Creating The Application Usage Profiles
The User Profiles
As mentioned, the calculation is based on the behavior of the specific users. Let us briefly, once more, go over the three selected profiles that we created based on four weeks of measurements:
• The young gamer who mostly plays graphically-demanding shooters
• The average user who only rarely upgrades, but buys future-proof high-end hardware once in a while
• The older enthusiast who mostly buys for the fun of it
Creating the Application Time Profile For Each User Type
We use a small, custom-made piece of software that records the daily total run time of the computer, as well as the run times of certain pre-selected programs using hardware acceleration, such as GDI, D2D, or D3D, since these affect the power consumption. The measurements can be manually edited by simply entering relevant data in a table.
We calculate representative average values from the daily total run times. Of course, there are variations in user habits, depending on finished or uncompleted games, for example. But we are mainly after determining an approximate guide. The average numbers are used for calculating baseline power consumption numbers later on. Most of you can safely place yourself somewhere within or in between the three profiles, and thus create a reference for yourself, or perhaps even create your own profile.
