The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    How to slow the NC10 CPU when on mains power?

    Discussion in 'Samsung' started by robdean, Mar 5, 2009.

  1. robdean

    robdean Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    My lovely NC10 runs cooler and more quietly on battery 'cos of the excellent power management. I wish I had the choice to optionally activate CPU throttling when on mains power. Does anyone know if this is possible?
     
    robdean, Mar 5, 2009
    #1
  2. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    7,197
    Messages:
    28,841
    Likes Received:
    2,166
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Fn+F8 = Easy Speedup Manager.

    Use this combination a couple of times to step from normal through high performance to the silent mode.

    Give it a try.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Mar 5, 2009
    #2
  3. robdean

    robdean Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Thanks John, but I don't think that's what I'm looking for.

    'Normal' is just... Normal.
    'Speed' ain't going to slow it down.
    I'm concerned that 'Silent' just runs it hotter rather than runs the CPU slower.

    I basically want to tell the NC10, 'On mains, run slow unless your load is real high' or failing that 'Heck, run slow on mains whatever happens'
     
    robdean, Mar 5, 2009
    #3
  4. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    7,197
    Messages:
    28,841
    Likes Received:
    2,166
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Your other line of attack is to use the customised profile in the Samsung Battery Manager and set that to the minimum CPU speed.

    However, I have just run the wPrime benchmark in the Silent mode and it took twice as long, which suggests that this mode locks the CPU down to its lowest speed.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Mar 5, 2009
    #4
  5. Mark Larson

    Mark Larson Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    153
    Messages:
    668
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    John Ratsey confirmed it, but silent wouldn't run the laptop on full power with no fan unless they meant it to. If the Dell Mini 9 can do it with no fan at all, well... the NC10 sure can do it at 798 Mhz (what mine runs at on Silent mode)
     
    Mark Larson, Mar 7, 2009
    #5
  6. robdean

    robdean Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Mark,

    Does it run at that speed on mains? Mine ambles along at a calm 800 on batteries, but rattles along at 1600 on mains even on 'silent' - which is why I'm asking for advice...
     
    robdean, Mar 7, 2009
    #6
  7. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    7,197
    Messages:
    28,841
    Likes Received:
    2,166
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Are you using a power profile when has the CPU running at full speed when on mains power? If so, try using a balanced performance profile which permits the CPU to change speed according to the workload.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Mar 7, 2009
    #7
  8. robdean

    robdean Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Thanks for taking the time to help.

    The thing is this - the power profiles in the Samsung 'Battery Manager' and also the F8 modes (Silent/Normal/Speed) both function as you guys seem to expect when on battery power.

    But...

    ...when on mains no combination of the above gives me a CPU speed below 1600.
     
    robdean, Mar 7, 2009
    #8
  9. Mark Larson

    Mark Larson Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    153
    Messages:
    668
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yes, I had CPU-Z running and it didn't go above 800 Mhz on mains.
     
    Mark Larson, Mar 7, 2009
    #9
  10. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    7,197
    Messages:
    28,841
    Likes Received:
    2,166
    Trophy Points:
    581
    What program are you using show the speed? CPU-z should be OK.

    Also try a basic Windows Balanced performance power profile.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Mar 7, 2009
    #10
  11. robdean

    robdean Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    John, thank you for the suggestion of using CPU-Z. I was using 'TinyResMeter' and for some reason when on mains it seems to lock the CPU to full speed. Monitored with CPU-Z it throttles just fine...
     
    robdean, Mar 8, 2009
    #11
  12. Manic Penguins

    Manic Penguins [+[ ]=]

    Reputations:
    777
    Messages:
    1,493
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Probably the most difficult way, but it will also cool your laptop down and increase battery life. Download and install RMclock and search for the undervolting guide by Flipfire.

    After this just disable the bottom couple "Index"s under Performance on Demand.
     
    Manic Penguins, Mar 10, 2009
    #12