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Huge success undervolting the Air!
- Thread starter Adam Ierymenko
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Ok, although I've not Coolbook yet I do not understand where 800mhz is comming from... Are you talking about the FSB? Or what?
Again, is there anyway to "hack" the cpu and get a higher FSB?
Really? That seems strange. I had the same problem before I checked the box, but after it was fine. Did you make sure to hit save after checking the box? That might make a difference.
Oh.... Don't increase the updates slider, all that does is increase the amount of times in a second Coolbook reports your frequency. Raise the CPU load slider and let us know if it works.
Thanks! What about the following settings in RMClock?
Management -> Use OS load-based management
Management -> Run HLT command when OS is idle
Management -> Enable OS power management integration
Profiles -> Auto-adjust intermediate states VIDs
Profiles -> Performance on demand -> Use P-state transitions (PST) versus Use throttling (ODCM)
Advanced CPU settings: anything to check/uncheck ?
Advanced CPU settings -> Throttling: again, any specific setting?
Thanks in advance!
I never fiddled around with those settings. Leave it at default.
dyerucf: change the CPU load to max, not updates. Also, if you only have 800MHz listed above in the box, then you only get 800mhz.
Still running great....
Just to update my post from last night....
I have been running my Air on and off all day and have still not had any problems. I have not seen the temp go over about 61 deg C. (I have all my clock speeds pegged at .900V).
One thing I find interesting is that ... most of the time... my machine is running at 800MHz. Oh, it will throttle up from time to time when I ask it to do something, but even watching Youtube videos it settles back down to 800, occasionally 1200. Youtube is where I could inevitably get it to heat up and start stuttering, etc., before I installed CoolBook. I have NOT noticed any perceptible performance decrease...the machine isn't moving any slower, etc. And all of this is with it hooked up to a 20" Apple Cinema Display, and plugged in to the power adapter (both of which are reported to make the overheat problem worse).
Granted, I'm not beating on it with really intense games or anything. I am thinking that for the things I do (surf, email, itunes, videos, word, excel mostly) this machine has plenty of oompf....since I am clearly not even taxing it. Very rarely do I see it go up to 1600MHz. And that is a good thing....it is telling me in a roundabout way that I don't NEED a MBP!
I am thinking that without CoolBook, the default parameters may have the machine running more intensely than necessary (like running in place when you don't need to go anywhere)....which contributes to the overheating/core shutdown problems I was having before. I think that the throttling feature of CoolBook may be every bit as useful as the undervoltage settings....but I'm too lazy to actually play with it and test it right now to see what would happen with just the throttling but no changes to the voltages. I'm just happy with the way it is running!
For those of you that are having trouble getting it to ramp up, etc. I don't want to offend anyone but PLEASE print and read the manual. It is not long. The way you have to make the settings "stick" is really not intuitive and it may be that you are not doing what you think are. It happened to me at first....follow the steps exactly (with set and save and so on...) and you should be OK.
Thanks again to the OP!
Just to update my post from last night....
I have been running my Air on and off all day and have still not had any problems. I have not seen the temp go over about 61 deg C. (I have all my clock speeds pegged at .900V).
One thing I find interesting is that ... most of the time... my machine is running at 800MHz. Oh, it will throttle up from time to time when I ask it to do something, but even watching Youtube videos it settles back down to 800, occasionally 1200. Youtube is where I could inevitably get it to heat up and start stuttering, etc., before I installed CoolBook. I have NOT noticed any perceptible performance decrease...the machine isn't moving any slower, etc. And all of this is with it hooked up to a 20" Apple Cinema Display, and plugged in to the power adapter (both of which are reported to make the overheat problem worse).
Granted, I'm not beating on it with really intense games or anything. I am thinking that for the things I do (surf, email, itunes, videos, word, excel mostly) this machine has plenty of oompf....since I am clearly not even taxing it. Very rarely do I see it go up to 1600MHz. And that is a good thing....it is telling me in a roundabout way that I don't NEED a MBP!
I am thinking that without CoolBook, the default parameters may have the machine running more intensely than necessary (like running in place when you don't need to go anywhere)....which contributes to the overheating/core shutdown problems I was having before. I think that the throttling feature of CoolBook may be every bit as useful as the undervoltage settings....but I'm too lazy to actually play with it and test it right now to see what would happen with just the throttling but no changes to the voltages. I'm just happy with the way it is running!
For those of you that are having trouble getting it to ramp up, etc. I don't want to offend anyone but PLEASE print and read the manual. It is not long. The way you have to make the settings "stick" is really not intuitive and it may be that you are not doing what you think are. It happened to me at first....follow the steps exactly (with set and save and so on...) and you should be OK.
Thanks again to the OP!
My settings
I went through the testing, and found that my Air will run at 0.9000 up to 1400 MHz, and at 1600 MHz does a KP at 0.9125. So here is what I set things at:
For battery mode, I set 800, 1200 & 1400 to 0.9000 V & removed the 1600 setting. My thought being that keeping the power at 0.9000 would maximize battery life and the performance hit would be almost unnoticeable.
For adapter mode, I removed 800(figure I can live without it plugged in), and bumped the voltage 0.250 above the minimum. My thought here is that if the CPU suddenly KP's a little higher, I'll be able to boot with the Air plugged in because it will run at a higher voltage plugged in.
I would still love to see someone with data on the actual battery life differences here - I'm guessing it is noticeable but not dramatic(or we would have seen some numbers by now. I am looking right now & it says "60%/2:00", which seems about the same as before). Having had to stop watching an episode of Futurama with 5 minutes left on the plane last week, I figure the battery life will extend at least that long...
I went through the testing, and found that my Air will run at 0.9000 up to 1400 MHz, and at 1600 MHz does a KP at 0.9125. So here is what I set things at:
For battery mode, I set 800, 1200 & 1400 to 0.9000 V & removed the 1600 setting. My thought being that keeping the power at 0.9000 would maximize battery life and the performance hit would be almost unnoticeable.
For adapter mode, I removed 800(figure I can live without it plugged in), and bumped the voltage 0.250 above the minimum. My thought here is that if the CPU suddenly KP's a little higher, I'll be able to boot with the Air plugged in because it will run at a higher voltage plugged in.
I would still love to see someone with data on the actual battery life differences here - I'm guessing it is noticeable but not dramatic(or we would have seen some numbers by now. I am looking right now & it says "60%/2:00", which seems about the same as before). Having had to stop watching an episode of Futurama with 5 minutes left on the plane last week, I figure the battery life will extend at least that long...
moved the update down and the load up, removed 800,900mhz and still no change even under a full cpu load.... Any other ideas?
What I Have Noticed
What I don't understand is that CoolBook and iStat Pro report different CPU temps concurrently. iStat is always 4-7 degrees C higher than CoolBook.
Does anyone have an explanation?
What I don't understand is that CoolBook and iStat Pro report different CPU temps concurrently. iStat is always 4-7 degrees C higher than CoolBook.
Does anyone have an explanation?
Alright, I could finally sustain the 1.6 GHz (without throttling down) under RMClock. I simply have to uncheck the "Unable thermal monitoring" for both cores under the "Advanced CPU settings". So far, that works for me. Temperature never seems to go higher than 83 C in a game.
However, the stuttering (in games) is still there. I guess the bottleneck must be that X3100 chip. I'm quite shocked it cannot even handle a 4 years old game properly (let alone Doom 3). I'm going to do some searches on the X3100 fine tuning.
The X3100 is not a powerful card. Its only 2x faster then the GMA950.. which is nothing vs a nVidia or ATi card.
It ain't doin' crap for me... My temps./fan seem to be the same. Maybe a wee bit less rpm but all in all a yawner.
I'll play another day and if no appreciable change, deinstall.
Set all from 800-1600 to 9v. Toggled throttling from low to high. Never got a kernel panic either
I'll play another day and if no appreciable change, deinstall.
Set all from 800-1600 to 9v. Toggled throttling from low to high. Never got a kernel panic either
Here is my setup and CoolBook settings:
MBA 1.8GHz 80Gb
Adapter:
1200MHz 0.9125 V
1400MHz 0.9250 V
1600MHz 0.9375 V
1800MHz 0.9500 V
Battery:
0800MHz 0.9000 V
1200MHz 0.9125 V
1400MHz 0.9250 V
1600MHz 0.9375 V
1800MHz 0.9500 V
Everything seems to be working great.
Regards
MBA 1.8GHz 80Gb
Adapter:
1200MHz 0.9125 V
1400MHz 0.9250 V
1600MHz 0.9375 V
1800MHz 0.9500 V
Battery:
0800MHz 0.9000 V
1200MHz 0.9125 V
1400MHz 0.9250 V
1600MHz 0.9375 V
1800MHz 0.9500 V
Everything seems to be working great.
Regards
My experience isn't all low temps. Under load, I get better performance at a similar temp because the heat output of the CPU is less at a given frequency. Under light work, the machine is slightly cooler. I think it's certainly worth noting that the machine doesn't throttle down as hard under load.
i have the sames values.... and playing WORLD OF WARCRAFT, before coolbook, i have core shutdown at 10 minutes playing and the TEMP in ISTAT PRO, was 60-65º
Now with coolbook, i dont have core shutdowns, but the temp up to 80-85º
is this dangerous?
OK. Pushed the voltages down all the way to 0.9V for all settings from 800 to 1600 MHz. No KPs 
Temperature down to 62 thereabouts under heavy load... Fans kick up only now and then. No core shutdowns
Ehhh guys... can anyone let me know why the options to display voltage etc in the menu bar are greyed out? Thanks! [edit - found out u have to open the coolbook window before you can change the settings]
Ermmmm anyone know how I can run the coolbook app without the icon appearing on the dock?
Temperature down to 62 thereabouts under heavy load... Fans kick up only now and then. No core shutdowns
Ehhh guys... can anyone let me know why the options to display voltage etc in the menu bar are greyed out? Thanks! [edit - found out u have to open the coolbook window before you can change the settings]
Ermmmm anyone know how I can run the coolbook app without the icon appearing on the dock?
Hey guys,
Really considering installing Coolbook but have a few questions before i do so.
Has anyone experienced any difficulties in doing this? Do you have an opinion on the long term damage this would cause to your CPU? Surely Intel would have settings are their optimum.
Also how have you found battery life? Has there been much improvement?
Thanks
Guv
Really considering installing Coolbook but have a few questions before i do so.
Has anyone experienced any difficulties in doing this? Do you have an opinion on the long term damage this would cause to your CPU? Surely Intel would have settings are their optimum.
Also how have you found battery life? Has there been much improvement?
Thanks
Guv
I've noticed an increase in battery life... but I never found OSX's battery life reading accurate. I just use it for however long it lasts without really caring for the "time remaining".
I never had any problems with an undervolted cpu. too low settings would just make the OS crash, i haven't find much of anything else yet.