AMD_PowerTune

AMD PowerTune

AMD PowerTune

Brand name by AMD

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]

Quick Facts Design firm, Introduced ...

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]

Overview

Architecture of the PowerTune version, that was introduced with GCN1.1-chips, such as the Bonaire

AMD PowerTune was introduced in the TeraScale 3 (VLIW4) with Radeon HD 6900 on 15 December 2010 and has been available in different development stages on Radeon- and AMD FirePro-branded products ever since.

Over the years, reviews which document the development of AMD PowerTune have been published by AnandTech.[6][7][8][9]

An additional technology named AMD ZeroCore Power has been available since the Radeon HD 7000 series, implementing the Graphics Core Next microarchitecture.

The pointlessness of a fixed clock frequency was accredited in January 2014 by SemiAccurate.[10]

Operating system support

Support for PowerTune is contained in the Linux kernel device driver amdgpu.

AMD Catalyst is available for Microsoft Windows and Linux and supports AMD PowerTune since version.[which?]

The free and open-source "Radeon" graphics device driver has some support for AMD PowerTune, see "Enduro".[11]

Feature overview for AMD APUs

The following table shows features of AMD's processors with 3D graphics, including APUs (see also: List of AMD processors with 3D graphics).

[ VisualEditor ]
More information Platform, High, standard and low power ...
  1. For FM2+ Excavator models: A8-7680, A6-7480 & Athlon X4 845.
  2. A PC would be one node.
  3. An APU combines a CPU and a GPU. Both have cores.
  4. Requires firmware support.
  5. Requires firmware support.
  6. No SSE4. No SSSE3.
  7. Single-precision performance is calculated from the base (or boost) core clock speed based on a FMA operation.
  8. Unified shaders : texture mapping units : render output units
  9. To play protected video content, it also requires card, operating system, driver, and application support. A compatible HDCP display is also needed for this. HDCP is mandatory for the output of certain audio formats, placing additional constraints on the multimedia setup.
  10. To feed more than two displays, the additional panels must have native DisplayPort support.[21] Alternatively active DisplayPort-to-DVI/HDMI/VGA adapters can be employed.
  11. DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) is a component of the Linux kernel. Support in this table refers to the most current version.

Feature overview for AMD graphics cards

The following table shows features of AMD/ATI's GPUs (see also: List of AMD graphics processing units).

[ VisualEditor ]
More information Name of GPU series, Wonder ...
  1. The Radeon 100 Series has programmable pixel shaders, but do not fully comply with DirectX 8 or Pixel Shader 1.0. See article on R100's pixel shaders.
  2. R300, R400 and R500 based cards do not fully comply with OpenGL 2+ as the hardware does not support all types of non-power of two (NPOT) textures.
  3. OpenGL 4+ compliance requires supporting FP64 shaders and these are emulated on some TeraScale chips using 32-bit hardware.
  4. The UVD and VCE were replaced by the Video Core Next (VCN) ASIC in the Raven Ridge APU implementation of Vega.
  5. Video processing for video frame rate interpolation technique. In Windows it works as a DirectShow filter in your player. In Linux, there is no support on the part of drivers and / or community.
  6. To play protected video content, it also requires card, operating system, driver, and application support. A compatible HDCP display is also needed for this. HDCP is mandatory for the output of certain audio formats, placing additional constraints on the multimedia setup.
  7. More displays may be supported with native DisplayPort connections, or splitting the maximum resolution between multiple monitors with active converters.
  8. DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) is a component of the Linux kernel. AMDgpu is the Linux kernel module. Support in this table refers to the most current version.

See also

References

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    "AMD PowerTune Technology" (PDF). AMD. 23 March 2012.
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    "AMD PowerTune vs PowerPlay" (PDF). AMD. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
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    "Add amdgpu powerplay support". 11 November 2015.
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    "AMD x86 SMU firmware analysis". 27 December 2014.
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    "Reverse engineering power management on Nvidia GPUs" (PDF).
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    "Redefining TDP With PowerTune". AnandTech. 15 December 2010.
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    "Introducing PowerTune Technology With Boost". AnandTech. 22 June 2012.
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    "The Mobile CPU Comparison Guide Rev. 13.0 Page 5 : AMD Mobile CPU Full List". TechARP.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
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