Vaio Z P9600 2.66Ghz would clock down to 2.1Ghz if Thermal Control Silent Mode!

I thought I would post my finding today that my 2.66Ghz Vaio Z would clock down to maximum of 2.1Ghz from 2.66Ghz whenever I selected Thermal Control as Silent Mode in the Vaio Control Center.

At the beginning, I love the Silent Mode since it's making the Z fan to turn off more often and therefore offering me a really peaceful silent environment. However, when I tried to open program or decode datas, the CPU would only go as high as 2.1Ghz. I would have to switched the Termal Control back to Balanced Mode to get the maximum speed of 2.66Ghz back.

Is there a way to modify the silent mode so that it will have the maximum speed of 2.66Ghz? I don't mind having my Vaio Z to be a little noisy when it's crunching a lot of data. But It would be nice if the fan would automatically turn off more often while processor power is only used lightly such as word processing or web browsing. Using the Balanced mode, the fan never turns off even if I left the computer unused.

At the moment, I have to select manually from Balanced to Silent mode from time to time.

Any input will be appreciated.

PS: I'm not sure for other owners of Vaio Z with lower processor speed such as 2.55Ghz or 2.2Ghz, what would be the maximum speed when being used under Silent Mode.

 

Interesting... My Vaio Z doesn't downclock in silent mode though.... hmm...

 

May I know which software do you use to monitor your CPU?
I used CPU-Z CPUID 1.44.2
Also used the sidebar cpu gadget to show the clock speed.

 

The point of "silent mode" is to have the laptop silent - i.e. less or no fan noise.

This needs lower temperatures and the only way to achieve this is by downclocking the CPU.

On my SZ max battery saver mode my CPU downclocks from 2,5GHz to 1,6GHz - to conserve battery life - same idea in a way.

You can try to create you own custm power plan - but suggest if you are after performance use the balanced mode.

 

My Z with P9500 allows full speed (2.53GHz) when in silent mode as well. I used CPU-Z v1.50 to check.

 

That may be possibly if your CPUs run cooler

 

I have a Z26 with a P8600 (2.4GHz), and when in silent mode, though I can't tell for sure (don't really like using the CPU-Z app after it gave my QuadCore Q9800 some sort of firmware bug T_T), it does downclock. An example is when I play bluray movies - the transition is laggy and it starts skipping frames (very few, but noticable) in silent mode. Though this ain't the case in balanced or performance mode.

Hint, I set one of my S buttons to change the performance mode. It toggles from silent, balanced, performance, and back to silent with a press. Maybe useful and I definately find it comfortable than going into Control Centre and changing it manually there...

 

Same here, I use S1 as a mute button and S2 to select fan/cooling mode. I run my Z in silent mode most of the time.

 

Hey this tips are pretty good setting up S2 to select thermal control. Thanks.

Any better advice would be appreciated.

 

I didn't look at clock when the Z is on Silent Mode, but I did have problem watching HD Video (1920x1080) when running in this mode. This is why I stop using Silent mode.