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Seems scary that 10% difference in clock frequency is makes/breaks stability.

How much margin is really there?



Dynamic switching power (i.e. the fraction of the chip's power consumption from actually switching transistors, as opposed to just "being on") scales with V^2 * f, where V=voltage and f=frequency, and V in turn depends on f, where higher frequencies need higher voltage. Not really linearly (It's Complicated(tm)), but it's not a terrible first-order approximation, which makes the dynamic switching power have a roughly cubic dependency on frequency.

Therefore, 1.1x the frequency at the high end (where switching power dominates) is 1.33x the power draw.

Those final few hundred MHz really hurt. Conversely, that's also why you see "Eco" power profiles with a major reduction in power draw that cost you maybe 5-10% of your peak performance.




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