Laptops, crunching, heating issues etc

[Quadophile]

I have been very patiently trying my best to resolve the heating issue with my laptop while it is crunching. The temps have been in the vicinity of 82 Deg C which in my opinion was way too high. Nonetheless, I finally managed to bring it down to a very acceptable level of between 66-68 Deg C without getting a hit on crunching.

During my extensive research in the last few days I came across information which I would like to share here with all of the members.

• One person had reported that he was using a test software on his IBM machine and his temperature was in the vicinity of 92 Deg for two hours without crashing.
• Several members using laptops reported their temps were in the early 80's while crunching. After which they tweaked their machines and brought down the temps to similar level as mine now.
• The best way to bring down the temperature of laptops is to downvolt the CPU in a way that the system is stable at full load. Underclocking the graphics card also helps in dissipating heat
• Just like overclocking, one needs to be careful undervolting also and should not be taken lightly as the components can fail.

For tweaking CPU voltages one will need software and I used the Notebook Hardware Control It is a small program which does the job nicely.

Few days back I posted following message in one of the threads which I am quoting in case you did not get to read it, I have not changed the content and quoting it as it is:

I have been trying to figure out the reason for the high temps and following is my conclusion

1) The temperature of computers is linked to the ambient temperatures and in my area these happen to be much higher than UK. It does make a big difference there.

2) The 2.0 Ghz laptops tend to be running much warmer than say 1.7 Ghz ones, my previous laptop was T41 and at 1.6 Ghz was cool as a cucumber in most situations, I never had to worry about heating problems.

3) The T Series of IBM Laptops have the best cooling systems compared to most laptops, any review you pick up of a T Series laptop the reviewer is always having very high praise about its cooling efficiency.

4) T43 was the first with the 2.0 Ghz processor and the processor itself is prone to high temp on its own compared to the lower clock speed ones so not sure how much is the contribution of this processor in getting the temp to be higher, I know for sure it is on the higher side but I do not have any accurate data to support my claim.

5) The software that reports the temps are also not very accurate and tend to vary in the reporting so that is also a concern for me since with NHC software (Notebook Hardware Control) the temp reported is much higher than what the other program is reporting (Everest Home Edition). The later software is no longer updated and is discontinued so not sure if it is as accurate as I would want it to be.

My current settings (Blue) as well as default settings are as follows:



Intel Pentium M Processor 760 2,00GHz, 533MHz FSB

800 MHz 6x 0.988V---> 0.780V

1,46 GHz 11x 1.196V---> 1.084V

1,60 GHz 12x 1.228V---> 1.100V

1,86 GHz 14x 1.308V---> 1.116V

2,00GHz 15x 1.356V---> 1.132V



It has been a bumpy ride, but, worth the effort as I managed to accomplish what I set out for.

 

[Adywebb]

Thats excellent Quad - thanks for the info, it will come in handy for others using laptops


The fact you have gone to so much trouble so you can participate with the Team is fantastic - its much appreciated, well done Quad!

 

[Quadophile]

Ady,

Thanks appreciate your kind words.

I had no choice if I was to be part of the team and crunching on a regular basis, it had to be done

I forgot to post the proof, so here it is:

 

[Me__2001]

it would have taken me a while to have thought of that one actually i probably wouldn't have thought of it, very clever Quad

 

[itsme]

Patience is a virtue Ay Quad! Nice one

 

[muckshifter]

I'm still laughing ...

[sarcastic mode on]

Hmmm,

So, you buy a spiffing new expensive Laptop and under-cook it so you can run WCG ... would not a £200 PC have done just as well?

[sarcasic mode off]

Well done Quad


... you're still nuts ... welcome to Nuts Inc.

 

[Quadophile]

[sarcastic mode on]

Hmmm,

So, you buy a spiffing new expensive Laptop and under-cook it so you can run WCG ... would not a £200 PC have done just as well?

[sarcasic mode off]

Well done Quad


... you're still nuts ... welcome to Nuts Inc.

There is a big difference between underclocking and undervolting, there is no performance hit when one undervolts it. The clock speed of the cpu remains the same. The "spiffing new expensive laptop" is performing in same fashion as its makers intended it to perform

Now which mode are you in?

 

[Ian]

Very clever indeed

That is a massive temperature difference, and the 800 MHz 6x 0.988V---> 0.780V voltage change is much bigger than I'd have thought possible! You must have a good chip there

 

[muckshifter]

Now which mode are you in?

Tease mode.

... and I said ... under-COOK

 

[Quadophile]

Mucks,

You have more MODES on yourself than what a digital camera has these days

 

[Quadophile]

Update on temps

I was aware of the fact that the room temperatures played a big part in the system/cpu temps but did not realise it can make such a big difference! Last night things were running stable and I left the system for crunching overnight. In the morning noticed no problems and the system was crunching away.

I decided to find out what would be the real effect on cpu temps if the room temp was brought down by 2 Deg C without making any other changes. The result: cpu temps went down by 5-7 Deg C!

Currently cpu temp is 61 Deg C. This means overall tweaking resulted in a drop of 21 Deg C

 

[V_R]

Nice work there Quad.


I know what you mean about the room temp. My girlfriend turns up the heating and the pc's temp rise a few degrees, even if you dont notice much difference in the room itself.