Sony Vaio TZ power plan CrystalMark results
After seeing that the CrystalMark 2004R3 results were highest on my HTC Shift when using the default Balanced power plan (as opposed to the High Performance one), one of my favorite readers asked if I could "run the same tests on the TZ to see whether [I got] the same results."
I've posted benchmark results and a performance review of my Sony Vaio TZ170N ultraportable notebook before, but since I never considered the impact of power plans until yesterday and the request did come from a valued commenter, how could I resist?
Windows Vista Help defines the default power plans as follows:
- Balanced. Offers full performance when you need it and saves power during periods of inactivity.
- Power saver. Saves power by reducing system performance. This plan can help mobile PC users get the most from a single battery charge.
- High performance. Maximizes system performance and responsiveness. Mobile PC users might notice that their battery doesn't last as long when using this plan.
The CrystalMark results below were yielded this afternoon on my 8-month-old TZ (1.06GHz Core 2 Duo U7500, 2GB RAM, 100GB 4200rpm HDD, Vista Business) running 83 processes after a system restart.
| |
BALANCED |
POWER SAVER |
HIGH PERFORMANCE |
| MARK: |
31676 |
25399 |
29026 |
| ALU: |
9211 |
6867 |
8265 |
| FPU: |
9592 |
7132 |
8074 |
| MEM: |
5224 |
4720 |
5064 |
| HDD: |
2532 |
2702 | 2719 |
| GDI: |
2984 |
2352 |
2845 |
| D2D: |
1244 |
956 |
1206 |
| OGI: |
889 |
670 |
853 |
As with the HTC Shift, then, the Balanced power plan generally achieves the highest numbers.
What say you, Bruno?
First of all I say thanks, Jenn! :-) Second, I say I am very much surprised - I have apparently misunderstood the power plans ever since the beginning. I have got some experimenting to do to see whether I get better battery life with any of my toys now I know the balanced power plan is the way to go!
Posted by Bruno | 03:05 AM on May 05, 2008
that is very interesting. i still do not understand why high performance is not the highest but i will use balanced plan from now on.
thank you,
constantine
Posted by constantine | 12:18 PM on May 05, 2008
Sure thing, Bruno. :-)
How relevant do you think benchmark results are in real-world usage scenarios?
Posted by Jenn | 05:04 PM on May 05, 2008
I too thought this was odd. So I ran my own test on my T4220 Tablet, a T7100 1.8GHz/3GB RAM/5400rpm 120GB HDD...
High Performance> 54215
Balanced > 56723
The big difference was in HDD speeds. So I ran PCMark05 and CrystalMark's Disk Mark. In both results, High Performance beat out Balanced by varying margins. I don't think High Performance is faster, I think there is a flaw in CrystalMark2004R3 and the way it operates and scores.
Posted by Tyler | 10:47 AM on May 06, 2008
Intriguing set of results. Think I'll test it out for myself when I get home.
Posted by hitrax | 06:19 PM on May 06, 2008