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CoolbookController - too low volt = sluggish response?

M

Mac32

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
Hi!

I've noticed something weird lately on my late 2010 MBA 11.6' ultimate. After having run CoolbookController on the minimum volt setting on all CPU frequencies, I've noticed after a couple of months of flawless operation that my MBA started to act a bit sluggish now and then. Typically the wakeup from sleep, slow boot, longer loading times sometimes etc.. I then upped the volt settings for the highest CPU freqs, and now my MBA runs fine again. Kinda weird. Anyone else experienced this?
I would think that either the CPU works, or you get kernel panics, but here it seems that too low volt can impact performance. Does seem strange though. Anyone with similar experiences?

Thanks.
 
iRun26.2

iRun26.2

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2010
2,123
345
Common threads

It looks like you and I are experiencing the same problem. I've only noticed that my boot times are slow (and I haven't really set up Coolbook either).

But, if my computer does not boot faster I am going to get rid of Coolbook (even if I have to start from scratch and reinstall everything). Slowing my peppy MBA down is not acceptable!
 
M

mixvio

macrumors 6502
Apr 12, 2009
388
0
Sydney, Australia
Mac32 said:
Hi!

I've noticed something weird lately on my late 2010 MBA 11.6' ultimate. After having run CoolbookController on the minimum volt setting on all CPU frequencies, I've noticed after a couple of months of flawless operation that my MBA started to act a bit sluggish now and then. Typically the wakeup from sleep, slow boot, longer loading times sometimes etc.. I then upped the volt settings for the highest CPU freqs, and now my MBA runs fine again. Kinda weird. Anyone else experienced this?
I would think that either the CPU works, or you get kernel panics, but here it seems that too low volt can impact performance. Does seem strange though. Anyone with similar experiences?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I thought the entire point of running CoolBook is to throttle the processor to improve battery life.
 
M

Mac32

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Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
It's enough to just uninstall coolbook, but you do it from within the program (in preferences). It might be slower response over time because of the SSD or whatever, but so far waking up from sleep and boot-ups have been much quicker (like new) after I upped the voltsettings on the two highest CPU-freqs. So IMO you definately don't need to uninstall CoolBook. Actually, I think its one of the best programs I've ever bought, but this was a bit strange..

On my MBP 15' it either works great or you get kernel panics, nothing in between. But I did notice that over time you might need to readjust the volt settings slightly higher to avoid issues.
 
iRun26.2

iRun26.2

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2010
2,123
345
Mac32 said:
It's enough to just uninstall coolbook, but you do it from within the program (in preferences). It might be slower response over time because of the SSD or whatever, but so far waking up from sleep and boot-ups have been much quicker (like new) after I upped the voltsettings on the two highest CPU-freqs. So IMO you definately don't need to uninstall CoolBook. Actually, I think its one of the best programs I've ever bought, but this was a bit strange..

On my MBP 15' it either works great or you get kernel panics, nothing in between. But I did notice that over time you might need to readjust the volt settings slightly higher to avoid issues.
Click to expand...

So, with Coolbook disabled, your boot times are still fast?

I wonder what else on my MBA could have changed to make my boot times be close to 30 seconds. Before I think it was close to 12 seconds.
 
T

TheRealDamager

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2011
1,043
11
I'm skeptical here - I thought that Coolbook undervolting either worked or would cause a kernel panic - in other words, that undervolting alone would not cause any performance degradation.

Throttling the frequency could cause some degradation, as you are basically slowing down the processor.

What setting do you have for "Throttling Level"? This is the setting that determines how frequently Coolbook checks to see how much performance you need and speeds up or slows down the processor. I use High.
 
M

Mac32

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
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I use high.. I didn't change the throttle setting, just upped the volt settings...
 
impulse462

impulse462

macrumors 68020
Jun 3, 2009
2,083
2,870
Yeah unless your actually lowering the frequency of the CPU, the speeds should be fine regardless of the voltage.

In this case, there might not be adequate voltage to run at 1.4ghz (1.6ghz) but, in most cases, that would result in a kernel panic. Although this seems unlikely, it might be another way to compensate the lack of voltage by throttling the frequency down. Is there a program for OS X that reports real time CPU frequency like CPU-Z does on Windows?
 
aleni

aleni

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2006
2,560
858
i noticed this too. after i installed coolbook, i can squeeze 7 hours battery life on my 11" under casual usage. but the responsiveness is missing and the boot-up time was increasing to 30 secs from 12-14 secs. so this is not a good thing and i prefer more responsiveness with 1 hour less of battery life.
 
BlackMax

BlackMax

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2007
901
0
North Carolina
Just curious. For everyone experiencing long boot times with CoolBook running, do you have multiple frequencies set with throttling or a single frequency such as 1.4/1.6GHz at the lowest voltage?

I have a single setting for 1.6GHz at the lowest voltage and my boot times are still pretty fast (14-15s).
 
aleni

aleni

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2006
2,560
858
BlackMax said:
Just curious. For everyone experiencing long boot times with CoolBook running, do you have multiple frequencies set with throttling or a single frequency such as 1.4/1.6GHz at the lowest voltage?

I have a single setting for 1.6GHz at the lowest voltage and my boot times are still pretty fast (14-15s).
Click to expand...

how is your battery life? i think it will be bad for battery life if you are running 1.6ghz all day long even when idling.
 
BlackMax

BlackMax

macrumors 6502a
Jan 14, 2007
901
0
North Carolina
Battery life is good. Keep in mind that 800MHz or 1.6GHz will have the same draw from the battery if they are both running at the same voltage; .875 volts.

The only time it makes sense to have multiple frequencies is when your highest frequency is not capable of running at your lowest voltage... But with the 11.6" MBA that is not the case as the 11.6" MBA can run at .875v at 1.6Ghz/1.4Ghz all day long.
 
aleni

aleni

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2006
2,560
858
i don't get it, i thought running in higher clock even when the voltage is the same still draws bigger power, and the temperature is increasing too so the fans need to kick up a little bit, thus decrease battery life.

i might experiment with your setting and post back about battery life, anyway i only have 1.4ghz 11".

usually i can reach 6.5-7 hours of usage, i'll report back with only 1.4ghz setting later.
 
R

razamataz

macrumors newbie
Jan 29, 2011
23
0
Edmonton
BlackMax said:
Battery life is good. Keep in mind that 800MHz or 1.6GHz will have the same draw from the battery if they are both running at the same voltage; .875 volts.

The only time it makes sense to have multiple frequencies is when your highest frequency is not capable of running at your lowest voltage... But with the 11.6" MBA that is not the case as the 11.6" MBA can run at .875v at 1.6Ghz/1.4Ghz all day long.
Click to expand...

Can anyone confirm this? I have a ultimate 11" and wanna know what the hell to put the settings at. theres a lot of conflicting info on here.
 
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