Testbed and Methods
We perform our tests in the OS preinstalled on the notebooks. Before the tests we disable power-saving and network services, the audio subsystem, antivirus software, and screensavers. The notebooks are tested at the maximum screen brightness setting and at the maximum resolution of the LCD matrix.
We used two power modes in the tests. First, we selected the Always On power mode for the maximum performance and the shortest battery run-down time. Then, we switched to the Max Battery mode for the maximum battery run-down time.
Our tests:
Performance benchmarks: synthetic (SiSoftware Sandra 2005, PCMark 2004), office and multimedia (Business Winstone 2004, Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2004), games (3DMark 2003 3.40, 3DMark 2005, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament 2003);Battery life tests (Battery Eater Pro 2.50).Performance
First I want to show you the results of SiSoftware Sandra 2005 and PCMark 2004, which are quite high for the class the tested notebooks belong to. As you can see from the table below, both notebooks slow down almost in double (by about 54%) when they begin to work on their own batteries because they automatically switch to the power-saving mode. Below you can see screenshots of the ThrottleWatch 2.0 utility taken on the two notebooks. This utility can keep track of the current frequency and the voltage of the CPU. The screenshots were made as the notebooks were powered from the wall outlet (Always On setting) and from their own batteries (Max Battery).
The voltage and frequency of the CPU in the Sony VAIO in the two power modes
The voltage and frequency of the CPU in the HP Compaq in the two power modes
Thus, the processors of both notebooks step down their frequency from 1729.0MHz to 798.0MHz and voltage from 1.308V to 0.988V when they switch to their batteries. But let?s get back to the results of the synthetic tests.
