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    Thinkpad temperatures - Linux / XP / Vista

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Amn, Jul 19, 2008.

  1. Amn

    Amn Notebook Geek

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    Hi all,

    I have just finished running some diagnostics on my Thinkpad.

    It is a 14" WSXGA Intel graphics Core 2 Duo (T7300@2Ghz) model with 4965a/b/g/n wireless.

    It seems Vista comes on top in terms of thermal management, when using Lenovo factory install.

    I used Intel Thermal Analysis Tool, along with Thinkpad Fan Control and HWMonitor.exe , the last two just for verification and to check the fan speed.

    When surfing, and thats what I do most these days, Vista reports no more than 38* at most on both cores, while CPU temperature total is 40*. PCI is 43*. Fan speed is ~2950RPM. The notebook is fairly quiet at that speed. Nothing seems warm. Its all very well. The power plan is "Maximize Battery", although I am running on AC power. Simply because I do not need 2Ghz to surf the web.

    XP with Microsoft install, and drivers installed, i.e. similiar state as Vista, temperatures are around 40-42* both cores, OS doing same things.

    Linux (Ubuntu 8.04.1) is a good deal worse, with temperatures steadily increasing towards 48* for both cores and eventually hanging there, while the fan spins at ~3090RPM. It drops and stays at 39.5* when the laptop is left alone, without any desktop apps open. The fan kicks on and off every minute. The fan is actually more audible when running at 3090 vs 2950 RPM, you can hear it louder, and more annoying. Intel PowerTop was used to minimize background tasks, and Compiz was disabled because it generated unnecessary interrupts.

    State of Things:

    Vista is better than its reputation. However only Vista records 43* on PCI (Where memory sticks are). Linux reported about 35*, and XP did not report at all (tpfancontrol was not used regretably, only ITAT)

    Ubuntu is coming along, but it seems there is work to do, as even my bloated Vista setup with all the stuff Lenovo put in there, it is almost 10* cooler doing same things, with the machine hardware setup set much the same.

    I am a bit disappointed in Ubuntu, because all drivers are there - the IBM ACPI, CPU frequency drivers (SpeedStep), and a good deal of tweaks. However, I am hoping it will continue to evolve. The fact that Intel supports open source initiative, and that most of the machine is Intel hardware, I just cannot see why there is such a different in support. I used PowerTop to tweak and check settings. Compiz was disabled, because the DRI driver causes continous interrupts at 60Hz frequency.

    My two cents.

    P.S. Why I care? 10* temperature distributes through the whole chassis, and makes things noticeably warmer to use, also shortening the lifespan of the components involved, and thus the total system.

    UPDATE: I removed the section which banally attacked Linux for no good reason. I hope I can find a solution for a superior power-aware Linux soon. But I have no sufficient capability to fix the DRI bug for instance, even though I make software for Linux...
     
    Amn, Jul 19, 2008
    #1
  2. chun9430

    chun9430 Notebook Evangelist

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    Which vista are you using?
     
    chun9430, Jul 19, 2008
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  3. trwrt

    trwrt Notebook Consultant

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    Did you change the CPU frequency governor in Ubuntu? I think the default is 'ondemand', which lets the CPU jump up to the full 2GHz. The 'powersave' governor would be more comparable to what you set Vista to do.
     
    trwrt, Jul 19, 2008
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  4. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

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    Nice temps.
    Maybe you should have changed some of Ubuntu's settings too.
     
    Thomas, Jul 19, 2008
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  5. batman5315

    batman5315 Notebook Evangelist

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    is that with aero enabled? I found xp cooler. Nvidia 140m will also increase temps
     
    batman5315, Jul 19, 2008
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  6. Amn

    Amn Notebook Geek

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    Hi guys.

    I am using Vista Home Basic. Aero is disabled. Compiz is disabled on Ubuntu too, because there is a bug that has to do with the DRI driver generating interrupts at the frequency of display update (60Hz), which keeps CPU from entering C3/C4 states more often than not. There were other things in Ubuntu that may seem like affecting temperatures, because of the CPU being kept awake, like USB driver (even though i have no USB devices plugged in) and something called yenta-sockets.

    I did NOT change the CPU governor in Ubuntu, it was indeed the 'ondemand' governor. However i used On Demand option in Vista too when configuring the power plan.

    Overall Vista seems to be best. However the Indexing Service there runs the harddrive for life, and so the area becomes warmer under the hand while typing. After a while when the indexing session finishes, it all cools down.

    Thomas: What settings do you mean I should have changed?
     
    Amn, Jul 20, 2008
    #6