Nap or no Nap?

[eyoungren]

OK. So, my Powermac G4 Quicksilver had a Sonnet 1.2Ghz single processor upgrade card. 2MB of L3 cache and it was NAP enabled.

I replaced it with a Giga Designs 1.8Ghz dual G4 processor downclocked to 1.73Ghz. This upgrade only has L2 cache (no L3) and seemingly no NAP capability. The processors are the 7447A.

What I am wondering is…can I force the processors to nap? Is there some way? Or am I pretty much stuck with the upgrade running full out all the time?

My understanding is that the 7447As use less power, but if there's any way to force NAPping without damaging anything I'd love to know.

 

[harrymatic]

OK. So, my Powermac G4 Quicksilver had a Sonnet 1.2Ghz single processor upgrade card. 2MB of L3 cache and it was NAP enabled.

I replaced it with a Giga Designs 1.8Ghz dual G4 processor downclocked to 1.73Ghz. This upgrade only has L2 cache (no L3) and seemingly no NAP capability. The processors are the 7447A.

What I am wondering is…can I force the processors to nap? Is there some way? Or am I pretty much stuck with the upgrade running full out all the time?

My understanding is that the 7447As use less power, but if there's any way to force NAPping without damaging anything I'd love to know.

Does the Hardware pref. pane that gets installed with the CHUD tools do anything at all? On my system it doesn't report cache properly and never remembers its settings on restarting, but I was able to write an Applescript program that runs on startup to sort that out.

 

[eyoungren]

Does the Hardware pref. pane that gets installed with the CHUD tools do anything at all? On my system it doesn't report cache properly and never remembers its settings on restarting, but I was able to write an Applescript program that runs on startup to sort that out.

If you mean the CPU pref pane, yes it's there. And I can manipulate the processors as far as turning one on or off by checking or unchecking things. But the "Allow system Nap" or whatever thing it was that was there with the 1.2Ghz processor is not there now.

 

[666sheep]

But the "Allow system Nap" or whatever thing it was that was there with the 1.2Ghz processor is not there now.

Because 7447A uses DFS, which is a "hardware equivalent" of nap.

 

[eyoungren]

Because 7447A uses DFS, which is a "hardware equivalent" of nap.

OK. I have a beginner's understanding of that. But how does that affect me?

Can I control DFS without getting into really technical stuff like kernal patches and so on? Or is that something where I really need to know what I'm doing?

Do I WANT to control DFS. Or is this simply a matter of don't worry about it, forget it?

All I'm seeking is some way to reduce heat/fan noise. If that's not possible, short of installing a bigger fan in the case, then I can accept that and move along. But I just don't know enough right now to know what's possible and what isn't or if any of what may be possible is beyond my capability or not.

 

[666sheep]

Do I WANT to control DFS. Or is this simply a matter of don't worry about it, forget it?

You can't control it. It's hardware 7447A feature aimed in saving energy, mostly when idle. If you want your CPU to run cooler, you need to improve cooling itself.

 

[eyoungren]

You can't control it. It's hardware 7447A feature aimed in saving energy, mostly when idle. If you want your CPU to run cooler, you need to improve cooling itself.

OK! Thank you for that definitive answer. Now to see about fans and such…