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#1 2009-05-20 07:34:40
- snack
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- From: Italy
- Registered: 2009-01-13
- Posts: 876
Powersave and open-source ATI drivers
Hi everybody, another ATI-driver-issue here...
I have a laptop with an HD3470 graphic card. Before Xorg 1.6 I used the catalyst drivers from the main repository, and I was quite happy. After the upgrade to the new Xorg i moved to open drivers, but I have some complaints about power saving features. I hear a fan spinning at high speed (I suppose it's VGA fan), and the keyboard becomes very hot; battery life seems considerably shorter than before. According to this:
http://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature
radeonhd doesn't have any power save feature implemented yet, so I installed the xf86-video-ati driver which should implement most of the Powerplay features. But I saw no big difference between radeonhd and ati.
Does anyone know if the powersaving in ati is to be enabled in some way? Or how efficient it is, compared to the closed driver?
Thanks
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#2 2009-05-20 07:51:44
- wonder
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- From: Bucharest, Romania
- Registered: 2006-07-05
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Re: Powersave and open-source ATI drivers
the current versions does not have any power save feature. but it will be in the next version(i think)
Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
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#3 2009-05-20 08:02:52
- snack
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- From: Italy
- Registered: 2009-01-13
- Posts: 876
Re: Powersave and open-source ATI drivers
I don't understand, Xorg wiki says that powersave is mostly implemented in ati. Maybe it is still in testing and not in Arch repo?
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#4 2009-05-20 08:28:59
- wonder
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Re: Powersave and open-source ATI drivers
is a work in progress. that wiki is like a roadmap. you could try to use -git version and see if there are improvements.
Last edited by wonder (2009-05-20 08:34:16)
Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
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#5 2009-05-20 08:31:45
- snack
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- From: Italy
- Registered: 2009-01-13
- Posts: 876
Re: Powersave and open-source ATI drivers
Thanks wonder, I'll follow the developments.
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#6 2009-05-22 20:24:25
- snack
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- From: Italy
- Registered: 2009-01-13
- Posts: 876
Re: Powersave and open-source ATI drivers
I've been able to install catalyst 9.5 from AUR. There's no contest: proprietary driver is king in power managment, up to now. My laptop ran damn hot with the open driver, now it is noticeably cooler. I've no data about battery life but I suppose it's increased.
It's a pity that open drivers that are so good in features completely lack power saving, which is a priority in my opinion even in desktops...
Last edited by snack (2009-05-22 20:25:04)
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