Theoretically to prevent the core shutdown effects of overheating some were experiencing and force the proc. to run cooler overall.
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Huge success undervolting the Air!
- Thread starter Adam Ierymenko
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Theoretically to prevent the core shutdown effects of overheating some were experiencing and force the proc. to run cooler overall.
But surely Apple/Intel have a lot of highly paid people to know exactly what voltages etc. a chip needs to work at its best.
Can someone with no experience really make it better?
Can someone with no experience really make it better?
I have the next problem....
when i have played WoW about 30 minutes, and the temp go to 80-85º.... the system go to sleep, like when you close the lid.
why is this? because the temp??
i have 1600 / 1800 at 0.9500 / 0.9750
if i put less to be cooler the system go to kernel panic.
maybe if i upvolting the system be cooler than now?
when i have played WoW about 30 minutes, and the temp go to 80-85º.... the system go to sleep, like when you close the lid.
why is this? because the temp??
i have 1600 / 1800 at 0.9500 / 0.9750
if i put less to be cooler the system go to kernel panic.
maybe if i upvolting the system be cooler than now?
There seem to be alot of questions about how to use coolbook in the forum.
I hate people who say RTFM, so here are my quick tips.
1. Make sure you reboot after install.
2. In the preferences, the 1st tab is where you need to put your keychain login, this prevents you from having to enter your login again and again when testing new settings.
3. The 800Mhz default setting during install is the default LOWEST Mhz for the CPU, you have to add the others yourself.
4. To ungrey the options for the menu bar display, open the coolbook preferences, then you can go and adjust the menu bar settings (right click on menu bar icon, not in the preferences itself).
5. If you do not register the SW you will not be able to do much of anything... The developer clearly states that the download is to make sure the driver is compatible, not to actually try it out (bad form in my opinion).
To set your expectations - this does not necessarily make the machine run cooler, but it does seem to lower the temp ceiling. Mine used to max out at 85C under a heavy load, now it barely breaks 71C. The bottom of the laptop still gets quite warm under full load and the fan still runs fast, but I have not had any KP's or core loss since coolbook was installed.
the expectation from this software should be that it will improve the reliability of the Air to handle higher loads for longer without interrupting your productivity with a core loss.
I hate people who say RTFM, so here are my quick tips.
1. Make sure you reboot after install.
2. In the preferences, the 1st tab is where you need to put your keychain login, this prevents you from having to enter your login again and again when testing new settings.
3. The 800Mhz default setting during install is the default LOWEST Mhz for the CPU, you have to add the others yourself.
4. To ungrey the options for the menu bar display, open the coolbook preferences, then you can go and adjust the menu bar settings (right click on menu bar icon, not in the preferences itself).
5. If you do not register the SW you will not be able to do much of anything... The developer clearly states that the download is to make sure the driver is compatible, not to actually try it out (bad form in my opinion).
To set your expectations - this does not necessarily make the machine run cooler, but it does seem to lower the temp ceiling. Mine used to max out at 85C under a heavy load, now it barely breaks 71C. The bottom of the laptop still gets quite warm under full load and the fan still runs fast, but I have not had any KP's or core loss since coolbook was installed.
the expectation from this software should be that it will improve the reliability of the Air to handle higher loads for longer without interrupting your productivity with a core loss.
Ugh, I saw there's an issue with CoolBook and MacBook Pro's. Otherwise this app would be a big seller for that notebook as well...
And as a further sidenote, I don't think there is any underclock/overclock tool for newer videocards in Mac OS X, and CoolBook is the only cpu tool. Any guy who writes new apps in this field could get a welcome income...
And as a further sidenote, I don't think there is any underclock/overclock tool for newer videocards in Mac OS X, and CoolBook is the only cpu tool. Any guy who writes new apps in this field could get a welcome income...
If I really stress mine (at 1800 MHz) with CPUTest running two instances and unlimited repetitions for about half an hour the CPU will reach 98 degree Celsius. If I raise my voltage from 0.95 to the default it will quickly reach 100 degrees and thermally throttle (the critical shutdown temperature for this CPU is 115 degrees). After a while the OS will also put itself to sleep. I guess this is because the heatsink or chipset sensor reaches a preset temperature, because it can't be because of the CPU temperature.
I also removed the heat sink and removed the thermal compound and replaced it with a sensible amount of arctic silver, and I think it might have become a little bit cooler, but no miracles.
Generally the heat sink has a really pathetic surface area, and the fan is really ineffective at moving air. Essentially it gains almost no cooling going from a quite 4000 rpm to 6200 rpm. As long as I don't run continuous calculations which I don't plan to do I might as well set the maximum fan speed to 4000 rpm and spare my ears (smc -k F0Mx -w 3e80).
One thing is for sure, this computer will not run at 1800 MHz for more than seconds with the default voltage. With 0.95 V it's really a close thing and you need to let it run just below the rated temperature to do so.
This app does not install on my Air. It just says 'cannot install driver', once the install is complete.
I wouldn't be too sure on the validity of this thread.
I'm pretty sure the author of this software uses forums to boost his sales. A newbie user who has only posted in 2 threads, on of which is an unprompted and utterly glowing review of Coolbook.
Check out this thread for previous activity by the author.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/247787/
I'm pretty sure the author of this software uses forums to boost his sales. A newbie user who has only posted in 2 threads, on of which is an unprompted and utterly glowing review of Coolbook.
Check out this thread for previous activity by the author.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/247787/
It doesn't matter if the thread starter is the author, even if he is. Coolbook really brought my temps down and now my fan spins up less often and even when the MBA throttles up to max speed during CPU load, my ceiling temp is lower and I do not get core shut downs.
This works.
I definitely wouldn't believe anything that duffyanneal guy says.
On that note I love this little app. It has helped to bring down my MBA's temperature which has a pleasant side effect of reducing fan activity/noise.
I was thinking of that too... Anyone how to run it like a service instead of an app?
Update, and advice for WoW players
I'm using the following settings and they're working pretty well for World of Warcraft:
Coolbook settings:
800 MHz 0.9000 V
1200 MHz 0.9000 V
Throttling: Medium
Max Temp: 75 C
World of Warcraft video settings are mostly at minimum (except for running at the native res of 1280x800).
Here are a couple other tips to cut down on the CPU cycles that WoW uses:
/console maxfps 12
/console maxfpsbg 8
The two above commands can be entered in-game and they will limit the maximum frames per second when the game is running in the foreground and background. You can use any numbers you want, but 12fps is just above the threshold of playability for me. You can probably get away with higher values, but my computer runs pretty hot if I don't take these extreme measures. When your fps is capped, WoW is displaying less frames than it normally would, and therefore using less CPU than it normally would, which can help cut down on heat.
With all of these settings, my fps is almost always at the capped 12fps value when I'm indoors, and it sometimes drops to around 10fps outdoors. My CPU temp never goes higher than 78 C. No core shutdowns, of course!
I could push the settings up a bit, but I don't like my CPU constantly running above 80 C.
I'm using the following settings and they're working pretty well for World of Warcraft:
Coolbook settings:
800 MHz 0.9000 V
1200 MHz 0.9000 V
Throttling: Medium
Max Temp: 75 C
World of Warcraft video settings are mostly at minimum (except for running at the native res of 1280x800).
Here are a couple other tips to cut down on the CPU cycles that WoW uses:
/console maxfps 12
/console maxfpsbg 8
The two above commands can be entered in-game and they will limit the maximum frames per second when the game is running in the foreground and background. You can use any numbers you want, but 12fps is just above the threshold of playability for me. You can probably get away with higher values, but my computer runs pretty hot if I don't take these extreme measures. When your fps is capped, WoW is displaying less frames than it normally would, and therefore using less CPU than it normally would, which can help cut down on heat.
With all of these settings, my fps is almost always at the capped 12fps value when I'm indoors, and it sometimes drops to around 10fps outdoors. My CPU temp never goes higher than 78 C. No core shutdowns, of course!
I could push the settings up a bit, but I don't like my CPU constantly running above 80 C.
I don't get this, but I would like to. How does one go about limiting fan speed?
I went and purchased this software. I am not so concerned about core shutdown right now, more concerned about the fan noise. The settings I have applied are:
800 - 0.9
1200 - 0.9125
1400 - 0.9250
1600 - 0.9375 (battery 0.95)
Throttling Level - Medium
Temp Limit - Off
And my fan speed is still annoying me! Anyone suggest any improvements to my settings that I can make to stop my fan making my MBA sound like a Hoover?
800 - 0.9
1200 - 0.9125
1400 - 0.9250
1600 - 0.9375 (battery 0.95)
Throttling Level - Medium
Temp Limit - Off
And my fan speed is still annoying me! Anyone suggest any improvements to my settings that I can make to stop my fan making my MBA sound like a Hoover?
You can find the smc command line tool in the smcFanControl app. Just be aware that it might not be advisable to change the maximum speed of the fan. I'm conflicted if an app should be created that makes this easier to achieve. It might cause apple to remove the possibility to set the maximum fan speed in future updates to the SMC firmware.
Meh, I'm getting a lot of Kernal Panics with Coolbook on my Air, even setting it one step above everyones recommendations. When I restart, and check the Panics report, it shows something which includes Parallels, so, I' wondering if undervolting with Parallels is a bad thing.
I even got a panic with it set NOT to start at start up ... but, when I uninstalled the app, the panics went away.
I even got a panic with it set NOT to start at start up ... but, when I uninstalled the app, the panics went away.
It's quite puzzling why there are so few (read: one) underclocking applications for OS X. There are several in Windows (NHC and RMclock being the most famous), and almost all of them can be used without paying a penny. In contrast, in OS X, there's one (how many? one) program, which means the programmer can charge as much as he wishes for it. It's weird.
Yes! As with any applications on OSX, just right click or click and hold on it in the dock, and clock Keep in Dock so it's always there. (this isn't needed) then right click and choose 'open at login' But that brings up the window. So you do the following:
Go to System Preferences, Accounts, Login Items. Tick the box for 'hide' next to cool book.
I do this for mail, safari, system preferences etc, anything I want open in the background.
At least he only charges $10? I wasn't happy I couldn't test it first though, but it has solved my issues.
Coolbook works for me atleast!
I've just chosen 1600 and after a few higher voltages, 0.9v. I clicked Set and ramped up the cpu consumption in coolbook to 10, ran CPUtest all test 10 repetitions 2 instances, i'm installing XP inside of parallels (the parallels build that doesn't kernel panic) i'm running Xbench now and geek bench at the same time
This is obviously to try and get it to fall over, i noticed before that i can do normal things now, a few intensive things at a time, and the fan doesn't spin up at all.
Anyway, no Kernel Panic or Core Shutdown, highest temp i've seen is 75, mostly around 70 give or take a degree or two.
It's surprisingly responsive with all that going on. (quite usable) much much faster than my G4 1.5 powerbook, subjectively. In that sense, for me the Air is a success. But when Rev 2 comes along, this is going on eBay... To those who say the air is slow, it's not, except when it's experiencing a core shutdown.
I've just chosen 1600 and after a few higher voltages, 0.9v. I clicked Set and ramped up the cpu consumption in coolbook to 10, ran CPUtest all test 10 repetitions 2 instances, i'm installing XP inside of parallels (the parallels build that doesn't kernel panic) i'm running Xbench now and geek bench at the same time
This is obviously to try and get it to fall over, i noticed before that i can do normal things now, a few intensive things at a time, and the fan doesn't spin up at all.
Anyway, no Kernel Panic or Core Shutdown, highest temp i've seen is 75, mostly around 70 give or take a degree or two.
It's surprisingly responsive with all that going on. (quite usable) much much faster than my G4 1.5 powerbook, subjectively. In that sense, for me the Air is a success. But when Rev 2 comes along, this is going on eBay... To those who say the air is slow, it's not, except when it's experiencing a core shutdown.