# Kernel Governors



## idle0095 (Jul 18, 2011)

What do all these governors mean?

smartassv2
interactive
lagfree
conservative
userspace
powersave
ondemand
perfromance

Please HELP. Dont know what to choose.


----------



## HalosGhost (Jun 29, 2011)

smartassv2 is an update to the smartass governor, it's purpose is essentially to maximize performance while optimizing powerusage. When using smartass (or v2), you don't need a screenoff profile as it automatically ramps down cpu usage while screen is off or phone is sleeping, commonly used as the default governor on many linux distros.

interactive is likely to give you some of the best performance, but at the cost of some battery life, used when working with heavy apps. Rarely for the default governor.

lagfree is a governor based on the conservative governor. Lagfree is to conservative as smartass is to interactive. It is intended to keep battery life as long as possible without getting any lag on unlocks or on usage. It is my default governor.

conservative is roughly the opposite of interactive. it is meant to maximize battery life at minor expense to performance. Used commonly for everyday app usage, probably not for heavier apps.

userspace is redundant in most cases for Android. It allows for other applications or binaries to edit and affect clocking. It is named this because the theory is that applications the user installs (i.e., userspace apps) would be the ones that would/could affect it. I find it unnecessary with the use of SetCPU (perhaps I'm wrong about this, but that is my understanding). I do not use it.

powersave keeps the cpu running on the lowest clock slot available to it, it will maximize batterylife better than any other governor, but performance takes a massive hit. I do not use it.

ondemand is the default governor on most (if not nearly all) Android spins/devices/kernels. It keeps performance up, but is not as efficient as smartass and not as optimized for battery life as any of the battery saving governors.

performance is the polar opposite to powersave. It keeps the cpu running at the top slot available at all times. It is meant to facilitate fantastic performance but will seriously detriment your battery life. Furthermore, depending upon how you do your clocking (for instance, if you have a very high top slot), it can be harmful to your processor. I do not use it.

Governors I use (in order of usage):
LagFree
Smartassv2
conservative
interactive (very rarely, when I want great performance and my phone is currently charging)
Hope that helps









All the best,

-HG


----------



## idle0095 (Jul 18, 2011)

You have helped me alot and I thank you. Thanks for all the write up. Im gonna use lagfree and try it out.


----------

