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Date:      Wed, 23 Jan 2002 22:58:21 -0500
From:      Jud <jud@operamail.com>
To:        Greg Lehey <grog@FreeBSD.org>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Cooling Athlon / Linux App
Message-ID:  <QORSMHGLHOMJI1WKFUOZXYSC9WRCBML.3c4f865d@sparky>
In-Reply-To: <20020124140705.I93957@wantadilla.lemis.com>

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1/23/2002 10:37:05 PM, Greg Lehey <grog@FreeBSD.org> wrote:

>On Wednesday, 23 January 2002 at 22:25:45 -0500, Jud wrote:
>> My Athlon 1.33ghz TBird runs about 41-43 degrees Celsius in 
Windows
>> when using a small free utility called VCool, about 53-55 degrees
>> Celsius without.  (VCool causes the CPU to enter an "idle" state 
when
>> it's not being used. 
[snip]
>> VCool has a Linux version available.  Is it possible to install/run it on
>> FreeBSD?  (I have Linux emulation enabled.)
>>
>> I'm also wondering whether it might be a Good Thing to have 
something
>> similar built into /etc/defaults/make.conf or LINT as a user-
selectable
>> Athlon optimization, or even have it run as a daemon.
[snip]

>This is an approach to kernel issues which is contrary to the FreeBSD
>way of doing things.  You don't add external programs to the kernel,
>you fix the kernel.

OK, makes good sense.

>In this case, though, you don't need to do anything.  The
>single-processor kernel automatically halts when it has nothing to do.

I think if you read the VCool documentation, you'll find that the theory, 
at least, is that the Athlon is unable to reach idle mode unless its 
system bus is disconnected, even when it would otherwise make 
eminent sense for the CPU to do so because the system isn't busy.  
VCool purports to set the "Bus Disconnect Enable" bit and so allow the 
CPU to go into idle mode at appropriate times.

>My Athlons do run at just below 40° C.  For various reasons, the SMP
>version doesn't, but you can't fix that just by running some program.

I likely didn't do as careful a job with heat sink and thermal paste as I 
should have, so my CPU runs significantly hotter than that.  Whether or 
not I achieve improvement in that area, if "some [free open-source] 
program" will help my CPU run cooler still, I'm curious to know whether I 
can use it in FreeBSD.

Jud




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