NVIDIA Jetson Orin - Tuning Power

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🚧 Documentation is under development

The NVIDIA Jetson Orin guide is currently under active development. Some sections may be incomplete or change without notice.

Questions? Contact RidgeRun or email to support@ridgerun.com.

NVIDIA Jetson Orin

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Contents Pin

• Introduction
  • SoM Overview
  • Carrier Boards
    • NVIDIA developer kit
    • Auvidea X230D
    • Connect Tech Forge
  • Software Development Support
• JetPack 7.2
  • Getting Started
    • Installing JetPack
    • Flashing the board with GUI installer
    • JetPack Components
  • Compiling Source Code
    • Obtaining Sources
    • Building Kernel, OoT Modules and DTBs
  • Flashing the Board from Cmdline
    • Flashing Filesystem
  • Performance Tuning
    • Evaluating Performance
    • Set Values Manually
    • Tuning Power
    • Software Encoders For Jetson Orin Nano
• JetPack 6.1
  • Getting Started
    • Installing JetPack
    • Flashing the board with GUI installer
    • JetPack Components
  • Compiling Source Code
    • Obtaining Sources
    • Building Kernel, OoT Modules and DTBs
  • Flashing the Board from Cmdline
    • Flashing Filesystem
• JetPack 5.0.2
  • Getting Started
    • Installing JetPack
    • Flashing the board with GUI installer
    • JetPack Components
  • Compiling Source Code
    • Obtaining Sources
    • Compiling Kernel, OoT Modules and DTB
  • Flashing the Board from Cmdline
    • Flashing Filesystem
  • Performance Tuning
    • Evaluating Performance
    • Set Values Manually
    • Tuning Power
    • Maximizing Performance
    • Software Encoders For Jetson Orin Nano
• Development in the Board
  • Getting into the Board
    • Using Serial Console
    • Using SSH
    • Using Ubuntu Login
    • Installing Packages
• Emulation
  • Flashing commands for emulation
• Supported Cameras
  • IMX477+J20 Driver
• GStreamer Pipelines
  • Capture and Display
  • H264
  • H265
• RidgeRun Products
  • GstPTZR
  • GstCUDA
  • GstColorTransfer
  • GstWebRTC
  • GstRtspSink
  • GstInterpipe
  • GstInference
  • GstVPI
  • GStreamer Daemon
  • GstShark
• RidgeRun Reference Designs
  • Panoramic Stitching and WebRTC Streaming
• Reference Documentation
• Contact Us

Power Modes

Use nvpmodel to select a power profile. Profiles limit CPU cores and engine frequencies. Available modes depend on the module and flash configuration.

Inspect the Current Mode and Configuration

Query the current mode and its detailed settings:

sudo /usr/sbin/nvpmodel -q
sudo /usr/sbin/nvpmodel -q --verbose

Inspect the installed definitions and configured default:

readlink -f /etc/nvpmodel.conf
grep -E '^[[:space:]]*<[[:space:]]*(POWER_MODEL|PM_CONFIG)' /etc/nvpmodel.conf

POWER_MODEL entries identify modes; PM_CONFIG DEFAULT identifies the configured default. Query the active mode separately: a previously selected mode can persist.

Example AGX Orin Profiles

The following values were checked in NVIDIA's supplied /etc/nvpmodel/nvpmodel_p3701_0000.conf on an AGX Orin Developer Kit running R39.2.1. They match the corresponding AGX Orin profile values in NVIDIA's guide. Other modules/configurations differ; use their installed definitions.

Example profiles: nvpmodel_p3701_0000.conf

Mode ID	Name	Power budget	CPU maximum (MHz)	GPU maximum (MHz)
0	MAXN	No specified budget	Platform limit	Platform limit
1	MODE_15W	15 W	1113.6	408
2	MODE_30W	30 W	1728	612
3	MODE_50W	50 W	1497.6	816

This configuration specifies mode 2 as its default. MAXN is experimental and does not guarantee the best performance: power limits can cause throttling.

Select and Verify a Power Mode

Record the current mode ID before changing it. Replace 2 below with a mode defined in your configuration:

MODE_ID=2
sudo /usr/sbin/nvpmodel -m "$MODE_ID"
sudo /usr/sbin/nvpmodel -q --verbose
sudo /usr/bin/jetson_clocks --show

The selected mode persists across power cycles and SC7. GPU partition changes may require a reboot; follow the utility's prompt. Select the power mode before applying jetson_clocks; changing modes after that requires a reboot.

Restore the Previous Mode

Enter the mode ID recorded before the change:

read -r -p "Original power mode ID: " ORIGINAL_MODE_ID
sudo /usr/sbin/nvpmodel -m "$ORIGINAL_MODE_ID"
sudo /usr/sbin/nvpmodel -q

This reselects the previous power profile; it does not restore unrelated manual clock or fan overrides. Follow any reboot prompt.

Measure the Workload

Use the same workload when comparing profiles. NVIDIA's validation procedure checks settings with nvpmodel -q --verbose and jetson_clocks --show.

Monitor utilization, temperatures, and reported power rails:

sudo tegrastats --interval 1000

Press Ctrl+C to stop. To record samples instead:

sudo tegrastats --interval 1000 --logfile power-profile.log

See Evaluating Performance for metric interpretation and Set Values Manually for individual clock controls.

Custom Power Profiles

NVIDIA documents custom definitions in /etc/nvpmodel.conf. Use a unique mode ID and supported limits. CPU frequencies use kHz; GPU and EMC frequencies use Hz. Restricting EMC below client bandwidth requirements can cause functional failures.

References

NVIDIA Jetson Orin

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