Processor Scaling

[Rashkae]

Ray Parrish wrote:

> 
> Someone else in this thread expressed concern over cpu temperature. I 
> just finished a four hour virus scan of my Windows drive, and during the 
> entire scan the cpu stayed at 107 F, and now is at 104 F, and it never 
> seems to get any hotter than that.
> 

The difference in Power from CPU running idle at full Mhz and running
idle at half Mhz (ie, with CPU scaling enabled) should be in the
neighborhood of 5 to 10 watts.  Significant only if multiplied by dozens
or hundreds of computers.

As for your particular problem, it sounds to me as though at some point,
your CPU governor was set to "Powersave" instead of OnDemand.  Your
choices are usually "OnDemand" "Performance" or "PowerSave".  The
default should be "OnDemand" which usually works as the name implies.
However, if you were not getting your full CPU speed when needed, and
are happier simply disabling scaling in the BIOS, then all the power to ya.

You would have to be overclocking a CPU to overheat it past what even
the cheap OEM heatsink+fans can handle without even trying.