has been in Intel mobile CPUs since Pentium 3M is what manages all that.
     
    SHoTTa35, Jan 11, 2011
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  3. Panther214

    Panther214 Notebook Evangelist

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    lol power management is one thing impossible with turbo boost etc.. speedstep can't be controlled and manipulated unlike in core 2 duo.. 9W is very little so don't complain :D

    Panther214
     
    Panther214, Jan 11, 2011
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  4. min2209

    min2209 Notebook Deity

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    I see. My i3-370M uses 9.5W on 0% usage for some reason, excluding the rest of the laptop. This is reported by Everest. The whole laptop seems to draw 13W...
     
    min2209, Jan 11, 2011
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