Power Consumption & Efficiency Of The Linux Kernel For The Last Three Years

Here's the Phoronix Test Suite's generated "meta" performance-per-Watt based upon all available data:

The best results were actually with Linux 3.18 overall followed by Linux 4.6 and then Linux 4.9, but for the most part since Linux 4.2 the results have been fairly close to each other.

Lastly, here's a look overall for the system power consumption results throughout the entire span of the automated benchmarking via the Phoronix Test Suite. Overall, there wasn't a huge change in power draw going from Linux 3.11 to Linux 4.9 on this Core i7 4790K system. The testing started out on 3.11 with a recorded minimum of 35 Watts, average of 53 Watts, and a peak of 104 Watts. With Linux 4.9 it ended with again a 35 Watt minimum, 54 Watt average, and 101 Watt peak.

The power consumption testing across these 19 kernels didn't end up being as interesting as anticipated, but nevertheless there is all of the data if you've been curious. How's the Linux power consumption been on your systems? Still seeing Linux have a shorter battery life than Windows? Share your thoughts by commenting on this article in our forums. And if you missed the earlier article, see our raw performance benchmarks of Linux 3.9 through Linux 4.9 for much more interesting results.