Originally Posted by mediahound
I'm confused about the processor performance setting in Energy Saver. Is there any reason not to leave it on high all the time?
Well, you didn't mention which machine you had or the apps you will run on it but I can still answer your question. The PowerMac seems to handle this feature a lot better than the notebooks.
If you are running processor intensive apps such as video editing or photoshop and you are using one of the Apple notebooks it's best to put it on Highest performance. The fan will come on more often but the computer will run faster especially for 3d gaming.
I have the 2.3Ghz PowerMac and I cannot tell the difference using the automatic setting vs highest performance. The idea of the automatic setting is so the computer will adjust itself for the type of apps you are using to prevent unnecessary energy from being wasted.
If you play high performance 3D games then the computer will automatically adjust to the highest setting just to play the game and then return to standard speed which is right in between highest and reduced setting.
If you are just listening to music or web surfing and you are in an unusually warmer environment then the reduced setting will work just fine.
So to prevent high enegry consumption or unnecessary blowing of the fans put the computer on the automatic setting.
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