Normal CPU load?

Hi, I have a new Vostro 1500 1.6 c2d and i added RMCLOCK and want to undervolt it, but i have noticed that my CPU Load is always around 30-50% average with no media running just idle, the OS load on the cpu is from 0-5% is this normal??? any ideas?

 

Its not worth it to underclock these new santa rosa chips....

 

I dont want to underclock, i want to undervolt, the clock speed will remain the same, it will just use slightly less power. the result of this is decreased cpu temps on heavy load, usually from 10-15 degrees c with a moderate undervolt. There is a small battery bennifit to this but im concerned with bringing the temp down.

- * but either way is this CPU load conditions normal?

 

You are not going to get such dramatic temperature decrease by undervolting.

It's just not worth it with these newer chips.

 

Oh i see, i was going off of some older threads where people were getting those numbers undervolting a c2d but im not sure that was with the santa rosa chipset. so its really not worth it even if it only drops temps by 5c or so?

thanks

 

I do believe it's normal for Windows to be using 0-5% of the CPU when idling, but unless you have a TON of stuff going on the background, a total idle load of 30-50% definitely seems high.

 

Is your CPU clock dynamically switching? You could be getting those high %'s because the chip has been automatically clocked down.

 

^^^ I'm thinking that as well.

I would go with NHC over RMclock, it's just an easier interface. Undervolting each multiplyer setting will give you noticably cooler temps (more if you change the thermal paste). It should also help with battery life so why not...

 

Im not sure, i believe its dynamic switching, well basicallay I have a brand new Dell Vostro 1500 with a 1.6 c2d on a santa rosa chipset, i would like to undervolt it so i can reduce the high load cpu temps a bit, i currently have NHC, and RMclock, i understand that you cannot undervolt a new santa rosa chipset cpu with NHC that is why i have RMClock but im not sure exactly how to due this, i dont want to over clock it just undervolt it any suggestions anyone, thanks again

 

30-50% should not be normal at all. Check your task manager (ctrl+shift+esc), see what process is using up your cycles. You should be able to sort on CPU usage. System Idle Process should be the top, and then check the ones under that. Killing the offending processes will do much more for your battery life than undervolting.

 

You know, I know it's not supposed to be normal, but I'm actually getting pretty similar results. My processor runs a lot higher in Vista than XP. I think it happens a lot after suspending. A restart seems to help. Windows tends to get cluttered and lots of memory leaks after it's running for a while.

 

restarts always help. i am not as concerned with data processing anyways CPU do it all the time and vista has alot of programs running in the background

 

...memory leaks? I think people bandy about that phrase without knowing what it really means A memory leak is memory that is allocated but is not released when a program quits. I have never seen that happen on Windows. It may be bloated, slow, buggy, but it rarely leaks memory. It more than likely just doesn't respect the configuration. The thing that causes me more problems than anything in Windows is that the system tries to out-guess me in what I want it to do.