X.Org ATI Driver Supports New Power Options

[highlandsun]

Sounds great. Since I don't play games on my box, I don't see any reason not to stay in Low Power mode all the time. Going to try this right now...

[diverse_izzue]

I get screen corruption when I enable the DynamicPM option. This is on a Mobility Radeon X1400 on a Thinkpad T60. How/where should I report that?

I can however enable the ClockGating option successfully. I have not yet attempted to measure if the chip consumes less power then. Could someone please explain in laymans term what ClockGating does, why I want to enable it, or why I would rather disable it?

[tball]

Thats good news. Fglrx, for some reason, doesn't support powerplay for my gfxcard. So its always running at 100 % consuming my battery :P

[agd5f]

I get screen corruption when I enable the DynamicPM option. This is on a Mobility Radeon X1400 on a Thinkpad T60. How/where should I report that?

https://bugs.freedektop.org

I can however enable the ClockGating option successfully. I have not yet attempted to measure if the chip consumes less power then. Could someone please explain in laymans term what ClockGating does, why I want to enable it, or why I would rather disable it?

Each block on the chip (displays, 2D, 3D, overlay, etc.) can be clocked separately. If a particular block is not in use, the GPU can dynamically stop/start the clock to that block, saving power. Enabling ClockGating should save some power, however, the some bioses enabled this by default during boot up, so you may or may not see much savings from this option, depending on your system.

[diverse_izzue]

https://bugs.freedektop.org

Each block on the chip (displays, 2D, 3D, overlay, etc.) can be clocked separately. If a particular block is not in use, the GPU can dynamically stop/start the clock to that block, saving power. Enabling ClockGating should save some power, however, the some bioses enabled this by default during boot up, so you may or may not see much savings from this option, depending on your system.

Reported: #21208

Thanks for the explanation.

[Vighy]

mhh I cannot reach the bugzilla now, it seems to me it's down (may temporary) but I notice a little corruption at the bottom-right of the pointer. In particular when it's animated.
I've enabled DynamicPM (but it's not active since i'm using the PC ) and ClockGating.

I'm gonna try more options and combinations and then report back.

[dungeon]

I'm a bit confused with these options, is "DynamicClocks" option is now just renamed to "ClockGating"? When only "DynamicPM" or with "ClockGating" also, gpu clock is always stay to 60 MHz (default is 238.5 MHz on my rV280), this downclock seems to not affect performance in 2D/video, but Mesa usage is affected - there are lines all over of
any GL games, so is this normal behavior with "DynamicPM" "on"?

P.S. Oh i see two another commits after, maybe i will wait a little and try again later.

[elsie]

few questions....

Has anyone tried these power options on a laptop?
Does ForceLowPowerMode keep the fan quiet?
What kind of performance do you get with ForceLowPowerMode? (glxgears fps anyone?)


I'm still using an old fglrx driver primarily for the powerplay feature, low power mode (135/135) is permanently set. This keeps the fan almost silent.
Using fglrx low power mode I get about 1000fps with my x1600 mobility.

[agd5f]

I'm a bit confused with these options, is "DynamicClocks" option is now just renamed to "ClockGating"? When only "DynamicPM" or with "ClockGating" also, gpu clock is always stay to 60 MHz (default is 238.5 MHz on my rV280), this downclock seems to not affect performance in 2D/video, but Mesa usage is affected - there are lines all over of
any GL games, so is this normal behavior with "DynamicPM" "on"?

DynamicClocks options was renamed to ClockGating and the code was cleaned up and unified. DynamicPM option switches to a lower power state when your PC is idle (DPMS has turned off the screen). It switches back to the default state when there is activity. The ForceLowPowerMode option forces the chip to always be in a low power state.

[highlandsun]

DynamicPM option switches to a lower power state when your PC is idle (DPMS has turned off the screen). It switches back to the default state when there is activity. The ForceLowPowerMode option forces the chip to always be in a low power state.

But something that wasn't clear to me until I read the code: DynamicPM's low power state is lower than ForceLowPowerMode's low power state. For maximum savings, you should enable both options.

I haven't noticed any lower temperatures on my HPdv5z with HD3450 yet. Will see if it makes any difference in battery life...