__NOTOC__
AMD PowerNow! is
AMD's
dynamic frequency scaling
Dynamic frequency scaling (also known as CPU throttling) is a power management technique in computer architecture whereby the frequency of a microprocessor can be automatically adjusted "on the fly" depending on the actual needs, to conserve ...
and power saving technology for
laptop processors. The
CPU
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
's
clock speed
In computing, the clock rate or clock speed typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses, which are used to synchronize the operations of its components, and is used as an indicator of th ...
and
VCore The CPU core voltage (''VCORE'') is the power supply voltage supplied to the CPU (which is a digital circuit), GPU, or other device containing a processing core. The amount of power a CPU uses, and thus the amount of heat it dissipates, is the ...
are automatically decreased when the computer is under low load or idle, to save
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
power, reduce heat and
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...
. The lifetime of the CPU is also extended because of reduced
electromigration
Electromigration is the transport of material caused by the gradual movement of the ions in a conductor due to the momentum transfer between conducting electrons and diffusing metal atoms. The effect is important in applications where high direc ...
, which varies exponentially with temperature.
[ AMD.com – TechDocs]
The technology is a concept similar to
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...
's
SpeedStep
Enhanced SpeedStep is a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies (codenamed Geyserville and including SpeedStep, SpeedStep II, and SpeedStep III) built into some Intel microprocessors that allow the clock speed of the processor to be dynami ...
technology. The adaptation of PowerNow! for AMD's desktop CPUs is called
Cool'n'Quiet
AMD Cool'n'Quiet is a CPU dynamic frequency scaling and power saving technology introduced by AMD with its Athlon XP processor line. It works by reducing the processor's clock rate and voltage when the processor is idle. The aim of this technolo ...
. Newer
Opteron
Opteron is AMD's x86 former server and workstation processor line, and was the first processor which supported the AMD64 instruction set architecture (known generically as x86-64 or AMD64). It was released on April 22, 2003, with the ''Sled ...
s also use an adaptation of PowerNow! called ''Optimized Power Management.''
AMD has supplied and supported drivers for its PowerNow! technology that work on Windows 98, ME, NT, and 2000.
Processors supporting PowerNow!
*
K6-2+
*
K6-III+
*
Athlon XP-M - some models.
*
Mobile Athlon 64
The Athlon 64 microprocessor from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is an eighth-generation central processing unit (CPU). Athlon 64 is targeted at the consumer market.
Features overview
CPU features table
Single-core desktop processors
Athlon ...
*
Mobile Sempron
*
Turion 64
AMD Turion is the brand name AMD applies to its x86-64 low-power consumption (''mobile'') processors codenamed ''K8L''. The Turion 64 and Turion 64 X2/Ultra processors compete with Intel's mobile processors, initially the ''Pentium M'' and the Int ...
and
X2
*
Athlon II
Athlon II is a family of Advanced Micro Devices, AMD multi-core 45 nm central processing units, which is aimed at the budget to mid-range market and is a complementary product lineup to the Phenom II.
Features
The Athlon II series is based o ...
*
AMD Accelerated Processing Unit
AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), formerly known as Fusion, is a series of 64-bit microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), combining a general-purpose AMD64 central processing unit (CPU) and integrated graphics processing unit ...
See also
*
Dynamic frequency scaling
Dynamic frequency scaling (also known as CPU throttling) is a power management technique in computer architecture whereby the frequency of a microprocessor can be automatically adjusted "on the fly" depending on the actual needs, to conserve ...
Power Saving Technologies:
*
AMD Cool'n'Quiet (desktop CPUs)
*
AMD PowerTune
AMD PowerTune is a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies built into some AMD GPUs and APUs that allow the clock speed of the processor to be dynamically changed (to different ''P-states'') by software. This allows the processor to m ...
(graphics)
*
Intel SpeedStep (CPUs)
Performance Boosting Technologies:
*
AMD Turbo Core
AMD Turbo Core a.k.a. AMD Core Performance Boost (CPB) is a dynamic frequency scaling technology implemented by AMD that allows the processor to dynamically adjust and control the processor operating frequency in certain versions of its processo ...
(CPUs)
*
Intel Turbo Boost
Intel Turbo Boost is Intel's trade name for central processing units (CPUs) dynamic frequency scaling feature that automatically raises certain versions of its operating frequency when demanding tasks are running, thus enabling a higher resulting ...
(CPUs)
References
External links
AMD PowerNow!
AMD technologies
Computer hardware tuning
{{compu-hardware-stub
X86 architecture