Database Develop

How much does overclocking affect the battery?

This is probably a stupid question but I'll ask it anyway. I've noticed my phone draining lately (or maybe it's not, I'm not quite sure what the battery life used to be xD), and I recently overclocked my phone to 1.25 GHz (my profile on SetCPU is ondemand), does overclocking affect the battery that much?
I run Froyo (rooted with wifi fix and the 1.25 GHz kernal)

I'm using an ultra low voltage kernal at 1ghz and haven't noticed a difference, if anything it seems like it's better.
I guess it probably largely depends on what kernal.

I've been overclocked for 4+ months. The first month before I rooted, I was getting around 16-18 hours on a full charge at the stock 550 speed. After I rooted, a lot depended on the rom (lesser so) and the kernel (more so). I think the best performance I got was on ChevyNo1's SS rom (2.1) with one of his kernels ... 40+ hours overclocked conservatively at 800. My first shot some time back with CyanogenMod got me 3 hours with the early Bekit kernels but the past several versions up through 5.0.8 I was getting about 30 hours clocked at 800 with a jdlfg kernel. Now on Froyo I'm getting close to 30 hours again conservatively at 800-1000 ... which on a 2.2. rom is more like 1200+ since its faster.
So, in short, my battery life has significantly improved while running faster than stock. But no 2 Droids are identical in terms of how a rom and/or kernel perform. With 2.1 roms my Droid seems to like jdlfg's kernels, while on 2.2 the P3droid kernels do good. But that's what I found out via a lot of trial and error, not anyone's post saying "You must try ______'s kernel (or rom) as its da bomb!"

I would like to include that the post above by "cvhovey" provides some valuable information that might interest you and suggest anyone untreated in this thread to read that post.
Using an application like SetCPU you can throttle down the processor speed when the screen is off, this reducing heat and gaining better battery life. This doesn't mean you will get better battery life if you use your phone all day and never turn the screen off. But is totally worth it because u feel like I'm getting awesome battery life, plus an amazingly fast phone because SetCPU will overall me to my personal preference of 1100mhz on demand.
The answer to your actual question depends on how well you set up your phone preferences according to what benefits you the most, and what method of adjusting processor speed. I only mentioned one here, there are mire ways than just an APK.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

PetRiLJoe said:
Using an application like SetCPU ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1+ on that. But how one uses SetCPU can also make big differences, such as which governor is selected. SetCPU at 400-1250 with the Performance governor will essentially run at its highest speed all of the time (if I'm correct), whereas with the Conservative governor will ramp up from 400 to 1250 at a slower pace, or at a faster face with Ondemand.
This thread can give you some helpful tips: Battery Saving Techniques - Theories in Test

Alright, thank you for your help ^^

i used SetCPU and my phone had continuously reboots...
I just had to uninstall it..

Were you using profiles in any way? A specific ROM? I've had similar a experience with certain ROMs (specifically UltimateDroid).
Best guess is that it just didn't play nice with the modded kernel.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

[Q] Overclocking and Battery Life

Hey all,
My phone is rooted. I'm wondering how Overclocking might effect battery life. Better? Worse?
Also, what is a solid speed to OC on the Captivate?

It will be worse, but if you do UV it will last a bit longer...

Battery life will go down, but its by such a small amount, you wont even notice it(depending on how much you OC it)
and stable OC values will be different for every phone since all processors are not made equal. For example, my max stable overclock is at 1.2ghz, but my friend was stable at 1.4 with undervolting by 100.
You really just need to play around with it and find what works for you.
If you really want a solid stable number, im pretty sure every captivate I've seen can go up to atleast 1.2 ghz.
Sent from my Captivate using XDA App

Yuna said:
It will be worse, but if you do UV it will last a bit longer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is very untrue. I read an article (for the life of me can't find it) that overclocking is actually better for battery life. I have in fact had better results on my LG Optimus V with overclocking at 806mHz (highest stable clock setting) than with 600mHz (standard). LeslieAnn (Harmonia dev) linked to the aforementioned article in one of her posts. If I find the link I will post it.

I've only OC a couple of times but 1200Mhz should be stable for the majority of phones out there. The most I've got out of my phone was 1440Mhz on MIUI with Glitch kernel, while my friend was able to hit 1600Mhz with same rom and kernel. It took me quite a bit to figure out what voltages for what steps etc to get it to work well so if you do not feel like tinkering with it for a long while I wouldn't try to push your OC too high.

Battery life doesn't usually decrease unless you over volt. That being said most Galaxy S will get 1.2ghz-1.3ghz on stock voltage. Usually a good idea to undervolt most "steps" except the high clocks (1ghz+) but this varies on phone, rom, kernel, etc.

prbassplayer said:
Battery life doesn't usually decrease unless you over volt. That being said most Galaxy S will get 1.2ghz-1.3ghz on stock voltage. Usually a good idea to undervolt most "steps" except the high clocks (1ghz+) but this varies on phone, rom, kernel, etc.
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Click to collapse
ohh... i thought that said undervolt... but over clocking as well will make it decrease some.
If you ran faster you would burn more energy in the same amount of time. (over clocking)
If you reduced the weight of your legs or gravity you would burn less energy. (under volting).
Most people dont notice battery drain when overclocked because the processor speed doesnt run full speed all the time. it governs to different speeds for what it needs to do.
go stock speed and play a game till it drops to a percentage.
recharge
overclock with NO undervolting and play the game again till the same percentage.
less time. guaranteed.
just sitting at the homescreen and flipping through your app drawer and using face book wont kick your phone into high gear, with stock or overclocking. you will never notice.

TRusselo said:
ohh... i thought that said undervolt... but over clocking as well will make it decrease some.
If you ran faster you would burn more energy in the same amount of time. (over clocking)
If you reduced the weight of your legs or gravity you would burn less energy. (under volting).
Most people dont notice battery drain when overclocked because the processor speed doesnt run full speed all the time. it governs to different speeds for what it needs to do.
go stock speed and play a game till it drops to a percentage.
recharge
overclock with NO undervolting and play the game again till the same percentage.
less time. guaranteed.
just sitting at the homescreen and flipping through your app drawer and using face book wont kick your phone into high gear, with stock or overclocking. you will never notice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my phone and nook's clocking speed set at the same for min/max settings. I play a mean game of RUA and AirAttack HD. I've in fact timed my battery life on standard clock settings and my overclocking. While overclocked, my nook lasted 10 minutes longer than at standard speeds (while playing AirAttack HD, which has intense 3D graphics). And you might suggest I undervolted, but I never touch that stuff. My volting stays where it is.

Overclock or not?

A few weeks ago when I still had my HTC Hero it was overclocked to 672Mhz (standard = 528Mhz). It gave me a little boost in performance on Froyo, also the batterylife wasn't decreased too much.
But with our N1 running on 1Ghz, will it give much difference when clocked to 1113/1152Mhz? And what about batterylife?
If SetCPU is used what are your settings then? Mine is currently running on stock speed, no SetCPU.

ZeppeMan said:
A few weeks ago when I still had my HTC Hero it was overclocked to 672Mhz (standard = 528Mhz). It gave me a little boost in performance on Froyo, also the batterylife wasn't decreased too much.
But with our N1 running on 1Ghz, will it give much difference when clocked to 1113/1152Mhz? And what about batterylife?
If SetCPU is used what are your settings then? Mine is currently running on stock speed, no SetCPU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my nexus one rooted and flashed to MIUI Rom and clock @ 690mhz I get way better battery power. Before I would only get 6hr to 8hr if lucky now I get from 9hr to 13hr depending how much I use it.

set to 1.13 ghz
then screen off to minimum 245mhz

josemedina1983 said:
I have my nexus one rooted and flashed to MIUI Rom and clock @ 690mhz I get way better battery power. Before I would only get 6hr to 8hr if lucky now I get from 9hr to 13hr depending how much I use it.
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Click to collapse
So you underclocked it, what about the speed? It's not to laggy?

Nexus one can run reasonably smooth @ 600mhz and above. It might not open applications as fast as it will be @ 1GHz though.

i think 1Ghz is enough for n1
why do u want an overclock?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

shreyas1122 said:
i think 1Ghz is enough for n1
why do u want an overclock?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't said I want an overclock. It's allready very fast on 1Ghz (compared to my old Hero ), just wanted to know your thoughts about overclocking the N1.

im overclocked at 1152 mhz and profiles set for 245 max with screen off. Overclocking is nice because i like the snappiness but most people cant tell the difference between 998 mhz and 1152. its not needed to overclock but i think profiles help alot. just my two cents

Ok thx, I will try 1150Mhz and see (if it's stable and) what batterylife does. I'm also going to try underclocking.
I have my N1 only for a couple of weeks now and I must say, this phone is awesome. It's VERY fast compared to my old Hero. I remember when I was installing apps on my Hero it became very slow and couldn't do anything untill installing was finished. With the N1 you still can do things while installing apps without lag. The responsiveness and smoothness is also a lot faster. I loved my Hero Because it never let me down, ok it was all a bit slower, but it was getting there. Now with the release of Gingerbread (custom ROM) it became to slow for me and that's why I sold my Hero and bought the N1. It was very difficult to find one, because of the EOL (end of life). But eventually I found one and i'm very happy with it. The N1 is allready more 1 year old, but it still competes with the best phones out there.

I generally run overclocked at 1075MHz, which gives a good balance between battery power usage and processor power. My understanding is that a different voltage scaling method is generally used above 1075MHz, so power consumption will increase above that point.

Didn't knew the voltage would increase above 1075Mhz, will keep that in mind

ZeppeMan said:
Didn't knew the voltage would increase above 1075Mhz, will keep that in mind
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Click to collapse
This is, of course, dependent upon how the kernel is constructed, but this is what I have generally found to be true.

Give us some feedback

I overclocked it too 1075Mhz when screen is on (screen off 245Mhz). Will give my thoughts in a day or 2.

Just report that my battery drain is almost the same as on stock settings. I think it drains a tiny bit faster on 1075Mhz, but nothing major. On the other hand, I don't feel it's faster on 1075Mhz then on stock speed. Only benchmarks give me performance increase.
I'm now on CM6.1.1 with stock kernel (cyanogen), I tried other kernels like Wilmonks kernel,.. Although it was more responsive, battery was going down even faster. I get best battery results with stock kernel.
Hard to choose
more speed = more battery drain
less speed = longer battery
I think I stay with the last option (less speed = longer battery), because Wildmonks kernel doesn't give me enough performance increase over the stock kernel on stock speed.

I have mine at 998mhz, but overclocked 1152 while plugged into power.
Either way, its so easy to play with the clock settings, i'd just have a play with a bunch of different settings if i were you.

liam.lah said:
I have mine at 998mhz, but overclocked 1152 while plugged into power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love a how-to fire that..
mind sharing the app?
Sent from my Nexus One

ZeppeMan said:
wanted to know your thoughts about overclocking the N1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well my thoughts: underclock!
so you can watch movies on it all night!
Sent from my Nexus One

shreyas1122 said:
I'd love a how-to fire that..
mind sharing the app?
Sent from my Nexus One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use SetCPU to create profiles based on different circumstances.
Me, I have mine clocked to a max of 1075 and min of 245 with the screen on, 576 max / 128 min screen off, 998/128 charging (to reduce heat - overclocking while power is applied can make it silly hot), and a failsafe to clock down to 576/128 if the temperature gets over 50*C.
Fabulous app.

Correct me if I am wrong. When you use setcpu to "ondemand", the CPU speed can ramp up to max whenever necessary, otherwise the speed will tune down to min especially in standby mode. In that way, you can enjoy the advantages of overclocking and underclocking the CPU speed i.e. increasing performance when needed and saving power when not in use, right? When I loaded Rod's MIUI and Wildmonk's kernel, I can underclock down to 128Mhz and overclock up to 1.152Ghz. At the end of the day, I still have over 60% of power left after not so heavily use (some web browsing, checking email and listen some music). Overall, setcpu is a great app for me.

ICS 2233 great, but uses more battery?

Anyone else notice ICS uses quite a bit more battery? I have an official extended battery too. Any ICS battery saving tips?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

I thought the same, but I think its because we're not used to have all the blur running in the background.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

That and since you have a new OS you are turning your phone on more just to look at it and play around haha

And app caches haven't built up
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

I really need a few days to get a good handle on how much the battery usage has changed but there are a few things to keep in mind....
- Cpu speed max was increased by 200Mhz to 1.2Ghz
- ICS uses GPU acceleration which may impact battery life
- These are leaks so not everything is release ready and there may be a few bugs
- I noticed generally a bit more idle cpu usage so this will lower battery life
- Radios were updated (both 3/4g) so this may impact battery life
- Big kernel update so there may be issues in the new kernel
All in all i'd say check your battery usage and see if anything stands out, maybe disable any bloatware you don't use. I also noticed there is a display dimming option under system settings, display, brightness....that might help a little?

My phone was heating up a little and the battery life seemed a little crappy on 2233. I switched the governor from hotplug to on demand with setcpu. Seems to have helped battery life and the phone is running much cooler.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

mikecheat04 said:
That and since you have a new OS you are turning your phone on more just to look at it and play around haha
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Click to collapse
^This. I'll give it a week to see how everything goes before I judge battery.

dpw2atox said:
I really need a few days to get a good handle on how much the battery usage has changed but there are a few things to keep in mind....
- Cpu speed max was increased by 200Mhz to 1.2Ghz
- ICS uses GPU acceleration which may impact battery life
- These are leaks so not everything is release ready and there may be a few bugs
- I noticed generally a bit more idle cpu usage so this will lower battery life
- Radios were updated (both 3/4g) so this may impact battery life
- Big kernel update so there may be issues in the new kernel
All in all i'd say check your battery usage and see if anything stands out, maybe disable any bloatware you don't use. I also noticed there is a display dimming option under system settings, display, brightness....that might help a little?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My max cpu speed is still 1ghz on the newest ics leak. How do some people have 1.2?

No idea...I'm at 1.2Ghz

Steve125 said:
My phone was heating up a little and the battery life seemed a little crappy on 2233. I switched the governor from hotplug to on demand with setcpu. Seems to have helped battery life and the phone is running much cooler.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What should scheduler be set on?

I left it set to the default setting
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

dpw2atox said:
I really need a few days to get a good handle on how much the battery usage has changed but there are a few things to keep in mind....
- Cpu speed max was increased by 200Mhz to 1.2Ghz
- ICS uses GPU acceleration which may impact battery life
- These are leaks so not everything is release ready and there may be a few bugs
- I noticed generally a bit more idle cpu usage so this will lower battery life
- Radios were updated (both 3/4g) so this may impact battery life
- Big kernel update so there may be issues in the new kernel
All in all i'd say check your battery usage and see if anything stands out, maybe disable any bloatware you don't use. I also noticed there is a display dimming option under system settings, display, brightness....that might help a little?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried the display dimming option and data disconnected. May have been a coincidence, but I went back and turned it off and data came back.

Hold down the home key and look at how many apps are running in the background. Swype to close them. They are also eating battery. You can also use the built-in smart actions app to shut off data and other power users when phone isn't in use.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

I'm getting 20 hours plus (knock on wood) on the 2333 ICS leak try recalibrating your battery.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA

waffleb051 said:
I'm getting 20 hours plus (knock on wood) on the 2333 ICS leak try recalibrating your battery.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My battery life is MUCH worse from stock 905 and the battery stats are correct. My Andorid OS is using more battery than display which is a first.

I'll snap a pick when the day ends for me to show my battery life
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA

I get the same amount of battery life as before. I tested by doing my normal routine at work. Checked the time, news, watched an episode on Netflix on lunch and checked Twitter a few times. Ended up showing 70% at the end of my day's shift. Though I should note my CPU is still 1GHz.
I set up by going back to 902, OTA to 905, than SR to 2233, in case anybody is wondering.

Why would you be surprised that the ics uses more battery? It runs at 1.2ghz. Try using smart actions app, its actually pretty neat and can help you save battery by automatically turning off wifi, sync or whatever you want it to do by either time, or a variety of other triggers. I use it to switch off data when i get off work and switch wifi on, and to turn volumes down, brightness down, gps off during the night, and etc, etc.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda app-developers app

I just applied the 229 leak and while I haven't noticed many changes over 2233, I did notice that the overall OS ram usage is down and my idle cpu usage is lower. I am still testing the battery usage with it but it seems to be a bit better as a result.
On 2233 my cpu idle usage was in the 400s with occasional spikes lower/higher. On 229 my cpu idle usage is in the 300s with semi-frequent spikes to the 400s so a pretty noticable improvement.

Hmmm.... that is a pretty good improvement. Is the kernel running at 1.2ghz?
sent from my DROID BIONIC via XDA App

Battery problems

Hi guys,
I haven't noticed it before, but my SGS has very high battery drain when wifi hotspot is on. Without doing anything on the phone, it went from 80% to 15% in less than an hour. Is it normally like that? This was my first time using the hotspot, so I was quite shocked.
I'm on CM 10.1 NIGHTLY with Semaphore 2.9.13 and 114% live OC, but max CPU freq is set to 960 MHz.

OC can drain battery... try changing modem...kernel
Or simply battery calibration

EwOkie said:
OC can drain battery... try changing modem...kernel
Or simply battery calibration
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or maybe a busted battery. Changing the battery to a new one will also solve the problem.

Thanks for the answers, calibrated the battery and waiting for an improvement. If it won't show, well, there comes the new one
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda app-developers app