Radeon X300 Mobile Power Consumption
Testing of CPU usage and power consumption under different ATI/AMD Radeon Linux driver configurations over the years on Ubuntu for an old crusty Mobility Radeon X300 found on an IBM ThinkPad R52 notebook. For a future article on Phoronix by Michael Larabel.


Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18: 

	Processor: Intel Pentium M 1.86GHz @ 1.87GHz (1 Core), Motherboard: ThinkPad R52, Chipset: Intel Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML + ICH6M, Memory: 2048MB, Disk: 80GB Hitachi HTS541080G9AT00, Graphics: AMD Radeon Mobility M300, Audio: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW, Network: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5751M Gigabit PCI + Intel PRO/Wireless

	OS: Ubuntu 6.06, Kernel: 2.6.15-26-386 (i686), Desktop: GNOME 2.14.3, Display Server: X Server 7.0.0, Display Driver: fglrx 8.25.18, OpenGL: 2.0.5814, Compiler: GCC 4.0.3, File-System: ext3, Screen Resolution: 1400x1050

Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10: 

	Processor: Intel Pentium M @ 1.86GHz (1 Core), Motherboard: IBM 18494WU, Chipset: Intel Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML + ICH6M, Memory: 2048MB, Disk: 80GB Hitachi HTS541080G9AT00, Graphics: ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300, Audio: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW, Network: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5751M Gigabit PCI + Intel PRO/Wireless

	OS: Ubuntu 8.10, Kernel: 2.6.27-7-generic (i686), Desktop: GNOME 2.24.1, Display Server: X Server 1.5.2, Display Driver: fglrx 8.54.3, OpenGL: 2.1.8087, Compiler: GCC 4.3.2, File-System: ext3, Screen Resolution: 1400x1050

Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated: 

	Processor: Intel Pentium M 1.86GHz @ 0.80GHz (1 Core), Motherboard: IBM 18494WU, Chipset: Intel Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML + ICH6M, Memory: 2048MB, Disk: 80GB Hitachi HTS541080G9AT00, Graphics: AMD Mobility Radeon X300 128MB, Audio: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW, Network: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5751M Gigabit PCI + Intel PRO/Wireless

	OS: Ubuntu 11.10, Kernel: 3.2.1-030201-generic-pae (i686), Desktop: Unity 4.22.0, Display Server: X Server 1.10.4, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 8.0-devel (git-faa90ab) Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.6.1 + llvm 2.9 (Ubuntu 2.9+dfsg-3ubuntu2), File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1400x1050


Timed Idle
CPU Usage Monitor
Percent < Lower Is Better
Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18 . MIN: 0  AVG: 1    MAX: 12 
Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10 ....... MIN: 0  AVG: 7    MAX: 100 
Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated ............ MIN: 0  AVG: 1    MAX: 12 


Timed Idle
System Power Consumption Monitor
Milliwatts < Lower Is Better
Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18 . MIN: 18666  AVG: 19146  MAX: 20190 
Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10 ....... MIN: 16607  AVG: 17376  MAX: 19446 
Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated ............ MIN: 20888  AVG: 21254  MAX: 24045 


Warsow 0.5
Resolution: 800 x 600
Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better
Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18 . 4.67  |=======
Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10 ....... 24.73 |====================================
Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated ............ 9.92  |==============


Warsow 0.5
CPU Usage Monitor
Percent < Lower Is Better
Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18 . MIN: 40  AVG: 99   MAX: 100 
Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10 ....... MIN: 0   AVG: 54   MAX: 100 
Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated ............ MIN: 10  AVG: 45   MAX: 100 


Warsow 0.5
System Power Consumption Monitor
Milliwatts < Lower Is Better
Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18 . MIN: 20775  AVG: 25639  MAX: 29669 
Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10 ....... MIN: 18926  AVG: 32347  MAX: 35397 
Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated ............ MIN: 23343  AVG: 28801  MAX: 32318 


CPU Usage Monitor
Phoronix Test Suite System Monitoring
Percent
Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18 . MIN: 0  AVG: 80   MAX: 100 
Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10 ....... MIN: 0  AVG: 42   MAX: 100 
Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated ............ MIN: 0  AVG: 40   MAX: 100 


System Power Consumption Monitor
Phoronix Test Suite System Monitoring
Milliwatts
Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS - fglrx 8.25.18 . MIN: 18666  AVG: 24363  MAX: 29669 
Ubuntu 8.10 - Catalyst 8.10 ....... MIN: 16607  AVG: 28079  MAX: 35397 
Ubuntu 11.10 - Updated ............ MIN: 20888  AVG: 27880  MAX: 32318