setcpu question?

[pask2155]

Just wondering what the best set up and stuff is for this program? And does this have any adverse affects on the phone? You would think upping the processor speed would hurt it… Just need some general info on this program so I don't screw up my phone, like if I back it down to the minimum when my screeen is off does it mess the phone up… just have a lot of questions like that… I'm on the new mikefroyo rom fyi…

and does this really save that much battery life? That is the point of this app right?

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by pask2155

Just wondering what the best set up and stuff is for this program? And does this have any adverse affects on the phone? You would think upping the processor speed would hurt it… Just need some general info on this program so I don't screw up my phone, like if I back it down to the minimum when my screeen is off does it mess the phone up… just have a lot of questions like that… I'm on the new mikefroyo rom fyi…

and does this really save that much battery life? That is the point of this app right?

ok listen,


if you have root access to your phone and have an overclocked kernel then you can use SetCPU, otherwise it will just tell you what your clock speed is and that's all.

Android in general for the Evo has pretty good processor/battery drives that govern how much the CPU uses the battery, so when your screen is off the drivers probably tell your battery to chill out and quit giving power to the processor. Now, to test how well this works, download Current Widget from the market and set it. Turn off your screen and wait a couple minutes (with WiFi off and no craziness running) and see what it says. Less than 5ma? you're doing ok. More than 10ma? not so well.

Let's talk SetCPU. I have an HD2 running an Android HD ROM. The developers have to code the kernel as best they can and come up with drivers, because HTC didn't write Android drivers for the HD2 (damn them). Since the drivers are not perfect, SetCPU comes in handy. I run at about 800mhz max with an interactive governor, then set a rule that when the screen is off it runs at 245mhz max with Power Saver governor. This tweaked right with autokiller gives me about 4ma drainage in standby, not bad!!!

when the phone is plugged in, it is set to run at 1.19ghz on Performance, so it runs blazing fast. This is when I am playing Final Fantasy 8 on my phone, I benchmark upwards of 1600 on Quadrant Advanced on sense ROMs and have even seen 1900+ benchmark on bare-bones Nexus builds

You cannot really damage your phone overclocking it. The worst thing that will happen is your phone will get hot and start force closing and acting funny.

I also have a rule set on setCPU that if the temperature reaches over 44 degrees to scale the max processor back to 768 mhz with an OnDemand governor, this takes the temperature down.

I am also using an undervolted kernel, so the processor only uses 925mv instead of 1000, this keeps my core temperature down and I have not seen any performance issues.

So the answer is:


Yes, SetCPU and OC can increase performance and save battery life if you know how to properly use the settings, or it can drain battery like a mother if you use the wrong settings (e.g. min 1.9ghz, max 1.9ghz Performance).

Use Current Widget to see how much Ma you're using on certain processes.


Also, be advised that when rooted and running a custom ROM, different kernels and different radios have different battery drain and performance issues.

I just flashed a 2.15.5 radio on my HD2, battery drain = holy crap!, so I flashed the 2.12.5 radio back on and it's back to 4ma in standby.

make Sense?


also, I'm gonna move this bad boy over to Android General

[pask2155]

this helps a ton, but what's the power saver governor? And how do I configure autokiller?? How is yours set up?

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by pask2155

this helps a ton, but what's the power saver governor? And how do I configure autokiller?? How is yours set up?

Every Android kernel allows certain governors in SetCPU,

open SetCPU and look at all your governor options (ondemand, performance, etc...) if you don't have PowerSaver, your kernel does not support it, it all depends on your ROM and what kernel it uses.

for autokiller, again you need to be rooted, I use some differnet settings but if you just open presets and go with "extreme" you should be good, it keeps a lot of free RAM when you need it and closes programs that you don't need open faster than Android does it by default.

[pask2155]

ok I am rooted and all, and I have all of my presets set to conservative, except when screen is off, I have that one on powersave…

Last question, lol, what's the difference between conservative and interactive? Reasons i am asking is becasue i have about 45ma coming out of my phone at the moment...

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by pask2155

ok I am rooted and all, and I have all of my presets set to conservative, except when screen is off, I have that one on powersave…

Last question, lol, what's the difference between conservative and interactive? Reasons i am asking is becasue i have about 45ma coming out of my phone at the moment...

Well, the basic answer is that conservative basically uses as little cpu power as possible to complete tasks and will only raise it to your max setting when the load on your cpu is really cramping your system.

Interactive is timed better so that it is, well more interactive. It ramps up cpu power a little faster when you actually need it, instead of waiting for the workload to become too much or complete the task it was already set on.

Per my experience, interactive is just as power efficient as conservative, but doesn't feel as sluggish and actually gives good performance. I use 800mhz interactive for most daily activity and 245mhz max powersave with screen off.

on standby you shouldn't be showing more than 5ma, and in regular use you will go from 25ma to 200ma depending on what you are doing.

[pask2155]

wow~ I can't get mine down that low at all~ Yikes! I will try some stuff and let you know… maybe I will try flashing radios…?

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by pask2155

wow~ I can't get mine down that low at all~ Yikes! I will try some stuff and let you know… maybe I will try flashing radios…?

Turn off 4G (you're using an Evo right?), also turn off GPS if you're not using and turn off sync (I never use that), turn off WiFi if you're not using it (probably not with the screen off), put that profile for screen off = 245/245 powersave, turn off your screen and leave it alone for 2 mins and see what it says.

edit:

also keep in mind when you're doing a lot of stuff it can go up to 350 and 450ma, but it always should come back down.

[rainfreak]

For screenshots of setup, check here.