How to redunce the CPU speed within the operating system.
 

Hello, Linux users!

Just last night I decided to retire my old MSI gaming laptop by installing a Linux distro. After an hour or so of searching the operating system right for me, I decided to go for Ubuntu MINT. I'm completely new to Linux so it will probably take some time for me to get used to everything since I've been a Windows user for many years. After gaming on this laptop for over two years, I noticed a lot of heat being generated so I used the advanced power management settings to reduce the minimum & maximum processor state to lower the CPU frequency to lower my temps. It worked but now I'm on MINT I have the same problem. I searched around on Google for answers and noticed that most of the answers are a little too advanced for me to understand(Again, I'm a novice). It probably seems crazy that such a novice user is asking such a question but I can't continue to play around with MINT until this problem is sorted.

So is there anyone willing to do their good deed for the day and help? :)

A lot of BIOS's have these kind of settings, but unless you really know what your doing, I would not recommend it.

As the danger is you may brick your PC, in the process.

Maybe explain a little more about your problem; eg. why you think this is an issue for you? what might be causing your processor to over-heat?

The BIOS gives me no such options to downclock the processor hence why I did it through the operating system. Basically, after owning the laptop for a few years I noticed quite a bit of heat coming from it even though the CPU was idling. It was sitting around 50c. It wasn't any sort of software causing it. I even opened the laptop to clear out any dust that may have been causing heat but inside the laptop was surprisingly clean. Changing the minimum & maximum processor state really helped my problem. It caused my CPU to run about 1GHz from 3.5GHz.

How old is it, exactly?

The laptop is about three years old maybe a bit older.

Basically, if I understand you well, you want to reduce CPU frequency. For that, you could use cpufrequtils. You should be able to install it on all Debian based distros, which Mint is. Generally, for heat problems on laptops, you sure want tlp and tlp-rdw installed and enabled, perhaps even thermald. Just google those names and you will find more about those and how to use them.

edit: Oh, yes, there is also cpupower command that comes with linux-cpupower package and should be doing same thing as cpufrequitils. Some prefer it. See for yourself what will be better for you. Would suggest to go for better maintained tools.

Thank you, dejank. I will Google them all and see what they are about. If I have questions I will continue posting on this thread.

Okay, update:

I used cpufrequtils and followed this page: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_use_cpufrequtils And I think I got my maximum CPU speed to 1GHz. After I did this I types cpufreq-info where it said 'current CPU frequency is 1.00HGz(asserted by call to hardware). So I can only assume that it's now done. This should keep my temps cooler. But I have another question that remains to be asked: Will need to be done each time I boot?

Frankly, have no idea. Never used those commands much, I just know that they exist and played with them a bit. Think that you can find that out easily by yourself, just reboot and see. In case that settings are lost during reboot, which I assume is true, you can make systemd unit for it, so it is executed on every reboot automatically, or run it via cron with after reboot option ( which may be easier for you to set up ). For more information about how to setup cron, just google it, should return plenty of examples.

Don't really know ether but, it may well depend on your Linux distro.

You might look at one of those fan base things to aid in cooling. They're like $10 at a few box stores. When a PII was my primary machine I opted for a $10 walmart fan over a new PSU ($40). I extended my old laptop a few years with tricks like that. Otherwise limit the load on the machine so the CPU never revs up in the first place. For $80-ish you can get an 8 core arm device and interact with it via vnc or x2go with your old laptop as a dumb client. Then again you can get a new laptop for $100-ish these days.

https://www.pine64.org/?page_id=3707

Oddly mildly easier than finding a display < 22" and near $100 with better than 1000:1 contrast ratio.