Best CPU governor for Nexus S - Nexus S General

which of the recent governors gives best performance?
lazy, interactive, smartassv2?
Thanks guys

I just use Ondemand. I've tried others but I always end going back to it.
I've heard interactive is good for performance. I was under the impression that lazy and smartass were more geared towards battery saving.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

I use lazy or ondemand typically.
Follow the leader @corythug

for performance, ondemand with a sampling rate of 15000 and up threshold of 98.

simms22 said:
for performance, ondemand with a sampling rate of 15000 and up threshold of 98.
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simms, I am assuming this will drain battery faster as the default sampling rate is 40000. Am I correct?
Sampling Rate – An interval (in microseconds) at which the governor will poll for updates. When this happens, the governor will decide whether to scale the CPU up or down.
Up Threshold – Defines a percentage from 1% to 100%. When the CPU load reaches this point, the governor will scale the CPU up.

i like smartassV2 1200 / 100

Naa Laa said:
simms, I am assuming this will drain battery faster as the default sampling rate is 40000. Am I correct?
Sampling Rate – An interval (in microseconds) at which the governor will poll for updates. When this happens, the governor will decide whether to scale the CPU up or down.
Up Threshold – Defines a percentage from 1% to 100%. When the CPU load reaches this point, the governor will scale the CPU up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no. itll actually be a little better on battery, a little more efficient than the default. and itll give the ui a little speed boost.

Isn't interactive supposed to be a 'better OnDemand'

I'm thinking it's the opposite, that on demand was an improved interactive, but I could be wrong. I really don't notice much difference between any of them. On lazy and smartassv2 I seem to get more random problems. Really though, what's best questions are left for you to explore and find out. Some people on these threads use their phone for most their computing needs and some barely even use their phone.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G

i use smartass 1200/200 on matrix 10.0 kernal n havent had any issues..i get awesome battery life 18+ hours with light to moderate use
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App

I'm voting for interactive, I've had great battery life and performance from it fwiw
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

What's actually the difference? Is there any guide to read?

gellow said:
What's actually the difference? Is there any guide to read?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ondemand – Available in most kernels, and the default governor in most kernels. When the CPU load reaches a certain point (see “up threshold” in Advanced Settings), ondemand will rapidly scale the CPU up to meet demand, then gradually scale the CPU down when it isn't needed.
interactive – Available in newer kernels, and becoming the default scaling option in some official Android kernels. The interactive governor is functionally similar to the ondemand governor with an even greater focus on responsiveness.
conservative – Available in some kernels. It is similar to the ondemand governor, but will scale the CPU up more gradually to better fit demand. Conservative provides a less responsive experience than ondemand, but can save battery.
performance – Available in most kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the “max” set value at all times. This is a bit more efficient than simply setting “max” and “min” to the same value and using ondemand because the system will not waste resources scanning for CPU load.
powersave – Available in some kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the “min” set value at all times.
userspace – A method for controlling the CPU speed that isn't currently used by SetCPU. For best results, do not use the userspace governor.
smartass – Included in some custom kernels. The smartass governor effectively gives the phone an automatic Screen Off profile, keeping speeds at a minimum when the phone is idle.
SOURCE: http://setcpu.com/#7

I've tried different configurations but always end up going for ondemand.

There is no "best governor", just like there's no best brand of beer. My favorite, however, is smartassv2. Great performance and battery life - probably one of the better compromises.

But I don't drink beer!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Related

[TUT] SetCPU and Advanced Settings

I've been using setcpu for a while now, but have never bothered to mess with the advanced settings. Searching around I have only found out what most of this stuff means, but I'm missing some still. I thought I would share my findings. I have included SetCPU's descriptions (in italics) supplemented with my findings.
Governor choices (I'm using king's bfs kernel #1 on fresh 3.1.0.2) -
Ondemand - Uses the highest frequency when tasks are started, decreases step by step
Conservative - Increases frequency step by step, decreases instantly
Interactive - I couldn't figure this one out... any help?
Powersave - Uses the lowest possible clock speed to complete its tasks
Userspace - Manual controll of the frequency
Performance - Always uses the highest clock speed
Advanced Settings -
Sampling Rate - An interval (in microseconds) at which the governor will poll for updates. When this happens, the governor will decide whether to scale the CPU up or down. It uses such little power that it is better at lower values when using profiles such as screen off.
Up Threshold (1%-100%) - Defines a percentage from 1% to 100%. When the CPU load reaches this point, the governor will scale the CPU up. When using low min values (245), this happens instantly, using higher values (768) it overclocks less often. With Conservative lower values are better because it slowly increases your clock speed to what you need, with Ondemand, higher is better, as it overclocks less often.
Down Threshold (1%-100%) (conservative only) - Defines a percentage from 1% to 100%. When the CPU load reaches this point, the governor will scale the CPU down. Higher values will offer more aggressive battery saving, lowering the clock speed quicker.
Ignore Nice Load (0/1) - If this value is "1," the system will ignore "Nice" processes when deciding to scale up or down. I need a little more info for this one, what exactly is a nice process? DO NOT GOOGLE 'NICE LOAD' ESPECIALLY AT WORK OR AROUND CHILDREN/WIFE
Freq Step (0%-100%) (conservative only) - Defines how much (as a percentage of the maximum CPU speed) the conservative governor will increase the CPU speed by each time the CPU load reaches the Up Threshold. Increased the value slightly to be able to overclock quicker, but not to high to avoid unnecessary overclocking.
Powersave Bias (0-1000) (ondemand only) - Setting this value higher will "bias" the governor toward lower frequencies. This is a percentage, where 1000 is 100%, 100 is 10%, and 0 is 0%. The ondemand governor will scale the CPU to a frequency lower than its "target" speed according to this value. Gives ondemand some more battery saving potential. High values give worse performance than conservative with equal or worse battery saving. If you want the performance of ondemand with some more battery use values under 200.
I hope this info was helpful to someone, and here are my setcpu settings. I have attempted to target 150-175ms for short and 350-400ms for long benchmarks to match my performance governor and save battery at the same time.
With ondemand I get about 170ms short and 380ms long. I use 90 for up and 50 for powersave. The performance is slightly better than the default settings, and the battery is about equal. I might play with this more, as it should hit the same values as performance with better battery life.
In conservative long benchmarks in setcpu are actually faster than short ones because it takes setcpu time to adjust the speed. Run a short one immediately after a long one to see its actual value. Up changed 75 and down to 25, not much of a change, but drastic performance increase with no battery change. I also increased freq step to 10% to obtain higher speeds faster. Getting the same 170ms short and 370ms long.
My Settings
Conservative 245-1190
Temp > 50C - 768 conservative
Screen Off - 499 ondemand (allows for the screen to be unlocked faster, especially useful with incoming calls)
Charging/Full - 1190 performance
Battery < 15% - 652 conservative
Sampling - 200000
Up Thresh - 75
Down Thresh -25
Ignore Nice - 0
Freq - 10
More DFS Info
SetCPU Info
davebu said:
DO NOT GOOGLE 'NICE LOAD' ESPECIALLY AT WORK OR AROUND CHILDREN/WIFE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMAO 10chars
HondaCop said:
LMAO 10chars
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Click to collapse
Yeah. I almost spit out my Vanilla Coke on that one. LOL
Anytime have any info about nice load or anything to add?
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.
HondaCop said:
LMAO 10chars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I missed this yesterday... Post of the day in my opinion
Thanks dave...good write up
This is what I found about the interactive governor in github:
cpufreq: interactive: New 'interactive' governor
New interactive governor.
This governor is designed for latency sensitive workloads, UI interaction for
example.
Advantages:
+ significantly more responsive to ramp cpu up when required (UI interaction)
+ more consistent ramping, existing governors do their cpu load sampling in a
workqueue context, the 'interactive' governor does this in a timer context, which
gives more consistent cpu load sampling.
+ higher priority for cpu frequency increase, rt_workqueue is used for scaling
up, giving the remaining tasks the cpu performance benefit, unlike existing
governors which schedule rampup work to occur after your performance starved
tasks have completed.
Existing governors sample cpu load at a particular rate, typically
every X ms. Which can lead to under powering UI threads when the user has
interacted with an idle system until the next sample period happns.
The 'interactive' governor has a different approach. Instead of sampling the cpu
at a specified rate, the governor will scale the cpu frequency up when coming
out of idle. When the cpu comes out of idle, a timer is configured to fire
within 1-2 ticks. If the cpu is 100% busy from exiting idle to when the timer
fires then we assume the cpu is underpowered and ramp to MAX speed.
If the cpu was not 100% busy, then the governor evaluates the cpu load over the
last 'min_sample_rate' (default 50000 uS) to determine the cpu speed to ramp down
to.
There is only one tuneable for this governor:
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/interactive/min_sample_rate:
The minimum ammount of time to spend at the current frequency before
ramping down. This is to ensure that the governor has seen enough
historic cpu load data to determine the appropriate workload.
Default is 5000 uS.
Also, in the original application thread as explained by the dev, "nice" processes are:
2. Nice processes are used by the IO scheduler to designate a low-priority process. Ignore nice load basically tells ondemand to disregard processes with higher nice values.
Good topic. You covered the bases pretty well. Glad someone finally put this together as it is useful to know. Now prepare for 1000 threads in the next month asking for the information you just posted.
hey question. i went and purchased SetCPU and attempted to follow your instruction. problem is, whenever SetCPU tries to gain super user permission, it says "no root access granted. Are applications allowed root access?" i dunno what to do. can someone advise me?
Umm, is your phone rooted?
Sent from the void...
Yessir. Since day 2 ^_^ (plus its in my sig)
Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk
SilverStone641 said:
Yessir. Since day 2 ^_^ (plus its in my sig)
Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try uninstalling and reinstalling it.
Then double check all of your superuser settings.
SilverStone641 said:
Yessir. Since day 2 ^_^ (plus its in my sig)
Sent from my Evo using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, using the xda app which doesn't display the sig.
Sent from the void...
So, as far as speed/responsiveness of governors goes:
Fastest ------------------------------------------------------> Slowest
Performance ------> ondemand ------> Interactive? ------> Conservative
Poor battery consumption --------------------> Best battery consumption
This thread is exactly what i was looking for, thanks for the detailed explanation of the what and why.
Will try it out this week with Fresh 3.1 and KK#8.
this thread helped a lot, i was just in setCPU messing around with things, now i can use this thread to help get what i want. i bookmark'd the hell out of this thread
Thanks...OP...hopefully people will read it first...try things..then ask questions...
I am still working to see how to get the best battery life from cm6 and snap..
Thanks for the helpful post!
I experienced a "nice load" when I unboxed my EVO. Anyway the only setting I use is:
Screen off: 245/128 on demand.
Works for me. And thanks for this helpful post to help us understand all that technical mumbo jumbo.
So I got a rooted Vanilla install of the latest Sprint OTA Froyo build on my EVO. (the 3.29.651.5 build).
I purchased the latest version of SetCPU (2.03) last night and used the autodetect method for the CPU governor.
I notice on my EVO that I only have these 3 options:
Scaling:
ondemand, userspace and performance....
Is this normal to not have the conservative setting since I have the defacto kernel with a vanilla rom?
Thanks
Sheldon
Okay, so I figured it out, my default kernel does not have these other options, oh well......
Nice app though, so far its working really well.

[Q] SetCPU governors (explained)

The SetCPU website explains some governors: http://www.pokedev.com/setcpu/#7
However it seems that some extra governors, not covered by the SetCPU site, have been added to some kernels; which I think should be documented so users know which one to pick.
I will add responses as to what each governor does to this post. If there are any governors not explained that you've come across, please post and we'll see if somebody can explain it.
Unexplained governors (somebody please tell me what they do)
smartass (Best explanation i've found paraphrases to: based on interactive, but better.)
----
ondemand
Available in most kernels, and the default governor in most kernels. When the CPU load reaches a certain point (see "up threshold" in Advanced Settings), ondemand will rapidly scale the CPU up to meet demand, then gradually scale the CPU down when it isn't needed. - SetCPU website
conservative
Available in some kernels. It is similar to the ondemand governor, but will scale the CPU up more gradually to better fit demand. Conservative provides a less responsive experience than ondemand, but can save battery. - SetCPU website
performance
Available in most kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the "max" set value at all times. This is a bit more efficient than simply setting "max" and "min" to the same value and using ondemand because the system will not waste resources scanning for the CPU load. This governor is recommended for stable benchmarking. - SetCPU website
powersave
Available in some kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the "min" set value at all times. - SetCPU website
userspace
A method for controlling the CPU speed that isn't currently used by SetCPU. For best results, do not use the userspace governor. - SetCPU website
Interactive
The 'interactive' governor has a different approach. Instead of sampling the cpu
at a specified rate, the governor will scale the cpu frequency up when coming
out of idle. When the cpu comes out of idle, a timer is configured to fire
within 1-2 ticks. If the cpu is 100% busy from exiting idle to when the timer
fires then we assume the cpu is underpowered and ramp to MAX speed.
If the cpu was not 100% busy, then the governor evaluates the cpu load over the
last 'min_sample_rate' (default 50000 uS) to determine the cpu speed to ramp down
to. - [Patches] For developers, interactive governor patch for leo kernel
Thanks,
RJackson
As explained by MDJ:
SMARTASS GOVERNOR - is based on the concept of the interactive governor.
I have always agreed that in theory the way interactive works - by taking over the idle loop - is very attractive. I have never managed to tweak it so it would behave decently in real life. Smartass is a complete rewrite of the code plus more. I think its a success. Performance is on par with the "old" minmax and I think smartass is a bit more responsive. Battery life is hard to quantify precisely but it does spend much more time at the lower frequencies.
Smartass will also cap the max frequency when sleeping to 245Mhz (or if your min frequency is higher than 245 - why?! - it will cap it to your min frequency). Lets take for example the 998/245 kernel, it will sleep at 245. No need for sleep profiles any more!
Click to expand...
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FerretAD said:
As explained by MDJ:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that one but didn't use it because it didn't really explain what it does.
RJackson said:
smartass (Best explanation i've found paraphrases to: based on interactive, but better.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which Kernel support SmartAss? I use WildMonks with SetCPU 2.1.0 and I don't see the "smartass" governor in my list.
SalsaForte said:
Which Kernel support SmartAss? I use WildMonks with SetCPU 2.1.0 and I don't see the "smartass" governor in my list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the "savage" kernal with smartass
LeeDroid's Kernals and ROMs support smartass as well
Leong428 said:
LeeDroid's Kernals and ROMs support smartass as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Add Tiamat to the list.
add chad's incredikernel
SalsaForte said:
Which Kernel support SmartAss? I use WildMonks with SetCPU 2.1.0 and I don't see the "smartass" governor in my list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my evo shift the x99 kernel supports smartass for stockish froyo roms and cm7 roms
you have to have a kernel to add smartass to your list
RJackson said:
The SetCPU website explains some governors: http://www.pokedev.com/setcpu/#7
However it seems that some extra governors, not covered by the SetCPU site, have been added to some kernels; which I think should be documented so users know which one to pick.
I will add responses as to what each governor does to this post. If there are any governors not explained that you've come across, please post and we'll see if somebody can explain it.
Unexplained governors (somebody please tell me what they do)
smartass (Best explanation i've found paraphrases to: based on interactive, but better.)
----
ondemand
Available in most kernels, and the default governor in most kernels. When the CPU load reaches a certain point (see "up threshold" in Advanced Settings), ondemand will rapidly scale the CPU up to meet demand, then gradually scale the CPU down when it isn't needed. - SetCPU website
conservative
Available in some kernels. It is similar to the ondemand governor, but will scale the CPU up more gradually to better fit demand. Conservative provides a less responsive experience than ondemand, but can save battery. - SetCPU website
performance
Available in most kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the "max" set value at all times. This is a bit more efficient than simply setting "max" and "min" to the same value and using ondemand because the system will not waste resources scanning for the CPU load. This governor is recommended for stable benchmarking. - SetCPU website
powersave
Available in some kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the "min" set value at all times. - SetCPU website
userspace
A method for controlling the CPU speed that isn't currently used by SetCPU. For best results, do not use the userspace governor. - SetCPU website
Interactive
The 'interactive' governor has a different approach. Instead of sampling the cpu
at a specified rate, the governor will scale the cpu frequency up when coming
out of idle. When the cpu comes out of idle, a timer is configured to fire
within 1-2 ticks. If the cpu is 100% busy from exiting idle to when the timer
fires then we assume the cpu is underpowered and ramp to MAX speed.
If the cpu was not 100% busy, then the governor evaluates the cpu load over the
last 'min_sample_rate' (default 50000 uS) to determine the cpu speed to ramp down
to. - [Patches] For developers, interactive governor patch for leo kernel
Thanks,
RJackson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the kind descriptions...
I've translated them to Korean for my fellow countrymen!
>,<
http://caleb1783.tistory.com/157
Thanks for this. Smartass has been a mystery to me.
When I installed SETCPU I selected auto-detect, now on my device (not a HD2, but this seemed like a good place to ask as it is directly related) now I have no way to select the governor at all (box is blank), how to I change the detection from automatic to a device type "Tegra 2" in my case, I see no option to allow me to do this?
Thanks,
ERIC
Powersave
I read on this forum that Power save SetCPU governor saves the best battery. I Hope this is true?
I am trying to get my hands on powersave
I can't find powersave in the "market" though.. What's up with that? Can anyone tell me which one it is? Maybe give the name of the developer so i can find it back easier?
thnks in advance
Im using galaxy s 2 with lite'ning rom 6.1 ninphetamine 2.0.5
ssienn said:
I read on this forum that Power save SetCPU governor saves the best battery. I Hope this is true?
I am trying to get my hands on powersave
I can't find powersave in the "market" though.. What's up with that? Can anyone tell me which one it is? Maybe give the name of the developer so i can find it back easier?
thnks in advance
Im using galaxy s 2 with lite'ning rom 6.1 ninphetamine 2.0.5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's not how it works. Governors are a part of the kernel. If you want features in your kernel that you don't have, you must flash a new kernel.
also, perhaps you should reread what 'powersave' is. It will keep your phone at the lowest cpu speed constantly. This will save battery, sure, but it will also completely destroy your phone's performance. Might as well go back to your old Moto Razr.
thx, actually, i set those gov randomly before i read this post
Ondemand vs. Smartass vs. Performance gov. - Test
The idea was, that maybe the display eats so much power,
that if it is on, the CPU setting does not make a big different.
Bottom line: it does.
Phone: HTC Sensation, Leedroid Sensational 3.1 (kernel 3.2)
Conditions: Simulating light cpu use like writing email:
Brightness 50% (no timeout), MP3 playing (Volume=1, headphone), a new document on the screen,
Wifi and 3G network off (these have fluctuation, so it is easier to compare if these are off)
Ondemand 192/1188 governor: 5 h 10 min
Performance governor: 4 h 20 min
SmartassV2 192/1188 governor: 5 h 2 min
Off course if the display is off, it is easy to choose, because there is no need for performance.
I set up Conservative 192/810, but any similar can work.
I choose Ondemand, and using "Tasker" to switch to Performance, if certain applications are active,
like Doodle Jump - which run a little smoother with the Performance, for as an example.
thanks for the info...
nice, thanks
Thanks, cleared my doubts.
completely noob question, how do u choose between governors? set cpu from the market its a paid app, and the one i downloades from the official post wont work
i have a galaxy s2 with Touch X-POWER+ 2.1 [XXKI3] rom

[GUIDE] Governors for NOOBS

Interactive - Instead of sampling the cpu at a specified rate, the governor will scale the cpu frequency up when coming out of idle. When the cpu comes out of idle, a timer is configured to fire within 1-2 ticks. If the cpu is 100% busy from exiting idle to when the timer fires then we assume the cpu is underpowered and ramp to MAX speed.
Smartass- Is an improved version of interactive governor
Ondemand – Available in most kernels, and the default governor in most kernels. When the CPU load reaches a certain point (see “up threshold” in Advanced Settings), ondemand will rapidly scale the CPU up to meet demand, then gradually scale the CPU down when it isn't needed.
Conservative– Available in some kernels. It is similar to the ondemand governor, but will scale the CPU up more gradually to better fit demand. Conservative provides a less responsive experience than ondemand, but can save battery.
Performance – Available in most kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the “max” set value at all times. This is a bit more efficient than simply setting “max” and “min” to the same value and using ondemand because the system will not waste resources scanning for CPU load.
Powersave – Available in some kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the “min” set value at all times.
Userspace– A method for controlling the CPU speed that isn't currently used by SetCPU. For best results, do not use the userspace governor.
Hope those will able to help newbies to SetCPU or No Frills CPU.
Credit to LeeDroid for the infos
I believe Interactive is the most responsive kernel out there. Faster than ondemand. So it'll technically use more power when you are using the phone.
HOWEVER, isn't the best feature of Smartass the ability to cap frequencies when the screen is OFF? This essentially negates the need for using SetCPU to limit frequenceis when screen is off. Yes it's an improved version of interactive, but it should be just as responsive, but with these set limits in. I'm just not sure what the specific rules are. I used it for my Moto Milestone, but I'm unsure of what the rules are here.
window7 said:
Interactive - Instead of sampling the cpu at a specified rate, the governor will scale the cpu frequency up when coming out of idle. When the cpu comes out of idle, a timer is configured to fire within 1-2 ticks. If the cpu is 100% busy from exiting idle to when the timer fires then we assume the cpu is underpowered and ramp to MAX speed.
Smartass - Is an improved version of interactive governor
Ondemand – Available in most kernels, and the default governor in most kernels. When the CPU load reaches a certain point (see “up threshold” in Advanced Settings), ondemand will rapidly scale the CPU up to meet demand, then gradually scale the CPU down when it isn't needed.
Conservative – Available in some kernels. It is similar to the ondemand governor, but will scale the CPU up more gradually to better fit demand. Conservative provides a less responsive experience than ondemand, but can save battery.
Performance – Available in most kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the “max” set value at all times. This is a bit more efficient than simply setting “max” and “min” to the same value and using ondemand because the system will not waste resources scanning for CPU load.
Powersave – Available in some kernels. It will keep the CPU running at the “min” set value at all times.
Userspace – A method for controlling the CPU speed that isn't currently used by SetCPU. For best results, do not use the userspace governor.
Hope those will able to help newbies to SetCPU or No Frills CPU.
And do correct me if I am wrong. Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should credit the source you copy and pasted that from. Or even better post the link.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
dmo580 said:
I believe Interactive is the most responsive kernel out there. Faster than ondemand. So it'll technically use more power when you are using the phone.
HOWEVER, isn't the best feature of Smartass the ability to cap frequencies when the screen is OFF? This essentially negates the need for using SetCPU to limit frequenceis when screen is off. Yes it's an improved version of interactive, but it should be just as responsive, but with these set limits in. I'm just not sure what the specific rules are. I used it for my Moto Milestone, but I'm unsure of what the rules are here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SMARTASS is a rewrite of the INTERACTIVE governor, and it moves the CPU up/down depending on whether the phone is idle/locked/ ... etc.
But some problems that I experience with SMARTASS is that my music playback sometimes stutters(?). So I'm just sticking with INTERACTIVE.
http://setcpu.com
edit:/#7 didnt seem to work right?
matt2053 said:
You should credit the source you copy and pasted that from. Or even better post the link.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for telling me that. I had changed it
However, I cant post the link as I cannot find the source I find it.
I only know that LeeDroid provided me the details
window7 said:
Thanks for telling me that. I had changed it
However, I cant post the link as I cannot find the source I find it.
I only know that LeeDroid provided me the details
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it comes from SetCPU's website.
Http://www.setcpu.com
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
olorin86 said:
SMARTASS is a rewrite of the INTERACTIVE governor, and it moves the CPU up/down depending on whether the phone is idle/locked/ ... etc.
But some problems that I experience with SMARTASS is that my music playback sometimes stutters(?). So I'm just sticking with INTERACTIVE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this because your screen is off? Yeah, smartass has some issues when the screen is off. Main issue is wakeup and whatever else your phone has to do. I know the Netarchy kernel with smartass just got a revision lately to deal with more wake issues.
But in terms of when your screen is on smartass should function exactly like interactive. So that's why I said smartass is essentially interactive, but with those preset rules regarding screen off that you would otherwise have to create using SetCPU.
The reason you might have worse battery might be because during screen off, your phone is struggling to do work at a slower pace (ideally you shouldn't have to do much, but maybe some people's phones have a lot of stuff running in the background), and so the more time you spent with the CPU active ends up eating more power.
This is one of the arguments about Intel Atom vs. Intel i3. Both idle at the same wattage, but the i3 uses massively more power in load. Probably 2x-3x more. However, given that the i3 is like so FAST, it gets say an encoding job done in like 1/4 the time. Your overall power (Watts * time) used is actually less with the faster CPU. This might apply with the Smartass governor. If your CPU is struggling and maxing out at its cap for a long time because its not fast enough when the screen is off, then perhaps this can be an issue. Just a thought. This is why I think the max_freq for sleep should probably be set around 500-600mhz instead of like 200mhz.
But once again I'm not sure what the governor is set at right now. If someone knows, please do tel

Setcpu Governers ?

okay im sorry if this is one of the most noobish questions, but what exactly are governors , and how do they help ?
Sent from my Mytouch 4G Running Capychimps Sense 3.5 rom (v.4.0)
Cpu governors "govern" how the cpu works. There is a list somewhere that explains what a few of them do. Basically they dictate how your cpu behaves and therefore the performance you see and power consumption you experience. I'll see if I can find that list.
Edit:
- The ondemand governor is the default option used by Android. It scales the CPU speed between the minimum and maximum speeds depending on CPU load. If the system needs more speed, the kernel will rapidly scale up the CPU speed. - The conservative sets the CPU speed in a similar way to the ondemand governor, but scales the CPU up much less rapidly. This would theoretically save battery power, but may lead to less responsiveness. - The userspace governor is currently useless. It's another way for applications to set the CPU speed that SetCPU does not use. - The powersave governor always keeps the CPU at the minimum set frequency. - The performance governor always keeps the CPU at the maximum set frequency.
Except for "userspace," no matter which governor you set, the CPU will always stay within the bounds of the maximum and minimum speeds you set in SetCPU.
smartass governor -is based on the concept of the interactive governor. I have always agreed that in theory the way interactive works -by taking over the idle loop -is very attractive. I have never managed to tweak it so it would behave decently in real life. Smartass is a complete rewrite of the code plus more. I think its a success. Performance is on par with the "old" minmax and I think smartass is a bit more responsive. Battery life is hard to quantify precisely but it does spend much more time at the lower frequencies. Smartass will also cap the max frequency when sleeping to 352Mhz (or if your min frequency is higher than 352 -why?! -it will cap it to your min frequency). Lets take for example the 528/176 kernel, it will sleep at 352/176. No need for sleep profiles any more!
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estallings15 said:
Cpu governors "govern" how the cpu works. There is a list somewhere that explains what a few of them do. Basically they dictate how your cpu behaves and therefore the performance you see and power consumption you experience. I'll see if I can find that list.
Edit:
- The ondemand governor is the default option used by Android. It scales the CPU speed between the minimum and maximum speeds depending on CPU load. If the system needs more speed, the kernel will rapidly scale up the CPU speed. - The conservative sets the CPU speed in a similar way to the ondemand governor, but scales the CPU up much less rapidly. This would theoretically save battery power, but may lead to less responsiveness. - The userspace governor is currently useless. It's another way for applications to set the CPU speed that SetCPU does not use. - The powersave governor always keeps the CPU at the minimum set frequency. - The performance governor always keeps the CPU at the maximum set frequency.
Except for "userspace," no matter which governor you set, the CPU will always stay within the bounds of the maximum and minimum speeds you set in SetCPU.
smartass governor -is based on the concept of the interactive governor. I have always agreed that in theory the way interactive works -by taking over the idle loop -is very attractive. I have never managed to tweak it so it would behave decently in real life. Smartass is a complete rewrite of the code plus more. I think its a success. Performance is on par with the "old" minmax and I think smartass is a bit more responsive. Battery life is hard to quantify precisely but it does spend much more time at the lower frequencies. Smartass will also cap the max frequency when sleeping to 352Mhz (or if your min frequency is higher than 352 -why?! -it will cap it to your min frequency). Lets take for example the 528/176 kernel, it will sleep at 352/176. No need for sleep profiles any more!
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow ! , thanks i guess im gonna get rid of my sleeping profile and start using smartass, thanks for the help
Sent from my Mytouch 4G Running Capychimps Sense 3.5 rom (v.4.0)
do you happen to know any info about smartassv2 ? , i just checked my list and i have both smartass and smartassv2
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You're welcome! By the way, I'd appreciate it if you'd hit the Thanks button. I help people all the time and am rarely thanked. I'm starting to get a complex. Ha.
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jjbat87 said:
do you happen to know any info about smartassv2 ? , i just checked my list and i have both smartass and smartassv2
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smart ass v2 is just an update of smart ass v1
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Explanation of GOVERNORS.

1) Ondemand
2) Ondemandx
3) Conservative
4) Interactive
5) Interactivex
6) Lulzactive
7) Smartass
8) SmartassV2
9) Intellidemand
10) Lazy
11) Lagfree
12) Lionheart
13) LionheartX
14) Brazilianwax
15) SavagedZen
16) Userspacce
17) Powersave
18) Performance
1) Ondemand:
Default governor in almost all stock kernels. One main goal of the ondemand governor is to switch to max frequency as soon as there is a CPU activity detected to ensure the responsiveness of the system. (You can change this behavior using smooth scaling parameters, refer Siyah tweaks at the end of 3rd post.) Effectively, it uses the CPU busy time as the answer to "how critical is performance right now" question. So Ondemand jumps to maximum frequency when CPU is busy and decreases the frequency gradually when CPU is less loaded/apporaching idle. Even though many of us consider this a reliable governor, it falls short on battery saving and performance on default settings. One potential reason for ondemand governor being not very power efficient is that the governor decide the next target frequency by instant requirement during sampling interval. The instant requirement can response quickly to workload change, but it does not usually reflect workload real CPU usage requirement in a small longer time and it possibly causes frequently change between highest and lowest frequency.
2) Ondemandx:
Basically an ondemand with suspend/wake profiles. This governor is supposed to be a battery friendly ondemand. When screen is off, max frequency is capped at 500 mhz. Even though ondemand is the default governor in many kernel and is considered safe/stable, the support for ondemand/ondemandX depends on CPU capability to do fast frequency switching which are very low latency frequency transitions. I have read somewhere that the performance of ondemand/ondemandx were significantly varying for different i/o schedulers. This is not true for most of the other governors. I personally feel ondemand/ondemandx goes best with SIO I/O scheduler.
3) Conservative:
A slower ondemand which scales up slowly to save battery. The conservative governor is based on the ondemand governor. It functions like the ondemand governor by dynamically adjusting frequencies based on processor utilization. However, the conservative governor increases and decreases CPU speed more gradually. Simply put, this governor increases the frequency step by step on CPU load and jumps to lowest frequency on CPU idle. Conservative governor aims to dynamically adjust the CPU frequency to current utilization, without jumping to max frequency. The sampling_down_factor value acts as a negative multiplier of sampling_rate to reduce the frequency that the scheduler samples the CPU utilization. For example, if sampling_rate equal to 20,000 and sampling_down_factor is 2, the governor samples the CPU utilization every 40,000 microseconds.
4) Interactive:
Can be considered a faster ondemand. So more snappier, less battery. interactive is designed for latency-sensitive, interactive workloads. Instead of sampling at every interval like ondemand, it determines how to scale up when CPU comes out of idle. The governor has the following advantages: 1) More consistent ramping, because existing governors do their cpu load sampling in a workqueue context, but interactive governor does this in a timer context, which gives more consistent CPU load sampling. 2) Higher priority for CPU frequency increase, thus giving the remaining tasks the CPU performance benefit, unlike existing governors which schedule ramp-up work to occur after your performance starved tasks have completed. Interactive It's an intelligent Ondemand because of stability optimizations. Why??
Sampling the CPU load every X ms (like ondemand) can lead to under-powering the CPU for X ms, leading to dropped frames, stuttering UI, etc. Instead of sampling the CPU at a specified rate, the interactive governor will check whether to scale the CPU frequency up soon after coming out of idle. When the CPU comes out of idle, a timer is configured to fire within 1-2 ticks. If the CPU is very busy between exiting idle and when the timer fires, then we assume the CPU is underpowered and ramp to max frequency.
5) Interactivex:
This is an Interactive governor with a wake profile. More battery friendly than interactive.
6) Lulzactive:
This new find from Tegrak is based on Interactive & Smartass governors and is one of the favorites.
Old Version: When workload is greater than or equal to 60%, the governor scales up CPU to next higher step. When workload is less than 60%, governor scales down CPU to next lower step. When screen is off, frequency is locked to global scaling minimum frequency.
New Version: Three more user configurable parameters: inc_cpu_load, pump_up_step, pump_down_step. Unlike older version, this one gives more control for the user. We can set the threshold at which governor decides to scale up/down. We can also set number of frequency steps to be skipped while polling up and down.
When workload greater than or equal to inc_cpu_load, governor scales CPU pump_up_step steps up. When workload is less than inc_cpu_load, governor scales CPU down pump_down_step steps down.
Example:
Consider
inc_cpu_load=70
pump_up_step=2
pump_down_step=1
If current frequency=200, Every up_sampling_time Us if cpu load >= 70%, cpu is scaled up 2 steps - to 800.
If current frequency =1200, Every down_sampling_time Us if cpu load < 70%, cpu is scaled down 1 step - to 1000.
7) Smartass:
Result of Erasmux rewriting the complete code of interactive governor. Main goal is to optimize battery life without comprising performance. Still, not as battery friendly as smartassV2 since screen-on minimum frequency is greater than frequencies used during screen-off. Smartass would jump up to highest frequency too often as well.
8) SmartassV2:
Version 2 of the original smartass governor from Erasmux. Another favorite for many a people. The governor aim for an "ideal frequency", and ramp up more aggressively towards this freq and less aggressive after. It uses different ideal frequencies for screen on and screen off, namely awake_ideal_freq and sleep_ideal_freq. This governor scales down CPU very fast (to hit sleep_ideal_freq soon) while screen is off and scales up rapidly to awake_ideal_freq (500 mhz for GS2 by default) when screen is on. There's no upper limit for frequency while screen is off (unlike Smartass). So the entire frequency range is available for the governor to use during screen-on and screen-off state. The motto of this governor is a balance between performance and battery.
9) Intellidemand:
Intellidemand aka Intelligent Ondemand from Faux is yet another governor that's based on ondemand. Unlike what some users believe, this governor is not the replacement for OC Daemon (Having different governors for sleep and awake). The original intellidemand behaves differently according to GPU usage. When GPU is really busy (gaming, maps, benchmarking, etc) intellidemand behaves like ondemand. When GPU is 'idling' (or moderately busy), intellidemand limits max frequency to a step depending on frequencies available in your device/kernel for saving battery. This is called browsing mode. We can see some 'traces' of interactive governor here. Frequency scale-up decision is made based on idling time of CPU. Lower idling time (<20%) causes CPU to scale-up from current frequency. Frequency scale-down happens at steps=5% of max frequency. (This parameter is tunable only in conservative, among the popular governors )
To sum up, this is an intelligent ondemand that enters browsing mode to limit max frequency when GPU is idling, and (exits browsing mode) behaves like ondemand when GPU is busy; to deliver performance for gaming and such. Intellidemand does not jump to highest frequency when screen is off.
10) Lazy:
This governor from Ezekeel is basically an ondemand with an additional parameter min_time_state to specify the minimum time CPU stays on a frequency before scaling up/down. The Idea here is to eliminate any instabilities caused by fast frequency switching by ondemand. Lazy governor polls more often than ondemand, but changes frequency only after completing min_time_state on a step overriding sampling interval. Lazy also has a screenoff_maxfreq parameter which when enabled will cause the governor to always select the maximum frequency while the screen is off.
11) Lagfree:
Lagfree is similar to ondemand. Main difference is it's optimization to become more battery friendly. Frequency is gracefully decreased and increased, unlike ondemand which jumps to 100% too often. Lagfree does not skip any frequency step while scaling up or down. Remember that if there's a requirement for sudden burst of power, lagfree can not satisfy that since it has to raise cpu through each higher frequency step from current. Some users report that video playback using lagfree stutters a little.
12) Lionheart:
Lionheart is a conservative-based governor which is based on samsung's update3 source. Tweaks comes from 1) Knzo 2) Morfic (MY FAVORITE DEV) The original idea comes from Netarchy. See here. The tunables (such as the thresholds and sampling rate) were changed so the governor behaves more like the performance one, at the cost of battery as the scaling is very aggressive.
To 'experience' Lionheart using conservative, try these tweaks:
sampling_rate:10000 or 20000 or 50000, whichever you feel is safer. (transition latency of the CPU is something below 10ms/10,000uS hence using 10,000 might not be safe).
up_threshold:60
down_threshold:30
freq_step:5
Lionheart goes well with deadline i/o scheduler. When it comes to smoothness (not considering battery drain), a tuned conservative delivers more as compared to a tuned ondemand.
13) LionheartX
LionheartX is based on Lionheart but has a few changes on the tunables and features a suspend profile based on Smartass governor.
14) Brazilianwax:
Similar to smartassV2. More aggressive ramping, so more performance, less battery.
15) SavagedZen:
Another smartassV2 based governor. Achieves good balance between performance & battery as compared to brazilianwax.
16) Userspace:
Instead of automatically determining frequencies, lets user set frequencies.
17) Powersave:
Locks max frequency to min frequency. Can not be used as a screen-on or even screen-off (if scaling min frequency is too low).
18) Performance:
Sets min frequency as max frequency. Use this while benchmarking!
So, Governors can be categorized into 3/4 on a high level:
1.a) Ondemand Based:
Works on "ramp-up on high load" principle. CPU busy-time is taken into consideration for scaling decisions. Members: Ondemand, OndemandX, Intellidemand, Lazy, Lagfree.
1.b) Conservative Based:
Members: Conservative, Lionheart, LionheartX
2) Interactive Based:
Works on "make scaling decision when CPU comes out of idle-loop" principle. Members: Interactive, InteractiveX, Lulzactive, Smartass, SmartassV2, Brazilianwax, SavagedZen.
3) Weird Category:
Members: Userspace, Powersave, Performance.
Regards
Avetis
Correction:Brazilianwax also falls in weird category.
Nice info in one place!
And what about wheatley, abyssplug and hotplug governors?
ThANK you for this! I've always wanted to know this information
From the giant: Galaxy Note
Cool...that makes Android even more sophisticated
Can I get & use governors?
I know I am going to sound like a noob, but I keep hearing about these, and I am interested in what they can do for me. What I cannot figure out is what they are (I see what they do) and where to get them.
My phone is rooted, but stock ROM. Can I get & use governors?
jeromepearce said:
I know I am going to sound like a noob, but I keep hearing about these, and I am interested in what they can do for me. What I cannot figure out is what they are (I see what they do) and where to get them.
My phone is rooted, but stock ROM. Can I get & use governors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
download "No-frills CPU control" from the market
This may explain a bit more detail => http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1369817
jeromepearce said:
I know I am going to sound like a noob, but I keep hearing about these, and I am interested in what they can do for me. What I cannot figure out is what they are (I see what they do) and where to get them.
My phone is rooted, but stock ROM. Can I get & use governors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of people recommend using SmartAssV2 and SavagedZen, between both I've never really seen the performance differences or benefits based on my own usage. I did actually see a performance drop in the UI if I change my CPU mode from dualcore to hot plug if I use any of the custom governors.
With the performance level on the Galaxy Note, I dont think its necessary to change anything even the battery savings on this might be miniscule at best.
nbass668 said:
download "No-frills CPU control" from the market
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. I can't see any better governors than SetCPU, however, although they may be applied better (SetCPU seems to stop my phone sleeping, kind of a Red-Bull effect?)
---------- Post added at 12:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 PM ----------
aatjitra said:
This may explain a bit more detail => http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1369817
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so it appears I need to flash a custom kernel then? One day I'll feel confident enough to understand the difference between a kernel and a ROM, and feel confident enough to apply either. I guess I have more to read....
Yup, flash a custom kernel. Use CWM or Mobile Odin.
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jeromepearce said:
Thanks for that. I can't see any better governors than SetCPU, however, although they may be applied better (SetCPU seems to stop my phone sleeping, kind of a Red-Bull effect?)
---------- Post added at 12:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 PM ----------
OK, so it appears I need to flash a custom kernel then? One day I'll feel confident enough to understand the difference between a kernel and a ROM, and feel confident enough to apply either. I guess I have more to read....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what rom/kernel/governor you are using.
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What about Abyssplug and Weathley governers ?
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Avetny,
Could you please also elaborate on the I/O Schedular: Noop, deadline, cfq/bfq, vr and sio. If you have time off course
Thanks in advance
Isn't this the same content as this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1369817
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This should be stickied
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GOVERNORS info
:good: Thanks a lot. This is exactly what I am looking for.

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