Intel Power Gadget 2.0 Monitoring Processor Energy Usage Introduction Intel Power Gadget 2.0 is enabled for 2nd generation Intel Core Processor based platforms is a set of Microsoft Windows* gadget, driver, and libraries which provide real-time processor package power information in watts using the energy counters in the processor. With this release, we are providing functionality to evaluate power information on various platforms including desktops/notebooks and servers. Background Traditional methods to estimate power/energy usage of the processor has always been a cumbersome task that included special purpose tools or instrumentation on the motherboard along with third party equipment. Intel had earlier released Intel Power Gadget 1.0 that included estimation of processor power via energy counters available in 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family. The motivation for the gadget was to assist end-users, ISV s, OEM s, developers, etc in more precise estimation of power from a software level without any H/W instrumentation. New Features With version 2.0, we are providing additional functionalities that include estimation of power on multi-socket systems, 32-bit support on Windows 7*. The multi-socket support essentially evaluates the energy usage on a per-socket basis and provides an estimate of power draw per socket. Latest release also include a signed driver that eliminates the need to disable driver signing on 64-bit OS (previous version needed driver signing disablement during boot) Brief Description Intel Power Gadget 2.0 consist of the following components 1. Set of driver and libraries which access and post process the processor energy counter to calculate the power usage in watts and processor frequency (default install directory will be ~\Program Files\Intel\Power Gadget 2.0 for 64-bit OS). 2. daq_driver.dll is an interface to Intel Energy Checker, which is installed in the same directory 3. PwrLogSample.exe is a console application that logs power and frequency data via Windows command (alternative if you don t use the Windows* sidebar gadget) 4. The Windows 7 Sidebar gadget component which is automatically installed (except for server OS). An overview of the gadget is below: 1
Overview of the tool Start or Stop logging the power data in csv format Click here for settings Processor package power in watts Processor frequency in GHz. Settings for logging power usage Energy counter sampling resolution filename and directory for logging Manually change max Y-axis of the power chart 2
System Requirements Windows 7* 32-bit and 64-bit Windows* Server 2008, Windows* Server 2008 RC2 (64-bit server platforms) Microsoft*.Net Framework 4 Client profile (installer will automatically install if needed) Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable package (x86 or x64) 2nd Generation Intel Core Processor (Sandy Bridge), previous processors not supported o Single socket o Multi-socket Installation /Setup 1. Download the appropriate 32 or 64-bit package and copy to your test system 2. Run setup.exe as an administrator. Accept the UAC, if one appears. 3. Follow the installer prompt instructions to complete installation o Microsoft*.Net Framework 4 (will automatically be downloaded from Microsoft* site if not yet installed in your system) needs Internet connection o Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (will automatically be installed if not yet installed) o You will encounter a pop-up window warning for the gadget (please ignore) Usage Some usages of the Intel Power Gadget 2.0. First is the Windows 7 Sidebar gadget component installed on client OS (Windows 7) or utilizing the daq_driver.dll (included when you install the tool) which is an interface to Intel Energy Checker SDK 3
1. Common use of Intel Power Gadget is via Windows 7 sidebar gadget. It is a simple and easy way to monitor energy usage of the processor Provides processor power (Watts) and frequency (MHz) in real-time via graph displayed in the gadget Lets you log the power and frequency measurements and save it in a csv format. 2. The Intel Power Gadget can be also associated with the Intel Energy Checker SDK (Intel EC SDK). Used as an ESRV* DAQ module**, the Intel Power Gadget can provide processor average power (Watt), cumulative energy consumed (Joule) and instantaneous frequency (MHz) as counters. These counter s values can then be read by any application using the SDK API or monitored with SDK tools. To start ESRV with the Intel Power Gadget, type: esrv --start --daq --library "C:\Program Files\Intel\Power Gadget 2.0\daq_driver.dll" --channels "1-3" --default_suffixes "decimals = 2" --counters "CPU Average Power (Watt)=C1, CPU Energy Consumed (Joule)=C2 integral, CPU Frequency (MHz)=C3" To monitor this is not required, start the PL GUI Monitor typing the following command. Double-click on the newly created PL configuration file in the C:\productivity_link folder (and click Cancel when done). The following figure shows the monitor output. Note that these commands can be saved in a batch file for convenience. pl_gui_monitor --gdiplus --process --trend --transparency 30 --format --geometry "gauges=3x1 position=topxright" --top --title "Powered by Power Gadget" 4
Please refer to the EC User Guides including the Companion Applications User Guide for details on ESRV and PL GUI Monitor and advanced options. *EC SDK is shipped with ESRV (Energy Server) which monitors a platform s energy consumption of monitored or instrumented components. ESRV provides counters for the cumulative energy consumed, as well as the immediate power draw from the power meter or power supply. More detailed information can be found in the Intel Energy Checker Device Driver Kit User Guide. **ESRV also provides a Data AcQuisition (DAQ) mode, which allows the monitoring of system components, such as memory or IO subsystems. Known Limitations ions/issues Only works on 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family (Sandy Bridge) or later 5