 | |
| Design firm | Advanced Micro Devices |
|---|---|
| Introduced | December 2011 |
| Type | Dynamic frequency scaling |
AMD PowerTune is a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies built into some AMD GPUs and APUs that allow the clock speed of the processor to be dynamically changed (to different P-states) by software. This allows the processor to meet the instantaneous performance needs of the operation being performed, while minimizing power draw, heat generation and noise avoidance. AMD PowerTune aims to solve thermal design power and performance constraints.[1]
Besides the reduced energy consumption, AMD PowerTune helps to lower the noise levels created by the cooling in desktop computers, and extends battery life in mobile devices. AMD PowerTune is the successor to AMD PowerPlay.[2]
Support for "PowerPlay" was added to the Linux kernel driver "amdgpu" on November 11, 2015.[3]
As a lecture from CCC in 2014 shows, AMD's x86-64 SMU firmware is executed on some LatticeMico32 and PowerTune was modeled using Matlab.[4] This is similar to Nvidia's PDAEMON, the RTOS responsible for power on their GPUs.[5]
- ^ "AMD PowerTune Technology" (PDF). AMD. 23 March 2012.
- ^ "AMD PowerTune vs PowerPlay" (PDF). AMD. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ^ "Add amdgpu powerplay support". 11 November 2015.
- ^ "AMD x86 SMU firmware analysis". 27 December 2014.
- ^ "Reverse engineering power management on Nvidia GPUs" (PDF).