frequency scaling on D525MW not working properly

Adrian Bocaniciu a.bocaniciu at computer.org
Mon Jul 23 03:28:14 PDT 2012


Intel Atom processors, unlike more expensive Intel processors, do not
support frequency scaling.

See for example the specifications for Atom D525 at:
http://ark.intel.com/products/49490/

where it is stated that Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology is not
supported. The same is written in all Atom datasheets.

The only way to reduce the power consumption of Atom is to ensure that
the processor is halted when it has nothing to do, i.e. in the idle
loop, which I suppose that DragonFlyBSD does, or to use the ACPI C3
sleep state whenever you can tolerate the latency required for waking up
the processor.

I also have a couple of D525MW boards, but I have not tested
DragonFlyBSD on them, and they are much less warm, but my Mini-ITX cases
(Lian Li & Antec) have case coolers that ensure an adequate air flow
inside the cases even if both the motherboards and the power supplies
are fanless.






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