Which is more effective, TLP or CPUfreq?

Question

Which is more effective? TLP or CPUfreq? Do both have exactly the same function? What would possibly happen if I installed both? Would it cause conflict that could significantly reduce the laptop performance? Cheers.

Solution

CPUfreq is a tool to control frequency scaling and may be used to limit power dissipation.

TLP is a complete power saving tool that covers frequency scaling settings too, so no need to use CPUfreq when TLP is installed.

Both tools do not conflict as long as you do not use frequency scaling settings in TLP.

Comments

[LuMINTu]

Thank you. It's made my knowledge of ubuntu 14.04 better.

[Alexey]

What is the difference between extending battery life and reducing heat production? Isn't it the same thing, since virtually all energy is lost to heat? Your answer seems to contradict itself.

[Lucas Aimaretto]

TLP can also control cpu frequencies to control overheating ... My guess is that you should choose for one of those in order to avoid conflicts ...

[jmng]

Actually, in the current versions cpufreqd will override TLP settings like the scaling governor or min/max frequencies, based on its own configuration; so it's not a good idea to run both, and TLP should be ideal choice as it is a lot more powerful/capable.