How to customize CPU frequency steps

Hey everybody,

here comes a brand new guide on an interesting topic: CPU frequency scaling. Not many of you may know that on newer generation Intel CPUs (Ivy-Sandy Bridge) the kernel governor may decide the most suitable frequency in a plethora of them. In my case, for example (i7 3720QM), I can range from 1200MHz to 3600MHz in steps of 100MHz. This might be exciting, but changing CPU frequency costs a little energy at every transition.
Furthermore it happens that in several high-end CPUs, which are the more power consuming too, they cut the lower boundary to 1200MHz, while the real minimum is 800MHz.
In this advanced guide I want to introduce you how to modify your BIOS to fully control CPU frequency steps.

CPU Undervolting with Linux Mint 12

Hi guys,

PHC stands for Processor Hardware Control and, as it's easy to understand, it allows users to customize some features of CPU control in a linux environment, as undervolting.

CPU Undervolting with Ubuntu 12.04

Hi guys,

PHC stands for Processor Hardware Control and, as it's easy to understand, it allows users to customize some features of CPU control in a linux environment, as undervolting.

CPU Undervolting with Ubuntu 11.10

Hi guys,

PHC stands for Processor Hardware Control and, as it's easy to understand, it allows users to customize some features of CPU control in a linux environment, as undervolting.

!!UPDATED UBUNTU 12.04 VERSION!!!

How to set the CPU voltage

Hey guys,

here I am, I bet that soon or late you were waiting for this piece of knowledge.... I guess a little late, but here it comes. In the following guide you'll learn how to save energy, lower CPU temperature and improve your battery duration (at least on laptops) without (or at least minimizing) bugs and freezing, by setting the voltages of your CPU. If you don't have phctool installed take a look here:

http://linuxsolver.blogspot.com/2011/02/undervolting-cpu-in-ubuntu.html

System Profiler and Benchmark: Hardinfo

Hey folks,

today I want to suggest you a simple tool for system profiling and benchmark. It is called Hardinfo, hosted at http://hardinfo.berlios.de/HomePage

We will take a look at the installation procedure and examine its features, which can be grouped in two set: the system informations and the machine benchmarks.

As it is quite rare to find a software suite with these features I suggest you to spread the word!

Phctool bug with kernels 2.6.38

Hey guys,

unfortunately another bug in phc and phctool.... with 2.6.38 kernel throttling interface has moved, so you get:

Undervolting CPU in Ubuntu

Hi guys,

as for MakeMKV I want to open another tool to Ubuntu users too: PHC. It stands for Processor Hardware Control and, as it's easy to understand, it allows users to customize some features of CPU control in a linux environment, as undervolting.

Gentoo users should look at this specific guide!


!!UPDATED UBUNTU 11.10 VERSION!!!
!!UPDATED UBUNTU 12.04 VERSION!!!

Phctool patch for 2.6.36 kernels

Here comes a bug solution for Phctool, committed in gentoo package 0.5.2-2-r1 and developed by me :]

Phctool python-based graphic interface seems to not work due to the way CPUs id is defined. Looks like it's based still on /proc/acpi/processor/CPU./info which is no more present in my system. It looks like that kernel 2.6.36 and later doesn't support those deprecated /proc/acpi directories even with CONFIG_ACPI_PROCFS enabled.

CPU downvoltage, downclock and monitoring on gentoo linux

Hey everybody,

since I assembled my laptop starting from spare parts I had a serious problem: heat. I don't mean my laptop went on fire in idle, but when doing some serious computing form my MRI jobs, it happens to work for several minutes with both CPU at 100%.  That should not scare anybody, but I did force my barebone specs plugging a T9800 CPU, 35W, when the suggested CPU was of downvolted family (25W). Hehe :]. Obviously you can solve many overheating troubles, but the first solution should always be heatsink cleaning and fan check.

Keeping in mind that I always run my pc with the best airflow possible (no pc-bag under it or cover while sitting on the bed etc.), this is how I solved my problem, handling the CPU management in the same time, and how I tested the final configuration.