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| Home >> Resources | Support >> How to Upgrade Computers >> Improve the cooling of your un-overclocked Thunderbird >> |
IV. Solution 3: Software coolingImprove the cooling of your un-overclocked Thunderbird by Philip BayerYou may have heard about "software CPU cooling" from working with Linux. Most Linux O/S varieties have a single O/S thread dedicating to executing the Intel Processor's HLT instruction. During normal operation, the CPU spends much of it's time in an "inactive" state, for example while waiting for some input from the keyboard or mouse. Right now, for instance, you are reading this guide, and chances are your computer is performing little if any calculations. Calling the HLT instruction basically tells the CPU "don't do ANYTHING" for one cycle, this effectively "shuts off" your CPU for one cycle which over time will lead to a cooler CPU. The effects of monitoring the CPU's workload and calling the HLT instruction when it is idle is often called Software CPU Cooling or or just Software cooling. Since software cooling is not an inherent feature of Windows 98 (no big surprise there), I downloaded a third-party shareware package called CPU idle. I later found that the Asus Probe Motherboard monitoring software which I was using to measure my CPU's temperature, has this functionality built in. The resulting temperature decrease ranged from 3°C - 5°C. That's -3?when I was using the computer for mundane tasks such as browsing the web and playing MP3s, and about -5?when I was doing nothing. In fact, you can literally watch your CPU temperature decrease over the course of several minutes after first enabling this software. Editors Note: Software cooling is only going to decrease your idle temperatures, not your at load temperatures. Unlike other solutions, this really should not improve stability since instability due to overheating occurs mainly when at load. -- In other words its still going to get just as hot when your doing something with it. What software cooling does do is keep the temperature as low as possible when idle. This is good in that it potentially increases the already long lifespan of the CPU.  NEXT: | V. Solution 4: Increase Airflow
| VI. Solution 5: Case mods for better cooling |
VII. Conclusion and updates |
VIII. Heatsink Install Tips, and Fan Fan Throughput |  BACK: | Preface and Notes | I. Introduction and Specs| III. Solution 2: Ensure proper airflow | OTHERS: | Go to Top | Directron Home | Other System Manuals | |
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