auto-cpufreq: An Automatic CPU speed & power optimizer for Linux

This is an interesting spin on trying to optimize power efficiency. It's similar to TLP, but instead of trying to optimize everything, it simply targets the CPU.

On a laptop running on battery, cpufreq can go into a low-power energy saving mode, but still boost the CPU for demanding tasks without the need to manually set the CPU to performance mode. This makes it a more 'set it and forget it' app.

This should also work on desktops, and could save you a few watts if you mostly use it to idle around in a browser all day, and only occasionally stress the CPU with a game or other task.

If you don't care about automatically switching to a higher performance mode and instead want to prioritize power savings, such as on a laptop, TLP is still possibly better in that regard (and if you do go that route, be sure to use the TLP GUI