Forum Discussion
Battery and graphic performance
Am curious on what kind of specs you have?
For me personally Chrome / EdgeChromium doesn't have working hw accelerated video (Intel HD 3000) and I tend to use EdgeHTML for streaming because it is much more fluid.
Haven't tested the browser on a Surface Pro 5 yet but I mainly stick to EdgeHTML for surfing.
"In one test that is a multi-layer map, EdgeHTML renders all the layers instantly at once, and with EdgeChromium/Chrome the layers paint in, with transparent images in upper layers requiring an additional redraw each layer beneath it. Then when scrolling the map, EdgeHTML is instant and the map looks like a single image, where in EdgeChromium/Chrome the layers redraw with each shift."
"As a colleague referenced, Chromium uses a document/display model, where IE9-EdgeHTML use a compile/execute model, and the feel is very different, with Chromium feeling more like IE8 than the last 10 years of IE. (Sadly)"
From what I understand EdgeHTML/Spartan renders pages in a much more efficient manner whilst also having a lighter footprint and better optimised hardware acceleration.
This is really noticable on older hardware.
Sincerely hope that the Edge dev team manages to make improvements to the hardware acceleration and rendering of sites/pdf docs.
Elliot
I'm using a Dell Inspiron 13 with an i5-6200U, 8 GB RAM, and a 500 GB Samsung 860 EVO SSD. I've also noticed somewhat higher drain on my laptop.
Hard to narrow down to which sites could be responsible. Maybe once privacy controls are introduced and trackers and what-not can get shut down, it'll help?
What I know now: switching away from Edge to another application can sometimes cause a performance hiccup, i.e., higher CPU usage. Using the Windows Task Manager & Edge Task manager, every time I switch away from Edge into any other application, the CPU usage spikes 2x-3x (from 3% to 10%).
Perhaps if users switch applications too often, these extra CPU cycles eat into the battery?
I agree with others that performance on older hardware is one of key differences Edge Chromium is lagging at now compare to Edge Classic. Both in terms of page load speed, and battery use. One of contributors is related to how ongoing Current Session backups are handled by Chromium - saving each 15 sec. Writing to disk is one of the most battery intensive tasks. By taking number of writes back to Edge Classic level, Edge Chromium devs can accomplish notable battery backup raise and in the process preserve SSD service life, as modern browsers tend to turn huge data amounts daily.
- Hey Elliot,
The problem occurs when working in Word. On the original Edge apx 5 tabs could be opened before the fans would kick in. With the new edge, the fans kick in when the browser is opened (one tab)
