Idle consumptions

This page reports the minimal consumptions of Thinkpads when idle. This means, in principle: minimum brightness, CPU and GPU at lowest speed, no wifi, hard drive spun down, no pcmcia cards inserted (see details of each entry).

This kind of information has several uses: comparing one's consumption with that of other people's setups, knowing which model to use as a gateway/file server, etc.

Model	OS	Remarks	consumption
600E PII/366	Debian Lenny/2.6.21 gnome	back light off, laptop-mode-tools enabled, fan on, idling, measured with powertop	6W
600E PII/366	Debian Lenny/2.6.21 gnome	Min brightness, laptop-mode-tools enabled, fan on, idling, measured with powertop	7.5W
600E PII/366	Debian Lenny/2.6.21 gnome	Max brightness, laptop-mode-tools enabled, fan on, idling, measured with powertop	9.2W
600E PII/366	Debian Lenny/2.6.21 gnome	Max brightness, laptop-mode-tools enabled, fan on, 100% cpu utilisation, measured with powertop	~22W
600E PIII/450	Archlinux/2.6.28 openbox	1 xterm window, backlight on, fan off	6.2W
R50e	Gentoo (linux-2.6.22-rc4 force_HPET, fluxbox)	With Networking, USB, firefox, thunderbird	11.1W
R50e	Gentoo (linux-2.6.22-rc4 force_HPET, fluxbox)	Fluxbox + shell (+fan)	10.5W
R50e	Gentoo (linux-2.6.22-rc4 force_HPET, fluxbox)	Blank Screen after 20min idle (+fan)	7.1W
R51e	Gentoo (linux-2.6.24-gentoo-r4)	KDE, min. brightness, tp-fancontrol, ondemand, laptop_mode, madwifi-ng (no powersave), wpa_supplicant, ca 60 wakeups	14.5W
R52	Gentoo (linux-2.6.22-rc6 + phc + hrt)	Min brightness, tp-fancontrol, ipw2200 with power_save 5, undervolted, ondemand, laptop_mode, rovclock -c 100 -m 100 virtual console (idle kde desktop adds about 0.2W)	12.1W
R61	Ubuntu 7.04	Wireless on	16.4W
R61	Xubuntu 7.10	custom kernel 2.6.24, Minimal power consumption with Wireless off, hdd spun down, Backlight min, laptop-mode, ondemand, echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/sched_mc_power_savings, echo 1500 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_writeback_centisecs, ALPM on, firewire module unloaded, nvidia, hdaps (powertop 1.9)	10.8W (min) ~16.5W (usable brightness, wifi on) 39.7W (max, kernel compilation with -j3 option)
T23	Ubuntu 7.04		10.7W
T40	Gentoo (2.6.23-rc6-hrt2)	Bg-timer patch, HPET-patches, radeon, rovclock -c 105 -m 122, no DRI, sound power_save = Y, min. brightness, no networking, with USB, Laptop-Mode, X & 1x URxvt	7,4W
T41p	Ubuntu 7.10	Undervolted, fglrx, no dri; fan->+0.5W, powerstate=2->+0.7W, HD->+1.5W, no usb	7.7W
T42 (2373)	Debian 4.0 Etch	Kernel 2.6.21_rc5 + hrtimer, rovclock -c 100 -m 120 (Radeon M10), no DRI, min bright. (+3W max), no wifi (+1W if idle)	9.4W
T42 (2373)	Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid	14" 1024x768 Kernel 2.6.28+tickless+hrtimer, rovclock -c 110 -m 180 (Radeon M7), Xorg + DRI, min bright. (+2.5W max), lan & wifi down, laptop-mode enabled, ultrabay ejected, fan on (auto)	7.8W
T42 (2373)	Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid	14" 1024x768 Kernel 2.6.28+tickless+hrtimer, rovclock -c 110 -m 180 (Radeon M7), Xorg + DRI, backlight off, lan & wifi down, laptop-mode enabled, ultrabay ejected, fan on (auto)	5.6W
T43 (1871)	Debian (Linux 2.6.21, fluxbox)	DRI, alsa (power_save=1), with usb, no networking	10.1W (12.0W with HD)
T43 (2669)	Gentoo (2.6.20-gentoo-r5)	Undervolted, fglrx (powerstate=1), DRI, no alsa, no usb modules, no networking	12.7W
T43 (2686)	Fedora Core 6 (2.6.19.x patched)	Undervolted, radeon, rovclock -c 125 -m 130, no DRI, ALSA power_save=1, no usb modules, no networking, min brightness, HDD spun down	15W
T43p (2668)	Debian Lenny (Linux 2.6.26)	powerstate=1, bluetooth off, WLAN 3mW, eth0 off, USB off, AC97 power_save, laptop_mode on, dirty_writeback_centisecs=1500, DRI off, LCD min-bright	14W
T60 (2007)	Fedora Core 6	Wireless kill switch on, 1400x1050 panel @ min brightness, fglrx (powerstate=1), HDD spun up (~1W saving without)	16W
T60 (2007)	Kubuntu 7.04	1400x1050 panel @ min brightness, hald killed, laptop mode enabled, wireless powersave	13.3 W
T60 (2007)	KUbuntu 7.04	Wireless on, 1680x1050 panel @ medium brightness, fglrx (powerstate=1)	16W
T60 (2623D6U)	Debian testing (linux-2.6.21-1-686)	1400x1050 14" min-bright, iwpriv wlan0 set_power 7, VESA driver	12,7W
T61	Ubuntu 8.04	14" 1024x768 panel,intel graphics, 6% bright, wireless off, vanilla kernel 2.6.25	9.5W
T61	Gentoo 2008.0	14" 1440x900 panel, nVidia, min brightness, wireless off, sound off, nvidia unloaded, laptop_mode, gentoo-sources 2.6.25-gentoo-r6, measured with powertop	~13W
T400 (WC8...)	Ubuntu 9.04 unpatched kernel	*Save power with Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) on a ThinkPad T400	11-13W
T410	Fedora 13	14" 1440x900 panel, intel integrated graphics, 4GB RAM, idle at gnome desktop, measured with powertop	~14.5W
X200	Mint 8 , KDE	2.6.32, second to minimum brightness, no radios, idle, powertop suggestions followed	7.5W
X200	Fedora 12, KDE, Compiz	2.6.31, second to minimum brightness (/proc/acpi/video/VID/LCD0/brightness = 25), no radios, idle, powertop suggestions followed, unused I/O ports disabled in BIOS	7.2W
X200	Gentoo Linux, OpenBox	2.6.36, SSD, CCFL panel, min brightness, no radios, idle, powertop suggestions followed	7.0W
X200s	Gentoo Linux , Fluxbox	2.6.29, HDD stopped, min brightness	6.0W
X200s	Gentoo Linux , TWM	2.6.35, SSD, min brightness, powertop improvements, no network	4.6W
X200s	Arch Linux	2.6.34.1, Openbox, 1440x900 LED-Panel, Intel-SSD, 4 GB Ram, Fan off, WLAN/BT down, laptop_mode_tools enabled, 1/15 brightness	4.6W
X200s	Arch Linux	2.6.27.9, idle kde3, hda_intel power_save 5, HDD stopped, min brightness, radios off, pcie_aspm in powersave, 8bit color depth	6.2W
X200s	Arch Linux	SL9400, 12.1" 1440x900 panel, min. brightness, wifi/bt off	7.2W
X200s	Arch Linux	2.6.27.8, idle kde3 (9 int/s), hda_intel power_save 5, HDD stopped, min brightness, radios off, pcie_aspm in powersave	7.3W
X200s	Arch Linux	2.6.27.8, kde3+firefox+daemons, hda_intel power_save 5, HDD spinning up/down, brightness 6/15, wifi on, pcie_aspm in powersave	8.7W
X200s	Ubuntu 8.10	2.6.27.9, 12.1" 1280x800 panel, min. brightness, wifi/bt off, laptop_mode, total idle	7.3W
X200s	Ubuntu 8.10	2.6.27.9, 12.1" 1280x800 panel, half. brightness, wifi/bt off, laptop_mode, simple word-processing (open office)	~10.5W
X200s	Ubuntu 8.10	2.6.27.9, 12.1" 1280x800 panel, half. brightness, wifi on, laptop_mode, active firefox, amarok playing (via airtunes), pidgin	~12.5W
X200s 7466-3TG	Ubuntu 9.10	2.6.31-15-generic, 12.1" 1280x800 panel, brightness 35, wifi on, pm-utils, active firefox [1]	6.3W
X200s	OpenSUSE 11.1	2.6.29-66.1 (HEAD from Factory repo), 12.1" 1440x900 led panel, brighness 5 (33%), wifi on, laptop_mode, kde 3.5, active firefox,	~7.3W
X300	Ubuntu 9.04	2.6.28-11-generic 13.3" 1440x900 panel, brightness 50%, wifi on, laptop_mode, active firefox, xmms2 playing, some terminals	~11 W
X300	Ubuntu 9.04	2.6.28-11-generic 13.3" 1440x900 panel, brightness 50%, wifi off, laptop_mode, xmms2 playing, some terminals	~8.8 W
X21	Ubuntu 10.04	Long-term (powertop), backlight on	5.2W
X31	Debian Etch	2.6.22rc6+hrt1 patch+radeon patch	~ 8 W
X31 (2672-C2G)	Debian Etch	vanilla 2.6.23rc8 tickless kernel, wireless rf-kill on, min brightness, hdd idle but spinning	~ 9.6 W
X32	Slackware	2.6.23.1+hrt3 patch, tickless kernel, undervolted to 0.716, ati gfx @ 90mhz core 90mhz mem, hdd is CF, min brightness, wifi ON	~ 8.2 W
X32	Slackware	2.6.23.1+hrt3 patch, tickless kernel, undervolted to 0.716, ati gfx @ 90mhz core 90mhz mem, hdd is CF, max brightness, wifi ON	~ 11 W
X40	Kubuntu 7.10	2.6.22, min brightness, wifi ON	~8.7W
X40	Opensuse 11.0; June08	std. install + laptop-mode-tools.rpm; 2.6.25, min brightness, wifi on. normal X-server, hd spun down	~8.0W
X40	Debian Squeeze	2.6.33 custom Kernel, wifi off, min brightness: 3.3 wakeups/s	~6.7W
X41	Fedora 7	2.6.23.1+phc patch, tickless kernel, undervolted to 0.7, under X, min brightness, wifi ON	~11W
X60	Ubuntu 7.04	Wireless kill switch on, min brightness	10.2W
X60s	Debian Etch	2.6.21 tickless kernel, processes tweaked with powertop, usb/fw unloaded, hd spun down, min brightness, ipw3945 set to powersave mode 7	8.3W
X60s	Debian Etch	2.6.21 tickless kernel, processes tweaked with powertop, usb/fw unloaded, hd spun down, min brightness,ipw3945 unloaded	9W
X60s	Debian Lenny(testing)	2.6.22 tickless kernel, hrt-patch, alpm-patches, almost everything unloaded (wifi,pcmcia,ethernet,usb,firewire,sd,snd) and stopped (no X11,only cron/syslog), no vesa-fb, min brightness, 5 min idle, measured with powertop 1.7 (ACPI)	7.7W
X60s	Debian Lenny(testing)	2.6.22 tickless kernel, hrt-patch, alpm-patches, almost everything unloaded (wifi,pcmcia,ethernet,usb,firewire,sd,snd), with X11 (latest intel-xorg-driver, DRI enabled) and one x-terminal running, min brightness, 5 min idle, measured with powertop 1.7 (ACPI)	8.3W
X61	OpenSUSE 11.1	2.6.27.7 tickless, KDE 4.2 Beta2, X.Org 7.4 (dri on, fb compression enabled), BT/WiFi OFF, HDD spun down, brightness 0, fan running, default modules loaded, PowerTOP 1.10	10.4W (without X running 10.1W)
X61 Tablet	Ubuntu Gutsy(tribe6)	2.6.23-rc6-hrt1 x86_64, everything unloaded & stopped, lcd backlight off, hd powered down, powertop 1.8	8.5W
X61 Tablet	Xubuntu Gutsy	2.6.24-rc3, everything unloaded, lcd backlight 10%, hd powered down, powertop 1.8	7,8W
X61s (7666-36G)	Debian Sid	2.6.33-rc6, everything unloaded, HD spinned down, xbacklight -set 0, idle Xfce desktop (16 bit colors), SATA poweroff patch, intel-xorg 2.9.1	7,4W
X301	Debian Lenny	2.6.29.1, wifi down, lan down, wan down, no WOL, ondemand scaling, brightness 100%	10,7W (6.3h w/ bay battery)
X301	Debian Lenny	2.6.29.1, wifi down, lan down, wan down, no WOL, ondemand scaling, brightness 50%	8,7W
X301	Debian Lenny	2.6.29.1, wifi down, lan down, wan down, no WOL, ondemand scaling, brightness 0%	7,8W (8.8h w/ bay battery)