Limiting CPU power consumption for efficient computation of 3D workloads

Rendering 3D workloads using the least power possible is an increasingly important quality of computing platforms. Current platforms do not achieve this goal because they power the Central Processing Units (CPUs) at frequencies above the minimum required for these workloads to operate without performance loss. Higher than necessary frequencies yield greater than necessary power consumption. This paper describes a method for limiting CPU frequency while running 3D workloads to reduce power consumption with minimal performance loss. Using this method on an Intel® 3rd generation CoreTM processor reduces CPU power consumption by an average of 9% with no significant performance impact.