AMD PowerTune

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]

AMD PowerTune

Design firm	Advanced Micro Devices
Introduced	December 2011
Type	Dynamic frequency scaling

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]

The firmware for PowerTune is executed on the System Management Unit (SMU), which is a LatticeMico32 core, and was modeled using Matlab.^[3]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Over the years, reviews which document the development of AMD PowerTune have been published by AnandTech.^[4][5][6][7]

An additional technology named AMD ZeroCore Power has been available since the Radeon HD 7000 series, implementing the Graphics Core Next microarchitecture.^{[citation needed]}

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 support AMD PowerTune.

The free and open-source "Radeon" graphics device driver has some support for AMD PowerTune.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• AMD Cool'n'Quiet (for desktop CPUs)
• AMD PowerNow! (for laptop CPUs)
• AMD Turbo Core (for CPUs)
• AMD PowerXpress (for multi-GPUs)
• Dynamic frequency scaling
• Intel SpeedStep (for CPUs)
• Intel Turbo Boost (for CPUs)