Is C.P.U's Speed (Performance) cut by 2/3 when on Battery?

[rexy]

It is my frist ThinkPad (X60s 170463U) and I love it, and slowly learning it's ins and outs.
But I can't for the life of me figure out how to change my battery setitngs
I have gone into Power Manager, then Setting Properties, then to Scheme name . But it does not allow me to make a permanant
change from "Power Source Optimized" to "Maximum Performance".( it looks like its changed, alowing me to chose and hit apply but when I open Power Manager and check, its back to where it started.)

I see the three diffrent options it gives me , it allows me to switch between the three, (Power Source, Maximum Performance, and Maximum Battery Life) but the change never "takes" it always returns to it's default "Power Source Optimized" setting.
That is a setting which I may be using most of the time when I am on battery power, but since it cuts the CPU's power/speed (performance) by so much, I would like to be able to override it If I have to do something involved quickly, and not be on the battery power's long enough for it's increased drain to matter.

IS there a way to use the " Maximum Performance" setting, when I am on battery power?
If what I am seeing is right, every time someone is using their Battery, and not A.C. their C.P.U's Maximun speed and power is cut by two thirds!

This can't be right, can it?

ANY help would be welcome.

Nick.

[SpunkyXL]

I had that problem also with my thinkpad..I went to the BIOS, power, and set it to MAX Performace when on battery

[tsammyc]

What I do is left click that large green battery icon on teh task bar which gives you the % left. If you set it there, it seems to stick.

[mlli4]

Setting BIOS might not work. Try IBM's power mangerment software.

[mcgyver]

I use a small free utility, SpeedswitchXP (google for URL). It has a tray icon that you can choose which power scheme you want to use. Very easy to change from max battery, max performance, dynamic switching or battery optimized. Hope this help.

[rexy]

Thanks guys.

I was finally able to change the settings in Window's " Power Options" . via the control panel.
IBM's Power Manager never allowed me to change into "Max Performance"
I could do everthing else but that.
Still don't know why???
And I could be wrong here, but from what I have seen, and learned,
to get ANYTHING close to decent Battery Life on our beloved x60-x60s,
we need to chose a power setting (Power Source Optimized, Max Battery Life, or New Scheme) that cuts the CPU's power by nearly 70% !

Nick.

[christopher_wolf]

Thanks guys.

I was finally able to change the settings in Window's " Power Options" . via the control panel.
IBM's Power Manager never allowed me to change into "Max Performance"
I could do everthing else but that.
Still don't know why???
And I could be wrong here, but from what I have seen, and learned,
to get ANYTHING close to decent Battery Life on our beloved x60-x60s,
we need to chose a power setting (Power Source Optimized, Max Battery Life, or New Scheme) that cuts the CPU's power is cut by nearly 70% !

Nick.

Well, that has always been the goal of mobile computing. Low power consumption and low heat emissions from the processor as well as a good ability to throttle it way down when need; usually an adaptive mode is present as well.

[rexy]

I think I understand the reasoning behind it, it just seems weird that here we are owners/users of a brand new powerfull Duo Core processor, thats surrpossed to be more intelligent in terms of mobile power usage in a ultralight notebook, with claims of long battery life, but to get somewhat decent battery life, the only real option is to choke the CPU's power by so much. A new power setting allowing for adaptive CPU responce in IBM's Power Manager does not "take", resetting itself back to the default "Power Optimized" setting.
Leaving one with only two real choices:
A limping CPU with somewhat better battery life.
or more speed and very short battery life.


Nick.

[tomh009]

I think I understand the reasoning behind it, it just seems weird that here we are owners/users of a brand new powerfull Duo Core processor, thats surrpossed to be more intelligent in terms of mobile power usage in a ultralight notebook, with claims of long battery life, but to get somewhat decent battery life, the only real option is to choke the CPU's power by so much. A new power setting allowing for adaptive CPU responce in IBM's Power Manager does not "take", resetting itself back to the default "Power Optimized" setting.
Leaving one with only two real choices:
A limping CPU with somewhat better battery life.
or more speed and very short battery life.

First thing: take a look at NHC (Notebook Hardware Control). It lets you tune your power settings, including CPU voltage. Haven't had an opportunity to try it on an x60, but on my x31 it was easily an additional 20% of battery life. NHC also gives you more clever settings, and easy switching from the tool tray.
http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm

Second: how often do you actually need full CPU speed? My x31 runs at 1.7 GHz at full speed, but in practice it's running at 600 MHz almost the whole time -- and running Task Manager (with "Hide when minimized" option) it's clear that 600 MHz is much more than enough for most of today's productivity applications.

I need the full power to run Photoshop, yes, or to rip a CD. But since I don't really play games (sudoku doesn't count, I think!) there isn't really a desperate need for CPU performance very often. You might look at Task Manager on your system to see how often you need full CPU speed ...